Community Choice Aggregation
Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a program that allows Massachusetts municipalities to voluntarily bundle or "aggregate" the electrical purchasing power of its households, effectively creating a town-wide buying group. By doing this, the town can establish contracts to obtain electrical services that are more responsive to community interests — either lower cost or "greener" sources of the electricity supply. By aggregating, a town gains leverage to negotiate better individual rates with competitive suppliers, as well as determining various options for green power sources. The household gets to pick the type of service it wants — this is the "choice."
A Town Meeting vote is required to authorize the Select Board to initiate exploration of the CCA program. Approval of the Warrant Article at Town Meeting would allow Shutesbury to investigate electricity suppliers, to seek competitive bids on source options, and eventually to contract an electrical supplier that meets our needs (or to reject all bids and keep the status quo).
