Acton Select Board orders REC reduction in standard Acton Power Choice product; keeps price unchanged

The Acton Select Board voted July 21 to keep the town's Acton Power Choice (APC) electricity supply price unchanged and instead reduce the amount of voluntary renewable energy credits (RECs) in the program's standard option to offset a new regional reliability charge called DAISY (Day Ahead Ancillary Services Initiative).

The board authorized the town manager to amend APC's supplier contract so the standard product's additional renewable share would fall from 45% to about 23% while maintaining the current price for customers. The board's action leaves the program's 100% green option unchanged.

Why it mattered: APC is the town-run electricity aggregation that negotiates a supply contract for participating residents. A new ISO New England requirement (DAISY) increased suppliers' costs statewide. Officials said suppliers may ask aggregations to pass the cost on as a contract amendment. Staff presented two choices: pass the DAISY cost to customers as a per-kilowatt-hour price increase (roughly a 5% increase in the supplier price, about 7.39 cents/kWh in this contract) or reduce the program's voluntary RECs to avoid raising customer prices.

Sustainability staff and the supplier presented arithmetic showing the REC reduction would largely, though not perfectly, offset the DAISY charge using a $36/REC valuation used in the supplier's calculations. Town staff said the supplier indicated it would accept a REC reduction even though that option would leave the supplier recovering slightly less than the revenue it could collect by raising the price.

Public comment and board discussion: Several residents urged the board to keep RECs unchanged and raise prices, arguing the environmental signal matters. Others said the likely customer impact would be modest (several dollars per month for an average household), and urged consideration of customers' budgets and the aggregation's price competitiveness relative to Eversource basic service. Board members debated those tradeoffs and the program's short remaining contract term (about 16 months), and whether to prioritize maintaining a price advantage and avoiding customer defections.

Board action: After discussion the board voted to keep APC prices the same and reduce the standard product's voluntary RECs to meet supplier DAISY costs. The board directed the town manager to execute a contract amendment implementing the change and to include customer notice describing the change and reminding residents that a 100% green option remains available.

What's next: The supplier will issue the contract amendment and customer disclosures (the Department of Public Utilities requires clear disclosure of pre- and post-change price/REC levels). The board and staff said they will study longer-term options when the full supply contract is renegotiated next year for service starting in 2027.