Implementation of a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program for purchasing electricity is back on the radar for the Town of Gardiner, according to Jeff Domanski, director of Hudson Valley Energy and local program organizer for the coalition of municipalities flexing their collective buying clout as Hudson Valley Community Power. Domanski gave the Town Board an update at its January 10 meeting, and will be presenting a community information session on the project via Zoom at 1 p.m. this Saturday, January 21. The link for the presentation can be found at www.townofgardiner.org.
Those who have been following this story for several years may recall that Gardiner did not make a decision to commit to CCA in time to join the Hudson Valley Community Power (HVCP) group of municipalities for its 2021 launch, and was waiting for the next round of applicants to coalesce. Through CCA administrator Joule Assets, HVCP – which included the cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie, the Towns of Clinton, Marbletown, New Paltz, Philipstown, Red Hook and Saugerties and the Villages of Cold Spring and New Paltz, representing some 25,000 energy supply customers – contracted with a company called Columbia Utilities to provide power at a fixed rate of 6.5 cents for kilowatt hour for three years, through the end of June 2024.
However, Columbia – which Domanski characterized as one of “a number of bad actors in that marketplace” – defaulted on the deal with Joule Assets less than a year after it began, when energy prices began to spike. The HVCP customers “did very well collectively,” saving about $400 per household in the first quarter of the program, Domanski related. “But it was too expensive from the supplier’s perspective. They broke their contract and defaulted on their payment as system operator.” Program participants were forced to go back to Central Hudson.
So, the search is on for a new supplier, opening up a fresh opportunity for Gardiner to join the group of aggregated purchasers next time. Joule Assets is readying a Request for Proposals for release “by the end of March,” according to Domanski, with the possibility of a “live program by summer.” While “Joule is still requesting fixed rates from suppliers,” the next contract might end up offering more flexible terms that “can vary within the marketplace, but with some guardrails, and that allow us to put more local renewables into the mix… Towns collectively will choose a fixed rate or one that can vary with the market.”
Domanski reiterated that any new CCA program will continue to be administered by Joule on an opt-out basis, with automatic inclusion for all customers within the participating municipalities except for large commercial users or those who are contracted with private suppliers (i.e., not the “default” local utility Central Hudson) or signed up for income assistance programs. Individual customers and small businesses will be able to opt out of the CCA program at any point in the cycle with no penalty, he said. They will also be able to choose to obtain their electricity from 100 percent renewable sources, although typically at a slightly higher price.
Attend the Zoom presentation this Saturday to learn more about CCA, or visit www.hudsonvalleycommunitypower.com. Specific questions can be directed to (845) 859-9099 or info@hudsonvalleycommunitypower.com.
Join the family! 
