Woburn to launch municipal electricity aggregation this summer; three supply options offered

Lisonbee McNeil, client manager for Good Energy, told Woburn City residents the municipal electricity aggregation program — approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) — aims to launch in summer 2025 and will offer three supply products: Woburn Basic, Woburn Standard and Woburn Plus.

McNeil said the program will change only the supplier of residents' electricity supply; Eversource will continue to deliver service and send a single monthly bill. “All this will change for any participants is your electricity supply service,” she said.

The program uses the city's buying power to select a competitive supplier for participating accounts. Residents who have Eversource basic service and are eligible for automatic enrollment will receive a letter in the mail explaining their options; others can opt in affirmatively. McNeil said there will be a rollout period of about 45 days before launch and that residents will have “at least 30 days to make their decision once they receive that letter.”

Good Energy described the three products as serving different priorities. McNeil said Woburn Basic is the most economical option; Woburn Standard, the program default for auto-enrolled customers, adds voluntary renewable energy equal to 10% of a customer's usage; and Woburn Plus can supply up to 100% voluntary renewable energy. McNeil said the voluntary renewable energy credits (RECs) used in the optional products would come from Green Energy Consumers Alliance and are Class I RECs.

John O'Rourke of Good Energy and McNeil discussed state requirements that shape product composition. McNeil said the supplier will purchase electricity and the program will buy RECs on top of that to meet the voluntary percentages. The presenters discussed Massachusetts' renewable portfolio rules for 2025 during the meeting; speakers gave different numerical breakdowns during the Q&A (for example, one speaker referenced “38%” for 2025 and another referenced “63% for 2025” when discussing portfolio components). Those numbers were presented as participants' explanations of how state requirements and Class I REC shares interact; Good Energy said final product mixes will be made clear when pricing and the selected supplier are announced.

On price, McNeil said the premium between Basic, Standard and Plus typically is small: “we're talking about a cent or less” per kilowatt-hour between products, and that more precise pricing will be posted after the city completes the supplier bid.

Residents raised consumer-protection concerns. A resident asked whether mailings would come from the city and how to distinguish them from third-party solicitations; Good Energy said program mailings will carry the city seal on the envelope and letter and that residents will never receive an unsolicited phone call from the program. “Anything associated with the program is gonna have the city seal on it,” McNeil said. A city official emphasized the risk of outside marketing and warned residents to be cautious about solicitations that arrive before the city sends official notices.

Speakers also clarified that existing municipal electricity contracts and solar arrays on city property are separate from the residential aggregation. A city official explained those municipal contracts were entered into previously and cannot simply be folded into the new residential aggregation; municipal purchases and the new supplier purchases will remain distinct.

Good Energy said the city will run a public bid to select a supplier, then update the program website and hold additional community meetings with pricing, the chosen supplier and the program term. McNeil gave a program phone number and said information will be posted on a Woburn Community Electricity webpage linked from the city site.

The presentation and Q&A covered mechanics (single Eversource bill, delivery unchanged), participation logistics (auto-enrollment for eligible Eversource basic-service accounts, opt-out at any time) and expected next steps (supplier bid, pricing disclosure, 30–45 day notification window). Community meetings and pricing information will be posted to the program website when available.