Salem PowerChoice To Pay One-Third Of National Grid's Price Spike

SALEM, MA — Salem residents enrolled in the city's PowerChoice will pay about one-third of National Grid's expected electric rates this winter, according to figures provided by the city.

While National Grid announced plans to dramatically increase supply prices from 11.491 cents per kilowatt hour to 33.891 cents per kilowatt hour beginning on Nov. 1, residents currently enrolled in the city's electricity program will have their rates fixed through December 2024.

The city said the program will save the average customer about $108 per month and will save the city about $9.9 million this winter. National Grid's new rates — which it said are needed because of a spike in natural gas prices, the war in Ukraine, and other factors — will be in place through April 2023.

The PowerChoice Standard rate will stay at $11.317 cents, while the PowerChoice Green rate is $13.709 for 100 percent renewable energy, and the PowerChoice Basic rate is $10.750.

New electricity customers in Salem are encouraged to enroll, and currently active Salem PowerChoice participants are free to move between program options at any time with no fee or penalty.

However, any customer that previously opted out of the PowerChoice program and now enrolls may be charged the market rate through the end of the current contract.

PowerChoice cannot guarantee any future price savings beyond the current contract.

More information about the Salem PowerChoice program is available here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)