The select board will get an update on the delayed implementation of Andover Community Power when it meets Monday at Wood Hill Middle School at 7 p.m.
Andover is among 32 Massachusetts communities that have been waiting more than a year for the state Department of Public Utilities to approve its municipal aggregation plan, which would lower residents’ electric bills and potentially help the town green its energy supply. It’s been more than 15 months since Andover contracted with Good Energy and applied for DPU approval.
The issue is coming to the forefront as officials predict crippling energy costs this winter. National Grid, Andover’s electricity provider, raised rates Nov. 1, a move hikes the average Andover customer’s energy bill by 64 percent over last winter. Eversource, the town’s gas supplier, raised rates by 25 percent for Andover residents on Nov. 1.
In a letter sent in October to DPU Secretary Mark D. Marini, Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan said the town was “dismayed” with the delays, which DPU has blamed on the pandemic.
“Andover residents and businesses are set to pay the highest National Grid winter Basic services rate ever,” Flanagan wrote. “It is deeply unfortunate that Andover still awaits an Approval Order and therefore does not yet have the opportunity to seek relief for our residents and businesses.”
In the Andover Community Power case, DPU held a public hearing last year. The public comment period, which drew letters of support from the Andover Green Advisory Board, Andover Community Trust, and Andover WECAN, was closed on Oct. 21, 2021. In June, DPU made its first information requests on the town’s application. There has been no activity in the application docket since Andover sent the requested response to the information request on July 15.
“It took the Department nearly a year to issue its first Information Requests on Andover’s Plan,” Flanagan wrote. “We sincerely hope we do not have another year of waiting ahead.”