The Town of East Hampton and the advocacy group Renewable Energy Long Island will co-host a webinar on community choice aggregation on Monday from noon to 1 p.m.
Community choice aggregation, or C.C.A., is a program that allows a local government to procure electricity and/or a natural gas supply on behalf of its residents, businesses, and municipal accounts from a provider other than an area’s primary utility. In a C.C.A. program, a municipality enters into contracts with energy service companies for power supply purchase options within its jurisdiction. The municipality selects the default power supply, and individual customers are given the choice to either purchase that supply or another available option. Options include power produced through 100-percent renewable sources, power produced through nonrenewable sources, or a blend.
C.C.A. customers pay the service companies for the power supply, and pay the utility, which continues to deliver power through the existing grid, for the delivery. Because power supply and delivery costs are separated by the utility and C.C.A. affects only the supply side, transmission and distribution costs will not increase as a result of a municipality's establishing a C.C.A.
For East Hampton, using such a service is seen as an important means of meeting the town’s goal to achieve 100 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030. C.C.A.s that include options to purchase green power, Lauren Steinberg of the Natural Resources Department told the town board during a June public hearing, “help to strengthen and grow renewable energy markets and influence those markets toward the future production of energy from renewable sources, including the development of local or renewable energy generation.”
Power can be provided at a lower cost than through the utility, and C.C.A.s offers rate stabilization through extended contracts.
Monday’s webinar is to feature opening remarks by Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc followed by a presentation by Dan Welsh of Sustainable Westchester, who will discuss that county’s experience since implementing a C.C.A. program in 2016. Brad Tito, program manager of Communities and Local Government with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and Justin Bell of the Long Island Power Authority will also speak. Ms. Steinberg and Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, will take part.
The town board voted in June to engage Renewable Energy Long Island to further the Energize East Hampton initiative, a multifaceted program to transition from fossil fuels to energy derived from renewable sources.
Registration for the webinar is required and can be completed at energizeeh.org/webinars. Questions or comments can also be submitted via the online registration form. An invitation link will be provided by email before the webinar.
