Hampshirecca.org reaches across the Commonwealth

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Aug. 17, 2015 - PRLog -- – August 13, 2015 - NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Hampshire Council of Governments today launched the only electricity Community Choice Aggregation website dedicated exclusively to Massachusetts cities and towns. Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a way for one or a group of cities and towns to consolidate their purchasing power in order to negotiate favorable electricity supply rates on behalf of residents and businesses. The Hampshire CCA program is currently the largest in Massachusetts, with 51 municipalities signed on, serving over 250,000 residents. The Hampshire Council of Governments is a body politic with a mission to help Massachusetts cities and towns save money.

The new CCA website functions as a resource for all of the state’s 351 cities and towns. The 51 municipalities already aggregated through the Hampshire Council of Governments program can access information about their town’s specific program. Residents and businesses in cities and towns that are yet to aggregate are served with interactive tools to lobby their local leaders for this cost-saving choice. Several municipalities—those served by municipal power plants—do not qualify for aggregation, and users of the site will be informed of that as well.

In addition to serving as an agent for CCA, the Hampshire Council of Government’s competitive electricity supply service, Hampshire Power, serves current Aggregations in fourteen Massachusetts municipalities. These municipalities experienced a savings of $10.5 million in a 16 month period as a result of the service. The program in Lowell is being served with 100% New England generated renewable energy credits—a unique program that increases demand for sustainable electricity products in the Commonwealth.

Customers of Hampshire CCA and Hampshire Power receive electricity supply on a fixed-rate basis, so consumers benefit from greater predictability in their energy bills and avoid the shock of seasonal rate hikes.

Todd Ford, Executive Director, stated that “The website will be a huge aid to our current and prospective customers. Our zip code-driven search engine serves as an educational tool for our current customers, while offering residents in underserved cities and towns an opportunity to lobby their local leaders for lower prices. Most of the $22 Billion Massachusetts spends on energy every year leaves the Commonwealth. We’re making big steps to keep more of that money in our local economy. This is the next step in the Energy Revolution.”

Lee Frankl, Deputy Director for the Council, added: “Massachusetts is the fourth most expensive energy state in the nation. We’re on a mission to make our state a more attractive place to start and grow a business, while protecting residents from unpredictable seasonal price swings. We’ve got low overhead, no shareholders, and no overpaid executives. We don’t seek to maximize profit, we seek to maximize savings.  We’re beating the big guys at their own game, and Massachusetts is the winner.”

The Hampshire Council of Governments thanks Zoe Design Works (http://www.zoedesignworks.com/) and Word-Lift (http://www.word-lift.com/) for their work on this website.

The Hampshire Council of Governments is a consortium of towns solving local problems by acting regionally. In 1998 the residents of Hampshire County voted to charter the Hampshire Council of Governments as the successor to Hampshire County.  We are a body politic and corporate; our charter ratified by the voters and by Massachusetts General Law 34B, §20(b). Our offices are still in the same place they have been since 1662, at the corner of King and Main in downtown Northampton.

www.hampshirecca.org

www.hampshirecog.org

Contact
Lee Frankl
lfrankl@hampshirecog.org

413-584-1300 x122