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The exact amount of savings that residents and businesses could eventually see under the plan was not disclosed, but in a message to Patch, Kuhn said the move would undoubtedly be a benefit to the town.

“In this time of expensive utility bills, Community Power offers one way to help,” Kuhn wrote. “Community Power focuses on creating savings on the generation component of the utility bill by having the municipality act as purchaser for generation services at a reduced rate.”

With the adoption of the Sense of the Body resolution, Fairfield is sending a signal to the state legislature to pass enabling legislation allowing municipalities to enact Community Power programs.

The full Sense of the Body resolution:

WHEREAS, a local energy model called Community Power (aka Community Energy Aggregation, Community Choice Aggregation, Municipal Energy Aggregation among other terms) is a proven strategy to expand consumer choice, lower electric rates, and meet state and local environmental goals; and

WHEREAS, Community Power currently exists in ten states (CA, IL, OH, VA, MD, RI, NJ, NY, NH, and MA) and is a mechanism by which local governments use aggregate buying power to procure electrical power for municipal, residential, and commercial customers in their jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, Connecticut is one of 17 states and Washington, D.C. that operate a partially or fully deregulated utility market supplying virtually every person with utility services; and

WHEREAS, Community Power works in partnership with the electric utilities, which continue to provide power delivery, grid maintenance, and consolidated customer billing; and

WHEREAS, Community Power currently serves millions of customers around the country, and consistently exceeds utility performance in the areas of local choice, electric rates, renewable content, and greenhouse gas reductions; and

WHEREAS, the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel has condemned some past behavior of some individual retail suppliers marketing to individuals, and supported Community Power as an alternative that can protect consumer interests; and

WHEREAS, Community Power would provide benefits to the residents of the State of Connecticut in the form of lower electric rates, energy efficiency programs, and economic development, and these benefits are of particular value to low and moderate-income ratepayers; and

WHEREAS, recently utility rates have been rising at rates above inflation eroding the ability of taxpayers to meet their other needs; and

WHEREAS, many municipalities effectively purchase utility services for municipal needs in a manner similar to what Community Power enabling legislation would allow individual taxpayers to enjoy; and

WHEREAS, Community Power enabling legislation would have no significant negative fiscal impacts on Connecticut or municipalities and would provide significant local and regional economic development benefits; and

WHEREAS, Community Power also provides the opportunity to fund and implement a wide variety of local energy programs tailored to the needs of a community; and

WHEREAS, Community Power, if determined to be technically and financially feasible for Connecticut municipalities, could provide substantial environmental and economic benefits to the residents and businesses in the Town of Fairfield;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Representative Town Meeting of the Town of Fairfield that the Representative Town Meeting hereby indicates its interest in the potential for Community Power in the State of Connecticut and would support the State’s efforts in that regard. The Representative Town Meeting further indicates that state enabling legislation should, at a minimum, allow a Community Power municipality or group of municipalities to do the following:

Procure electricity on behalf of residents, businesses, and municipal accounts;
1. Automatically enroll residents and businesses that have not already chosen a third-party supplier, but also provide them with ample opportunities to opt out;
Click Here: UK football tracksuit2. Obtain all customer usage information from the utility that Community Power requires to fulfill its purposes;
3. Administer all energy efficiency funds paid by customers located within their jurisdictional boundaries for purposes of promoting and funding local energy efficiency programs; and
4. Obtain funding and develop local renewable energy projects; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the adoption of this Resolution in no way obligates the Town of Fairfield to participate in Community Power unless it so chooses by the adoption of an ordinance if authorized by the State.

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