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The VILLAGE BEACON RECORD M O U N T S I N A I • M I L L E R P L AC E • S O U N D B E AC H • R O C K Y P O I N T • WA D I N G R I V E R • S H O R E H A M
Vol. 38, No. 33
March 9, 2023
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Community Choice Aggregation
Oceanic Breakthrough
U.N. agrees to terms of treaty to protect the world’s oceans
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Brookhaven joins energy revolution 2023 Oscars: predictions, picks and how to watch
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BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM Community choice aggregation, a revolution in energy procurement, is making a splash throughout Long Island. Starting in May, the Town of Brookhaven will launch a CCA program, contracting with England-based public limited company Good Energy for a fixed rate for natural gas consumers over the next two years. In an interview, Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) explained how the program would operate. Under the longstanding method of natural gas delivery in the town, National Grid — based in the U.K. and northeastern U.S. — purchases the supply and delivers the gas. CCA alters this dynamic. “CCA is just a method of purchasing a
commodity on a communitywide basis,” he said. Under the program, “all of the customers of National Grid in a certain area are getting together to say, ‘We’re going to jointly purchase fuel cooperatively from a different source.’” That source, Good Energy, has agreed to supply gas at a fixed price of 69.5 cents per therm. “That locks in the price for all customers” for two years, the councilmember said. National Grid, which still operates the delivery systems, will continue to bill customers for those services. The only section of the bill affected by the changes will be for energy supply. An August report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration states that the natural gas market saw record volatility last year due to demand changes, storms and geopolitical unrest. Given the many variables that contribute to fluctuations in gas prices, Kornreich suggested
Brookhaven homeowners and businesses would be less beholden to the volatility of the market under CCA. “We’re going to pay just one price for the next two years,” he said. The town is also hedging that the market price of natural gas will rise over the next two years. If that happens, CCA will deliver discounted gas to Brookhaven ratepayers throughout the contracted period. “The expectation that I have, as given to me by the corporate representatives with whom I met, is that there’s going to be a savings to the customers,” Kornreich said. “My hope is that this price is competitive over a two-year period.” He added, “Based on the models that they’ve shown me, this price will — over the long term — on average be lower than what they would have paid if they had just rode that market price.” STORY CONTINUED ON A5
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