Arlington Says Community Electricity Customers Will Save On Electric Bills

ARLINGTON, MA — The town's community electricity program will continue offering electricity supply rates below Eversource through the winter as the town reaches the halfway point of its current contract with Direct Energy.

Town officials announced that Arlington Community Electricity, or ACE, will continue to offer electricity supply rates below Eversource Basic Service from August 2026 through January 2027. The town is now about halfway through its 37-month electricity supply contract with Direct Energy, which began in November 2024 and runs through December 2027. The agreement made ACE Local Green, which contains 100 percent total renewable energy from Massachusetts Class I renewable energy sources, the program's default option. According to the town, it was the first municipal aggregation program in Massachusetts to make a 100 percent renewable energy product its default offering.

Based on current Eversource Basic Service rates, the town said customers enrolled in the Arlington Basic option would save approximately $113 from August 2026 through January 2027 compared with Eversource. Nearly 95 percent of ACE participants are enrolled in the default Arlington Local Green option and would save approximately $31 during the same period. Town officials noted future savings beyond January cannot be guaranteed because future Eversource Basic Service rates are unknown.

The update comes several months after 538 eligible low-income Arlington residents were automatically enrolled in the lower-cost Arlington Basic option in March. The town estimates those households will save about $165 annually compared with remaining enrolled in the default Arlington Local Green option.

Residents who have recently opened new electricity accounts are automatically enrolled in the ACE Local Green option and will receive a letter this summer explaining the program and the available electricity supply options. Customers may switch between ACE products, opt out of the program, or re-enroll at any time without penalty.

Arlington launched its community electricity aggregation program, formerly known as Arlington CCA, in 2017 after joining a growing number of Massachusetts municipalities using bulk purchasing to negotiate electricity supply on behalf of residents and businesses. The current contract lowered prices across all three program options while transitioning the program's electricity supplier from NextEra to Direct Energy. It also eliminated the former ACE Local Greenest option because the default Local Green product now contains 100 percent total renewable energy.

Arlington Community Electricity is the town's only municipal electricity supply program and encouraged residents to be cautious of third-party electricity offers that resemble official mailings.

More information about Arlington Community Electricity is available online.

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