Frequently Asked Questions
Informational Meeting
The Town of Barrington and energy consultant Good Energy held a public informational meeting on Barrington’s new Community Electricity Aggregation Program on Thursday, March 23.
See the recording of the March 23 Barrington Electrical Aggregation Forum.
Additional information can be found on the program website, barringtoncommunityelectricity.com.
Program Information
The Town of Barrington announces that it will launch its electricity aggregation program, Barrington Community Electricity (BCE), in May 2023 at a rate of 9.361¢/kWh for residential customers. The program is designed to provide new, competitively priced electricity supply options, including the use of more renewable energy.
The program will offer a standard electricity option that will cost less than the current Last Resort Service rate from Rhode Island Energy while using 5% more renewable energy than required by state law.
The Barrington Town Council approved the program in June 2020. The Town joined six other municipalities to lead the way in Rhode Island and launch the state’s first municipal aggregation programs for residents and businesses. Barrington, Central Falls, Narragansett, Newport, Portsmouth, Providence, and South Kingstown combined their buying power to procure a common electricity supplier.
Good Energy is the consultant hired to develop and implement a community electricity aggregation program and launch an informational campaign to explain the program to the public including information on the program website at www.barringtoncommunityelectricity.com. After a competitive bidding process, Good Energy selected NextEra Services, LLC as the group’s electricity supplier.
The next steps after the launch of the program and additional information include the following:
- Eligible customers receive a Program Notification on behalf of the Town from the chosen electricity supplier for the program, NextEra Energy Services explaining the program benefits, products, and simple steps customers can take to leave (opt out) before the program begins.
- The program starts with automatic enrollment for everyone eligible in May 2023.
- No obligation and no penalty to leave the program.
- Rhode Island Energy will continue to deliver the electricity with the same quality of service, respond to outages, and manage all billing but customers will see a change in the bill’s “Supply” section.
- Electricity customers who are currently enrolled with a third-party supplier will not receive the Notification Letter and will not be automatically enrolled. These customers can voluntarily join the program, but are advised to check with their current supplier in case it may charge penalties or early termination fees if they leave that supplier during the term of their contract.
Three additional electricity options will also be offered in the program - a 100% renewable energy and 50% renewable energy options for those looking to have a significant climate impact, and an option with only the minimum amount of renewable energy required by state law for those seeking the lowest cost. The electricity rates will be fixed over an initial six-month period from May 2023 through November 2023.
The table below shows the prices for residential customers. Prices for commercial and industrial customers can be found on the Program website.
| Rhode Island Energy Last Resort Service (if you opt out) | Barrington Basic | Barrington Standard (automatic) | Barrington 50 | Barrington 100 |
|
Residential Price | 10.675 ¢/kWh * | 9.151 ¢/kWh | 9.361 ¢/kWh | 10.222 ¢/kWh | 12.321 ¢/kWh |
Voluntary Renewable Energy | None | None | Adds 5% voluntary renewable energy (RI New RECs) | Adds voluntary renewable energy (RI New RECs) to total 50% | Adds voluntary renewable energy (RI New RECs) to total 100% |
Duration | April to Sept.2023 | May to Nov. 2023 | May to Nov. 2023 | May to Nov. 2023 | May to Nov. 2023 |
* The Last Resort Service Rate above reflects the rate filed by Rhode Island Energy in RI PUC Commission Docket 23-01-EL on January 19, 2023, and includes components that may be adjusted by Rhode Island Energy. The Program cannot guarantee savings beyond the current term of Last Resort Service, as stated in the table above, because future Last Resort Service rates are unknown. |
All of the Program’s additional renewable energy will come from sources that qualify as Rhode Island New, and the Program will support a number of local Rhode Island projects, including sourcing power from wind turbines in Coventry and Providence and solar built on brownfields in Johnston, North Providence, and West Greenwich.
All Barrington residential and business electricity customers using Rhode Island Energy’s Last Resort Service electricity option are eligible for automatic enrollment in the Program’s standard electricity option as of their May 2023 meter read date.
For more information about the Barrington Community Electricity, go to www.barringtoncommunityelectricity.com or call the program’s supplier, NextEra Energy Service, at (877) 200-8619.
