City Council - Rules & Government Relations Committee

CITY OF EASTHAMPTON OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL Easthampton Municipal Building 50 Payson Ave., Ste. 100 Easthampton, Massachusetts 01027-2260 Telephone #: (413) 529-1400, ext. 460 Fax #: (413) 529-1417 MINUTES RULES AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Meeting 04/14/22 Attendees: R&GR Members: Councilor Homar Gomez, Chair Councilor Koni Denham, Clerk Remote Attendance: Councilor James Kwiecinski Other Attendees: Councilor Brad Riley, Councilor Owen Zaret, Councilor Tom Peake, Genny Beeman, Patrick Roche, Stefano Loretto, Jamie Paquette Meeting Called to Order at 5 pm. The meeting was video recorded Minutes approved Denham moved, Kwiecinski 2nd. Unanimous (3-0) 1. New Business A. Gender Non-binary “X” Designation on State Documents Resolution a. Introduced by Councilor Zaret resolution on Gender Neutral designation of “X” to be used on state forms. Introduction of Dr Beeman who discussed importance of “X” designation to non-binary population, which is the largest minority population that makes up the LGBTQ community. It is important that this community feels supported by the government of the Commonwealth. This is significant, particularly for younger members of the community because they may feel isolated and invisible, especially those alienated by their parents. Massachusetts is behind in its support for this community but can easily catch up. Councilor Kwiecinski – sees the importance of this in the community. Councilor Denham – Also, recognized the importance of this designation for students. Councilor Zaret – Asked Dr. Beeman about “gender neutral” as an actual reflection of the community and questioned the use of “gender non-binary” instead. Dr. Beeman prefers more inclusive language and use non-binary. Councilor Zaret – Proposed gender non-binary throughout the resolution. Councilor Kwiecinski – moved to change language, Denham 2nd. Vote – Unanimous (3-0) to change language. Councilor Zaret read the amended resolution. Councilor Kwiecinski moved to approve resolution, Denham 2nd. Vote Unanimous (3-0). B. Municipal Aggregation Resolution a. Councilor Zaret – introduced resolution for municipal aggregation and emphasized that several municipalities throughout Massachusetts are also adopting municipal aggregation. Jamie Paquette – Chair of energy advisory committee discussed working with consultants from Good Energy to promote clean renewable energy. Emphasis on more buying power for residents in purchasing energy together. Municipal aggregation is an opt-out program, no one has to participate. Patrick Roche from Good Energy gave a presentation – Good Energy works with 54 municipalities on aggregation. This resolution is an authorization to begin the process it does not imply expectation of signing a contract. It is understood that Eversource supplies energy, but municipal aggregation focuses on Easthampton taking local control over energy sourcing. The goals of aggregation include – environment impact, price stability, competitive rates, consumer choice, continuity. Examples include Somerville – been able to stay below the utility rates; Arlington – been able to stay below the utility rates; Dedham – prices change due to contract changes, but also able to stay below the utility rates. Participation is voluntary with automatic enrollment, no penalty or fee for leave before the program begins. It is an Easthampton brand to get community buy-in. The overall process includes Implementation to begin the process, Start + Plan, Review + Approve, Regulatory – No obligation to move forward. Explore the market and decide if the city is ready to make a bid, manage the bid process, the city decides to execute a contract, Outreach + Launch – After contract sign, Education process, Monitor + Opt up – monitor the supplier. There are communities that have been doing this for 5 plus years. It is important to understand that prices are not fixed they are contingent on the market. Currently the rates in Western Mass are the 2nd highest since 2005, except for 2014-2015. Good Energy cannot guarantee savings, but they have a good track record the monitoring the market. Councilor Kwiecinski requested review the experience of other Massachusetts communities. Good Energy will provide. Councilor Kwiecinski – Will the residents be able to make changes on the own? Will they go into the default rate? During the dips when the program rates are higher than the Eversource rate, consumers will want to drop out. What do you do to ensure that people don’t drop out of the program? Suppliers are aware of risks and try to include risks in their costs. Good Energy doesn’t see that much attrition because high rates aren’t that long. Stefano (from Good Energy) – people trust the program because they believe that the community is looking out for them. They understand that there may be shifts. They understand there is a goal and benefit. Some people don’t realize that Eversource changes its providers. Councilor Kwiecinski – Is there staff time that is needed for this? Patrick (from Good Energy) – Work with small town administrators and larger city managers, they haven’t had to bring in new staff. Staff time is needed for developing the plan, once in the approval plan, Good energy is taking the lead. Good Energy is drafting and presenting. Outreach stage – working to identify places and mediums to meet community members, Good Energy will print everything and work with the community to make sure the information is correct. Once running Good Energy communicate periodically to see how things are going. They take the lead on developing document. It is a light lift for the community. Jamie Paquette –  Energy committee would help at the committee level. Councilor Peake – Support for local control over prices is important when considering impact of community on the environment. This is not the end, but the beginning. We are not wedded to these consultants. Nothing is a final decision at this time. This is important so we can move forward. There are more conversations to come. Strongly supports this. President Gomez – Has any community started this and ended it. Good Energy - There are communities that have stopped the process. When you sign your first contract, you can sign a new contract or terminate their programs after one contract. They might not have gone to bid at the right time, particularly if rates were high. Yes, overall there are communities that launched a program and stopped the launch or ended the program. Good energy hasn’t had a community that has ended their contract. Their expertise is in group purchasing. Buying power improves with more communities involved – perhaps regional communities to leverage buying power. Jamie Paquette- reached out to Greenfield. They have a long running program and they have been successful. Stefano (from Good Energy) three companies do this work to consult with 164 communities. It’s a mature market. Motion – Councilor Kwiecinski, Denham 2nd. Vote – Unanimous vote (3-0) 6:08 pm - Motion to adjourn – Councilor Kwiecinski, Councilor Denham – 2nd. Vote unanimous (3-0)