John O’Rourke of Good Energy provided an update to the Marion Select Board regarding the town’s electricity aggregation program during the October 5 board meeting.
Planning started for the aggregation in January 2014 when Ross Perry, then director of municipal services for SRPEDD, decided it was a good idea to get SRPEDD communities together to do an energy aggregation. This is the third renewal of the aggregation, the largest of its kind in the U.S., according to O’Rourke.
Good Energy is a national company with 354 municipal clients, and Marion is part of the SRPEDD group.
Having launched its community electricity aggregation program in 2016, Marion has 2,222 enrollments, and the number has remained stable over the past five years.
O’Rourke shared a chart displaying how the electricity rates through the aggregation have remained comparatively level compared to Eversource rates and for the most part have remained lower as well.
In mid-September, Marion learned that the proposed National Grid basic rate from fall into 2022 will be $0.14821 kWh (per kilowatt hour).
Since April, natural gas prices have nearly doubled, according to O’Rourke, affecting the price of electricity, which tends to follow gas prices. The advantage of being in an aggregate, said O’Rourke, is timing the market.
“We can go out to bid when the market is favorable,” he said, noting that the renewal started in January 2021. Analysts, he said, directed the SRPEDD group to go out to bid. “Utilities have to go out to bid at specific time of the year regardless of the market.”
Select Board member John Waterman told the board that he received a letter stating that he is in the program unless he opts out. O’Rourke confirmed the arrangement and explained that the theory behind it is the best way to put the largest buying group together is via an opt-out rather than opt-in program.
New Hampshire and Rhode Island, which had opt-in aggregation, learned that suppliers do not bid on their programs. In opt-out scenarios, consumers have a 30-day period in which to decide; 80-85 percent of eligible customers are in the launch in the beginning. In an opt-in program, a supplier doesn’t know what the percentage is so, in a limited time period, the opt-out program gives suppliers a better idea. Marion is now at 75 to 80-percent in the aggregation.
O’Rourke said that rates will stay fixed until December 2023. He told the board he will email Town Administrator Jay McGrail his slide presentation so Marion can post it on the town website, marionma.gov.
Among its actions on Tuesday, the Select Board voted to approve the joint plan of Verizon New England and Eversource to plant one new stub pole to facilitate the removal of a tree guide at Pleasant and South Streets.
The board voted to name McGrail the town’s authorized approval agent for the distribution of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and Finance Director Judy Mooney as the town’s authorized ARPA preparing agent.
In contrast to CARES Act funding, ARPA deadlines range between three and four years, and the funds have broader usage, including infrastructure. McGrail told the members that he anticipates using the majority of the funds for Marion’s matching requirement for the grant to upgrade the Creek Road pumping station.
McGrail estimates between $1 million to $1.2 million in ARPA funding will be coming Marion’s way either directly or via Plymouth County administration. The county administers CARES Act funding.
In his Town Administrator’s report, McGrail said a meeting with Rochester representatives yielded a plan for Rochester to distribute up to 50 beach passes to its residents at $35 per pass.
After years of buying day passes, Marion stopped selling them to mitigate overcrowding. The Town of Rochester funds one of the lifeguards at Silvershell Beach, while McGrail noted that Marion uses Rochester ball fields for youth sports.
“At the end of the day, it’s fairly equitable,” he said. “They haven’t said no to us.” McGrail said it is expected that the 50 guest passes far outnumber the need, estimated to be a dozen.
Given the large residential developments planned in both towns, McGrail cautioned the board that Marion could soon be at a tipping point where it concerns the use of recreational facilities like the beach.
“We need to have a long-term game plan for Rochester,” said Waterman. “I don’t want our own residents getting crowded out of the beach. … We need to talk it through with Rochester now.”
Hoping to put the 50 beach passes for Rochester in context, McGrail said that Marion sells approximately 350 guest passes in Marion.
The Wastewater Treatment Plant lagoon on Benson Brook Road is nearing the end of sludge removal, according to McGrail, who told the Select Board that wall construction and finalizing the base for installation of the liner are next.
Nonetheless, a major task revised change order addressing the flow system has the town seeking a short-term extension to the project deadline of December 31.
Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito is looking to tour the harbormaster facility at Island Wharf where Marion has recently been approved for a grant exceeding $300,000 in its bid to construct a new Maritime Center. The Marine Resources Commission has scheduled another open house for Saturday, November 6, and Waterman suggested the event would be an opportune time for Polito to visit and meet many citizens.
The Select Board decided to wait on approving scheduled appointments to the Marion Cultural Council pending some fact-finding on term limits. Kristen Saint Don-Campbell is the chair of the MCC, which, according to McGrail, has a mission to promote the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in order to improve quality of life for Marion residents via the distribution of state grant funds.
The board approved a credit of $747.64 for an overestimated water bill, along with water/sewer commitments of $1,974.95, $1,710.67, and $611.05.
The board approved street closures for the Halloween Parade scheduled for Sunday, October 31, at 4:00 pm, and for a noontime closing of town offices on Wednesday, November 24.
Early in the meeting, McGrail introduced Doug Guey-Lee, the town’s new conservation agent and town planner, to the board. Guey-Lee comes to Marion from Wellfleet where he was the assistant conservation agent.
The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Monday, October 18, at the Music Hall at a time to be determined. Marion’s Special Town Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 19, at 6:45 pm at Sippican Elementary School.
Marion Select Board
By Mick Colageo