For residents included in the community electricity aggregation program with the town of Dartmouth, energy supply costs will increase soon — but costs are still lower than current Eversource rates, and town officials expect it to stay that way. 

The standard plan for Dartmouth residents, which roughly 10,000 residents that have opted in for, will see supply costs rise from 10 cents per kilowatt-hour to over 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, said the town’s Energy Manager Kathleen Stanley at the Oct. 16 Select Board meeting. By contrast, the basic service price for residential customers on Eversource is just over 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. 

If residents would like, they may pay more (approximately 2 cents per kilowatt-hour more) to receive 100 percent renewable energy, rather than the now-standard 50 percent. Less than 100 residents currently opt into that option, Stanley said, which essentially allows them to contribute extra to the state’s renewable energy program if they would like to. 

While residents previously had three options for pricing plans, of various renewable-energy levels, the new contract only offers two plans. This decision was made by the aggregate group, Stanley said, rather than the town. The only way the town could go back to more options would be to leave the program, at which point Dartmouth would lose the purchasing power gained through the aggregate group. 

This change only affects residents that are part of the community electricity aggregation program, which came about in 2016 after the town partnered with nearly two dozen other communities in the state to increase their purchasing power for an energy contract. 

Dartmouth residents should receive letters in the mail explaining whether or not they need to take action to get onto the new contract, which residents currently on the aggregation program will need to do. 

The new rates come into effect in January 2024.