Noam Bramson urges Greenburgh to stay with Westchester Power; board presses for better resident communication

Noam Bramson of Sustainable Westchester presented to the Greenburgh Town Board on June 26, urging the town to remain in the Westchester Power community choice aggregation program while improving how residents are informed about pricing and opt‑out options. Bramson said the program delivers measurable carbon reductions and consumer options, and he urged the board to weigh environmental benefits, choice and price stability when deciding whether to re‑enroll.

Bramson told the board that, by his estimates, the program has produced substantial emissions reductions for participating communities, giving equivalents of roughly 74,000 cars removed from the road and more than 5 million trees planted in lifetime terms. He also said that applying the state's social‑cost methodology shows the program reduces more than $40 million in social costs annually. "If you were to leave the program, overnight, the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Greenburgh would skyrocket," Bramson said, arguing that municipal enrollment is the mechanism that gives residents access to the aggregated renewable supply.

Why it matters: the town's participation affects which supplier becomes the default for thousands of households and factors into state scoring that can unlock grants. Bramson said CCA (community choice aggregation) is a major scoring item in Greenburgh's NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities record and that establishing 100% renewable as the municipal default could add about 2,000 points and make the town eligible for approximately $200,000 from NYSERDA.

Board members pressed Bramson on recent price performance and resident outreach. Several members described the current contract as an outlier on price—driven, they were told, by global market disruptions in 2022—and said they had heard many resident complaints when the renewable rate exceeded Con Edison during that period. One committee member said, "I'm not voting for this unless we have an agreement in advance that we're going to get real communication to those who want to opt out," reflecting broader concern that prior notices were insufficient.

Bramson acknowledged the disappointing pricing in the current contract but said it was atypical and that supplier feedback on the next procurement suggests rates could be about 20% lower; he cautioned, however, that bids are not final until received. He also emphasized that the program's fixed rate can protect consumers against spikes in utility delivery charges, and he clarified enrollment mechanics: low‑income customers who receive utility assistance (HEAP) are excluded by state regulation from automatic enrollment in the supply product, and residents who individually opt out remain opted out into the next contract unless they affirmatively re‑enroll.

Sustainable Westchester outlined other resident programs—including demand‑response payments (Bramson said participants can earn about $100 per season), community solar crediting, and navigator services to help low‑ and moderate‑income households access weatherization and electrification incentives—and offered to assist the town with targeted outreach.

On outreach, board members and Bramson floated practical measures: two short mass mailings or postcards, robocalls, a persistent web page or QR code with up‑to‑date rate comparisons, and a short working group to finalize communications before any sign‑on. Bramson said he was willing to convene the working group at short notice and that Sustainable Westchester could include a modest number of postcards or similar outreach in the vendor negotiations if Greenburgh requests it.

Options for the board: Bramson summarized three municipal choices—(1) exit the program, sending enrolled households back to Con Edison as the default supply; (2) remain in the program and set 50% renewable as the municipal default (individuals could opt up to 100% or opt down); or (3) remain and set 100% renewable as the default (with the option for individuals to opt down). He said pricing details from the upcoming bids would inform whether 50% or 100% default is the practical municipal choice.

Next step: the board agreed to place the item on the next Tuesday work session agenda and several members supported forming a short, time‑limited working group to refine outreach options and vendor contract language. No formal vote was taken at the June 26 meeting.

Sources: presentation and Q&A with Noam Bramson of Sustainable Westchester; Greenburgh Town Board members' questions and comments during the June 26 meeting.