The Belmont Electricity Supply Study Committee (the “Committee”) was formed in 2003 following a vote of the 2003 Annual Town Meeting. Appointed to the Committee were Ashley Brown, Patricia DiOrio, Robert Forrester, Robert Kenny and Gretchen McClain. The Committee has been asked to:
1. conduct a study of the potential for opening Belmont’s electric system to allow electric consumers in Belmont the option to take generation service from competitive suppliers (“retail choice”);
2. hold a public hearing on this matter; and
3. make recommendations regarding the future of retail choice in Belmont.
This study was initiated to comply with a requirement in Massachusetts’ 1997 Electric Industry Restructuring Act. The Act granted customers of the Commonwealth’s investor_owned utilities the ability to select suppliers of generation service of their choice, rather than take the generation supply offered by their electric utility. The Act does not require or obligate towns served by municipal utilities to provide retail choice. However, it does require municipal utilities to conduct a study addressing whether they should offer their customers the same choice.
During the first half of 2004, the Committee, with support from Belmont Municipal Light Department (BMLD) and the consulting firm La Capra Associates, assembled information on (1) BMLD’s power supply, (2) retail choice systems in Massachusetts and throughout the United States (US), and (3) New England’s power markets. With this information, the Committee produced a report to describe the context, and set forth the most realistic options and policy questions that Belmont should consider in deciding whether to pursue retail choice and, if pursued, how.
On June 2, 2004, the Committee distributed this study to the community for consideration and comment. The report and associated appendices and reference materials were made available at BMLD’s offices, on BMLD’s web site, at the Town Clerk’s Office, and at the Belmont Library.
The Committee met with the Board of Selectmen on June 14, 2004 to present the report and to describe the Committee’s plan for public input. This meeting occurred during a regular, public meeting of the Board and was noticed to the Community in advance.
The Committee held a public hearing on July 20 to hear comments on the Report. Notices of the public hearing were published in the Belmont Citizen-Herald on June 24, 2004 and again on July 15, 2004. Notice of the public hearing also appeared on Belmont’s Community TV Channel 8. Participation in this hearing was very limited and no one offered comments in support of retail choice. In addition to the public hearing, the Committee solicited the views of the ten largest customers of BMLD and received no substantive feedback.
The Committee also invited written comments on the Report during the period of June 2, 2004 to September 10, 2004. Notice of the comment period appeared on the BMLD website, at BMLD’s offices, at the Town Clerk’s Office and at the Belmont Library. The Committee received no written comments on the report.
The Committee has now completed this work and offers this report on our work and our recommendations to the Town for its consideration. The study and public input process conducted over the past year fulfills Belmont’s requirements under the Act.
The Committee has unanimously concluded that Belmont should not implement retail choice in any form at this time. However, the Committee is also unanimous in concluding that actions are needed to better position Belmont and the BMLD in the new, deregulated wholesale and retail electric markets. We recommend that BMLD actively monitor developments in wholesale and retail power markets and proceed with planning for procurement of supplies for 2008 and beyond. We also recommend formation of a new Light Board to provide direction and oversight of the BMLD procurement process.
The Committee also wishes to acknowledge the invaluable support of this effort provided by Tim McCarthy and the Belmont Municipal Light Department throughout this process.
Respectfully submitted,
Ashley Brown, Chairman
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