THE TOWNS OF GARDINER, RHINEBECK, AND SAUGERTIES AND THE VILLIAGE OF NELSONVILLE WILL JOIN THE PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES IN SOLICITING BIDS FROM ELECTRICITY SUPPLIERS FOR LOCAL, CLEAN ENERGY
Hudson Valley, NY (April 20, 2021)—The Town of Gardiner, Village of Nelsonville, Town of Rhinebeck, and Town of Saugerties have each recently selected Joule as Program Administrator of a community choice aggregation (“CCA” or “community choice”) program that will offer their residents and small businesses locally-generated, renewable energy. The four communities are expected to join Hudson Valley Community Power, Joule’s CCA comprising ten municipalities located in New York’s Hudson Valley. Gardiner, Nelsonville, Rhinebeck, and Saugerties intend to join the program’s existing communities as, with their inaugural electricity supply term ending June 30th, they solicit new bids from qualified energy suppliers.
Community Choice Aggregation
Community choice programs enables municipalities to join together to aggregate the buying power of residents and small businesses at large enough scale to dictate the terms of their energy contracts. By pooling local demand, municipalities can negotiate for more favorable terms, designate preferred generation sources, and select default energy offerings for their communities.
Hudson Valley Community Power Progress Report and Outlook
Hudson Valley Community Power launched July 1, 2019 with six participating communities that selected 100% renewable as their municipality’ default electricity supply option. Soon after launch, four additional municipalities joined the aggregation under the same contract terms. As the term of the program’s inaugural supply contract expires June 30th, and with the increased purchasing power of potentially 40,000 utility account holders in fourteen municipalities, Joule, on behalf of Hudson Valley Community Power, is now seeking a new supply contract. Proposals from potential suppliers are being accepted through the end of April.
“With market electricity rates rising, the protection provided to consumers participating in our Hudson Valley Community Power community choice electricity supply program is clear,” explains Joule Director Glenn Weinberg. “In March, the Central Hudson rate for standard supply was 55% higher than our 100% renewable rate. Program participants with the default [renewable] option were on track to save approximately $675,000 for the month, or 37% of the electricity supply costs on the average monthly bill. An even more drastic difference can be seen between the program’s fixed rate for standard supply versus Central Hudson’s 63% higher utility rate for a comparable product.”
Franco Carucci, Gardiner Town Board member, considers the program consistent with Gardiner’s efforts, “The Town has a great group of volunteers evaluating cost-effective and environmental opportunities. The CCA program has been promoted by New York State as one of the smartest and powerful actions a community can do to reduce emissions and promote renewable power.”
“The Village of Nelsonville is proud to join Hudson Valley Community Power,” said Village Trustee Chris Winward. “This is a great opportunity to take advantage of electricity savings for our community, but more importantly, to utilize and invest in renewable clean energy generated here in New York State.”
Members of the Rhinebeck Town Board stated, “We are excited to work with Joule in allowing Town of Rhinebeck residents to enter the green energy market.”
Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello sees value in CCA, “What’s so exciting about the CCA program is the ease by which the town’s residents and small businesses will be able to get their electricity from 100% renewable energy. There are no forms to fill out. No contacts to sign. No penalties to worry about. Central Hudson remains our utility, continues to deliver our electricity, and respond to outages. But, if you don’t want to be part of this program, you can simply opt out when your letter arrives in your mailbox. This is a great opportunity for Saugerties to shape our own energy future.”
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About Hudson Valley Community Power
Formed in partnership with Joule Community Power, Hudson Valley Community Power is a community choice aggregation program comprising communities in New York’s Hudson Valley. The program enables participating communities to pool local electricity demand in order to leverage the collective buying power of their residents and small businesses in effort to secure more favorable energy supply rates, protect consumers, and designate renewable generation sources. The participating communities include City of Beacon, Town of Clinton, Village of Cold Spring, Town of Fishkill, Town of Marbletown, Town of New Paltz, Village of New Paltz, Town of Philipstown, City of Poughkeepsie, and Town of Red Hook. As of July 1, 2019, the default energy supply to homes and small businesses in the participating communities is 100% renewable. To learn more, visit
hudsonvalleycommunitypower.com.
About Joule Community Power
Joule Community Power (Joule) works with municipalities and local partners to empower communities and facilitate their goals of providing residents and businesses with cleaner and cheaper energy. With no upfront cost to a municipality or its residents, Joule’s first-of-kind, integrated Community Power program helps municipalities and consumers (1) save money by gaining leverage to procure less expensive electricity for residents and businesses, (2) make money by creating new revenue opportunities through participation in energy markets, and (3) go green by gaining local control to opt for clean and renewable generation sources. Joule's distinctive expertise in designing and implementing new consumer-protective energy supply contracts was instrumental in the creation of New York State’s first community choice aggregation (CCA) energy program. Joule is the only company in NY State offering CCA administrative services with a Public Service Commission-approved implementation plan that integrates community solar projects; and only Joule has the expertise, relationships, and experience to effectively design, implement, and manage such a program. Joule’s innovative renewable energy strategy is driving new regulation and encouraging the NY State Public Service Commission to rapidly advance innovative solutions. Having created the blueprint to guide communities through a smooth and empowering decision process, Joule aims to scale its Community Power model across NY State and beyond. Joule also offers capacity tag management services to businesses wishing to reduce their electricity costs by strategically managing their energy consumption. Joule Community Power is a division of Joule Assets. To learn more, visit
joulecommunitypower.com.
Contacts
Victor Melendez
Director, Municipal Relations & Outreach
victor@joulecommunitypower.com
