Power Supply
SELCO has an established, clear roadmap to 100% non-carbon power supply by 2032, per our Power Supply Policy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Standard, adopted in 2021. This ensures that we serve as a clean foundation upon which our currently fossil fueled energy system can switch to and decarbonize. In 2023, we made further incremental progress towards that goal, increasing our carbon-free position by 5%, from 50% to 55%. This was accomplished with 27% of our power supply coming from regional nuclear plants, 5% coming from NYPA hydropower, 6.4% from Hydro Quebec, 1% from Berkshire Wind, 0.3% from rebated residential solar systems in town, and 0.1% from our Green Light program.
SELCO supports a variety of renewable energy generation within our territory, especially solar, as we have a large system located atop the capped Landfill on Rt. 20 and we have a long standing PPA with another large system on Cherry St. SELCO has been in multiple discussions with commercial and industrial customers in town about accommodating the possibility of large-scale solar development. SELCO will lead the Police Station solar project and will oversee operation and maintenance of the facility. The project is the first step in a more broad collaborative effort between SELCO and town staff to bring solar to municipal buildings. This system is expected to be operational in late 2024.
In 2023, SELCO spearheaded a contract opportunity between MMWEC and FirstLight Power that will bring non-emitting hydropower from two different New England facilities to the portfolios of 15 different MLPs. The contract will run through January 2024 through December 2029, comes with ME Class 2 RECs that help satisfy mandates set forth by both SELCO’s own Power Supply Policy and the state’s GGES for MLPs, and offers pricing that compares well to conventional resources and other renewables.
