Keep Framingham Affordable
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| Town soon to pay more for electricity | Tuesday, December 27, 2005 |
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| Tyler B. Reed / Daily News Staff | Metrowest Daily News |
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FRAMINGHAM -- The town is unlikely to ink another multiyear deal with an
electricity provider after its three-year contract with the company TransCanada
expires Feb. 28.
Energy costs have jumped so high in three years that the town likely would be forced to lock into a price more than double its current 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour rate, interim Town Manager Mark Purple said. The pricing for three- to five-year contracts now runs between 10 cents and 12 cents per kilowatt hour. "With the volatility of the market, I can't see locking into a rate of that magnitude," he said. Instead, the town likely will think more in the short term, and hope prices drop. Purple said he is considering either purchasing electricity in bulk through partnerships with other towns or signing on with NStar and paying fees based on a monthly rate. "I don't see anything really good out there right now," said Purple. "When we got 4.5 cents three years ago, it was a good deal for the town. It's a lot of sticker shock out there right now." Skipping out on a long-term contract will make budgeting more difficult for department heads, because they will guess what price they might be paying later in the year. "It's not going to be easy knowing what the exact number is going to be," Purple said. Superintendent Christopher Martes already has warned the School Committee that higher electricity costs after Feb. 28 could deplete this year’s budget. "We budgeted a little bit more figuring the energy costs were going up, but we’re concerned that it may not be enough," he said. He said he also will have to estimate what the prices might be a year from now when the School Committee plans for fiscal 2007, which begins July 1, 2006. "We need at some point in time to have a number," Martes said. Three years ago, when the town signed on with TransCanada, the schools joined the rest of the town to share the electricity contract for its buildings. The town pays the locked in rate to TransCanada plus a fee to NStar, which owns the electrical wires in town. Purple said he expects by early February to have an idea of how the town will proceed beyond Feb. 28. From there, David Proule, the schools director of business operations, will try to project the cost of energy for the next fiscal year. "We had a great three years," Purple said. "In the past year, when everything was going up and up...we were able to stay constant. It's time to come back into the room with everyone else." |
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