The price of electricity is going up. 

Barrington officials announced that the winter pricing for residents enrolled in the Barrington Community Electricity program was set at 16.929 per kilowatt hour. The winter rate reflects an increase over the summer rate, which was 13.519 per kilowatt hour.

A press release from Barrington officials balanced the notice of the rate increase with some good news.

“The program’s winter pricing for the default electricity will cost less than Rhode Island Energy’s residential supply, while continuing to offer 5% more clean energy from Rhode Island based sources,” stated the release.

In addition, Barrington residents enrolled in the program will receive the bill credits recently announced by the Governor’s executive order and the RI Energy Hold Harmless settlement. 

“These include a roughly $20 credit for residential customers for months January through March and a $14 credit beginning October 2026 (for a typical customer using 500 kWh monthly),” stated the release. 

“While the program’s supply prices, like that of Rhode Island Energy’s supply, are increasing this winter, the bill credits mentioned above will keep customers' total bills over the winter pricing period at or below their total cost from this summer.”

The Barrington Community Electricity program offers participants an opportunity to select the level of renewable energy distributed to their home or business. For example, residents who are enrolled at the “Standard” level receive 5 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. Those in the “50” program receive 50 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources, and there is a 100 percent option as well. The greater the amount of renewable energy, the higher the price per kilowatt hour. 

“The additional renewable energy in the program is sourced entirely from local Rhode Island projects, including the Narragansett Bay Commission wind turbines at Fields Point in Providence, solar in West Greenwich and additional wind turbines in Coventry,” stated the press release. “Program participants annually purchase more than 2,544 megawatt-hours of voluntary renewable energy, equivalent to displacing over 1.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.”

The town allows participants to switch between the Barrington Community Electricity program options at any time. Participants may also leave the program at any time and return to Rhode Island Energy supply without fees or penalties. (Rhode Island Energy’s residential “Last Resort Service” this winter is 17.029 per kilowatt hour and does not include any additional renewable energy.)

“Non-participants may join the program at any time,” stated the release. 

Barrington is one of the eight communities in the state’s first municipal energy aggregation program. The other towns are Central Falls, Narragansett, Newport, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, Providence and South Kingstown. A company called Good Energy is serving as the consultant for the program.