PORTSMOUTH — A program expected to save local residents money on their electric bills, increase renewable energy use and reduce carbon pollution, is finally going live May 1. 

The Town Council voted in 2020 to enter into the Community Electricity Aggregate Program in 2020 with Good Energy, and most residents will enter the program unless they choose to opt out by early next month. 

“This is happening across seven communities in Rhode Island, all at the same time,” Jamie Rhodes of Good Energy told the Town Council at its Feb. 27 meeting. Besides Portsmouth, the other communities that joined are Barrington, Providence, Central Falls, Newport, South Kingstown, and Narragansett. 

Although the inner workings of an energy aggregation program is complex, basically it involves several municipalities joining together to purchase electricity from third-party suppliers — any company that’s not Rhode Island Energy (formerly National Grid) — using power in numbers to negotiate better rates.

Rhodes said the program will allow Good Energy “to go out in the competitive market to see if we can bring in a rate lower than Rhode Island Energy has to offer.” 

Aside from hopefully lowering residents’ monthly electrical bills, the energy coming from these deals would also utilize a greater share of renewable sources, providing a moral incentive as well as a monetary one.

Customers of Rhode Island Energy have seen a hefty increase in their electric bills since October 2022, when the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for residential jumped from 7.81 cents to 17.785 cents, which remains the rate through the end of March. 

Although Rhode Island Energy filed for a 9.76-cent rate starting April 1 in January, it hasn’t been approved yet by the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC). Rhodes said he expects that price to go up around the 10-cent range; the PUC website, in fact, now lists the proposed residential rates for April through September as 10.675 cents.

“The standard rate for Portsmouth energy aggregation … is 9.361 cents,” Rhodes said. “The average user is about 500 kilowatt hours, so it gets to about $20 of savings (per month). That will be the default. If nobody does anything and they ignore the mail, the advertisements, the social media, they’ll be lined up to save some money on their electricity bills beginning in May.”

Rhodes was referring to the opt-out option, which has now begun and goes through April 3. Postcards started landing in eligible residents’ mailboxes early last week, with actual notification letters that included the pricing being delivered by this week. If you receive the notification letter, your account will be automatically enrolled in “Portsmouth Standard” at 9.361 cents per kWh starting with your May meter read. No action is necessary to receive this price. That option adds 5 percent voluntary renewable energy.

Any resident who does not want to be automatically enrolled in the program must opt out by April 3 by taking one of the following actions:

• Sign and return the opt-out card, which comes with a pre-paid envelop.

• Call Portsmouth’s supplier, NextEra Energy Services Rhode Island, at 888/387-1083.

• Submit the opt-out form at Electricity.PortsmouthRI.com.

“The reason why the opt-out period ends the month before the (May) meter read is we have about 200,000 people whose accounts are being moved over from Rhode Island Energy to aggregation program, and it just takes time,” Rhodes said.

Residents have other options besides “Portsmouth Standard.” You may also choose “Portsmouth Basic” at a cost of 9.151 cents per kWh, with no additional renewable energy; “Portsmouth 50” at 10.222 cents per kWh, which adds voluntary renewable energy to total 50 percent; or “Portsmouth 100” at 12.321 cents per kWh, which adds voluntary renewable energy to total 100 percent.

Rhodes said that throughout March, Good Energy will engage in community outreach and education efforts, and will soon host another community meeting to answer any questions or concerns.

For more information about the program, visit electricity.portsmouthri.com.