FirstLight on Dec. 5 announced a new power purchase agreement with the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company.
MMWEC is the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities in Massachusetts.
Through the agreement, participating communities will purchase up to 69 gigawatt hours per year of hydroelectric power produced by two Connecticut hydroelectric facilities and equivalent renewable energy credits. The agreement will run from 2024 through 2029.
It will expand the carbon-free portion of the communities’ power supply ahead of Massachusetts’ mandate for municipal utilities to obtain 50 percent of their electric supply from carbon-free sources by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Through the agreement, FirstLight’s Stevenson Generating Station in Monroe, Connecticut, and Bulls Bridge Generating Station in New Milford, Connecticut, will supply the contracted clean power to MMWEC, which in turn will provide it to the participating communities.
The 14 public power entities participating in the MMWEC contract include Boylston Municipal Light Department, Groton Electric Light Department, Hull Municipal Light Plant, Ipswich Electric Light Department, Marblehead Municipal Light Department, Paxton Municipal Light Department, Peabody Municipal Light Plant, Princeton Municipal Light Department, Russell Municipal Light Department, Shrewsbury Electric & Cable Operations, Sterling Municipal Light Department, Templeton Municipal Light & Water Plant, Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department, and West Boylston Municipal Light Plant.
“We are thrilled to announce this new partnership with FirstLight and are proud to see so many MMWEC members participating – a true example of joint action and the ambition of our members in planning and preparing for the energy transition ahead of us,” said MMWEC CEO Ron DeCurzio. “Not only will this bolster members’ decarbonization efforts, but also, it will support the collective effort to provide reliable, low-cost power to ratepayers across the Commonwealth.”
