Newton Power Choice is offered by the City as Newton’s default electric power supplier for residents and businesses. Customers are enrolled automatically in NPC’s Standard plan (which gets 82% of its power from premium renewable sources in New England) unless they choose NPC’s 100% Green plan, NPC’s Basic plan (20% premium renewable), or opt-out of the NPC program completely and choose another supplier.
Newton’s Energy Coach, Liora Silkes, said, “68% of Newton households are currently enrolled at some level of Newton Power Choice. About 8% of the NPC accounts are at the 100% Green level. Newton Power Choice has lowered the total emissions from residential electricity usage by 28%, according to the Newton Emission Inventory.”
CleanChoice Energy is another supplier of electricity, and through a prominent marketing campaign it is offering Newton residents power sourced 100% from wind/solar energy.
Green Newton is warning Newton residents not to confuse the two suppliers, and it reports hearing from residents that their electricity costs increased significantly — almost doubling — after switching to CleanChoice Energy. After reviewing recent Eversource bills, Newton resident Sue Shklar told Green Newton, “I was astonished to see the sharp increase in the supplier charge on my electricity bill, so I didn’t waste any time switching from CleanChoice to Newton Power Choice to get a more affordable supplier rate!”
All electric power in Newton is distributed by Eversource, which acquires energy from various suppliers in proportion to the usage and supplier choices of its individual customers. Each customer’s bill from Eversource separates the total cost into the cost of distribution (by Eversource) and the cost of supply, and it identifies the supplier and that supplier’s cost of supply per kWh (kilowatt hour). Green Newton recommends that residents review their Eversource electric bills to compare the cost per kWh (kilowatt hour) with the rates posted by Newton Power Choice.
