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| MAMEC is the alliance of municipalities and organizations supporting legislation to allow new municipal electric utilities (or munis) in Massachusetts – beyond the 41 munis already in existence – so that cities and towns have a choice for electricity distribution.
Sign our petition NOW: over 2,000 people have signed a petition asking the Legislature to allow new munis in Massachusetts; click here to sign the petition and ask others to sign it at www.tinyurl.com/munipetition!
Click here for a press release about the petition and here for comments people made.
Latest news: click here to see the economics of a muni replacing Unitil in Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Townsend and Ashby.
Investor-owned utilities (or IOUs like NStar) charge consistently more than munis for the same electricity:
Electric bill (500 kWh/month) 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009NStar $/month: $66 $66 $79 $103 $95 $100 $97
% above munis: 27% 27% 41% 67% 53% 44% 39%
National Grid $/month: $55 $60 $66 $80 $83 $87 $82
% above munis: 6% 15% 18% 29% 33% 25% 17%
Unitil $/month: $67 $69 $77 $101 $101 $105 $102
% above munis: 29% 33% 38% 63% 63% 52% 46%
Munis (average) $/month: $52 $52 $56 $62 $62 $69 $70
Source: MMWEC surveys for residential usage of 500 kWh per month
Legislative activities: 47 legislators, led by Representative Jay Kaufman (15th Middlesex) and Senator Robert O'Leary (Cape & Islands) co-sponsor legislation to allow new munis – Bills H3087 and S1527. The Legislature held a public hearing on September 9, 2009: read here what happened.
35 Representatives co-sponsor House bill H3087: Jay Kaufman, Geraldo Alicea, Cory Atkins, Jennifer Benson, William Brownsberger, Jennifer Callahan, Steven D'Amico, Viriato deMacedo, Stephen DiNatale, Sean Garballey, Anne Gobi, Denis Guyer, Robert Hargraves, Jonathan Hecht, Louis Kafka, Kay Khan, Robert Koczera, Stephen Kulik, Timothy Madden, Paul McMurtry, Charles Murphy, Matthew Patrick, Sarah Peake, Denise Provost, Robert Rice, Jr., Richard Ross, John Scibak, Frank Smizik, Christopher Speranzo, Thomas Stanley, Ellen Story, Timothy Toomey, Jr., Cleon Turner, Martha Walz and Alice Wolf.
12 Senators co-sponsor Senate bill S1527: Robert O'Leary, Marc Pacheco, Cynthia Creem, James Eldridge, Susan Fargo, Jennifer Flanagan, Anthony Galluccio, Patricia Jehlen, Brian Joyce, Michael Knapik, Anthony Petruccelli and Bruce Tarr.
Here is our annotated summary of the January 28, 2010 DOER report about munis, prepared pursuant to section 107 of the Green Communities Act.
"I see [...] municipal electric utility companies adding competition and lowering consumer prices", Governor Deval Patrick said in 2006.
Compared with IOUs, besides lower residential rates (see above) munis also offer:
> cheaper electricity for businesses and schools: if NStar charged as little as munis, NStar customers would save about $750 million each year on their electric bills.
> better reliability (fewer and shorter outages) and better customer service.
As measured by JD Power, NStar was almost last among utilities nationwide for customer satisfaction in 2006 and National Grid also ranked low:
2006 nationwide ranking Rating by Residential customers Rating by Business customers
NStar 74th out of 76 utilities last out of 51 utilities
National Grid 55th out of 76 utilities 26th out of 51 utilities
> greater responsiveness to local priorities: use green energy,
underground wires to improve aesthetics and reliability
 Lexington now (NStar) Lexington with a Muni?
Watch a 13-minute video about why new munis are needed, and follow the presentation.
State law already includes a process for a city or town to form a muni by acquiring the IOU's local assets at fair value. But the century-old language effectively gives IOUs a veto over new munis. As a result, no muni was formed in Massachusetts since 1926. Bills H3087 and S1527 clarify the State law and give municipalities the option to form a muni.
Bills H3087 and S1527 will introduce competition in the distribution of electricity: even if very few munis are created, IOUs will have an incentive to keep their customers satisfied and offer lower rates, something they have not needed to worry about for many decades.
Watch a 1-hour TV program about munis and why Massachusetts needs more munis.
Read the white paper prepared for Governor Deval Patrick's transition team in 2006.
Join MAMEC's efforts: support Bills H3087 and S1527 and ask your State legislators to also support them.
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