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Sustainable Westchester tells White Plains council Westchester Power contract performing closer to utility rates
Summary
Sustainable Westchester presented updated pricing and asked the Common Council to approve an earlier renewal window for the Westchester Power aggregation contract to allow more flexible energy purchasing.
Noam Bramson, executive director of Sustainable Westchester, told the White Plains Common Council on March 31 that the current Westchester Power contract is performing “substantially better” than the unfavorable contracts of 2023–24 and is now roughly in line with Con Edison commodity rates while providing renewable energy options.
Bramson said the program’s base rate was 11.06 cents per kilowatt-hour, with a 50% renewable option at about 12.18 cents and a 100% renewable option “a little over 13” cents. He said the program’s 10-year record shows years when Westchester Power was both above and below the utility, and that 2023–24 were outliers caused in part by international market disruption. “Even the unfavorable contract in ’twenty 3 and ’twenty 4 was outperforming the renewable energy that consumers could otherwise obtain on the private market,” Bramson said.
Bramson asked the council to approve the program’s customary renewal earlier than in past practice — in April rather than waiting — so Sustainable Westchester would have a longer window to time energy purchases, including shoulder months before summer demand peaks. He said the current fixed contract runs through November and a new contract would start Dec. 1. Bramson cited international market uncertainty and potential tariffs or import restrictions as reasons to lock in favorable terms sooner.
A council member asked for a copy of Bramson’s slide deck; Bramson agreed to email the slides the next day. Another council member clarified that recent Con Edison news largely concerns delivery charges rather than the commodity Bramson was discussing and said the municipality is working on related matters.
The presentation outlined the program’s purpose — to provide a clean-energy alternative to customers who want it — and framed the earlier renewal request as a best practice to increase the chance of securing the best possible commodity price.
No formal vote on the contract renewal was recorded in the meeting minutes; Bramson’s request was a presentation and a request for the customary approval earlier in the procurement cycle.
