Ipswich electric manager seeks to revise distributed generation policy, flags low crediting rate and unchanged interconnection fee

Dylan Lewellyn, manager of the Ipswich Electric Light Department, told the Select Board and Electric Light subcommittee on April 13 that the towns distributed generation policy has not been revisited in many years and is due for review. Lewellyn said his principal concerns are that the crediting rate for distributed generation appears too low, some rates to customers are too high, and that rate elements should be set in the official rate schedule rather than permanently codified in policy. He also noted that the interconnection fee has not changed in 10 years.

During the discussion, Select Board Chair Charles Surpitski asked whether sample policies from other communities could serve as models; Carl Nylen suggested modeling future demand absent local intervention to estimate impacts from electrification trends. ELD Subcommittee member Ted Dillon recommended broadening the scope to address distributed generation more generally; Lewellyn said he preferred a narrower, more precisely defined policy that clearly sets eligibility, capacity limits, customer classes and technical standards, while leaving detailed rate numbers to the rate schedule.

Lewellyn said he would either return with a draft revised policy or with responses and adjustments based on the feedback received at the meeting. Board and subcommittee members provided additional feedback on technical scope, planning horizons and standing topics to address in future reviews.