By Eli Cloutier, Belmont Voice contributor
In one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Paris Accord, a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to mitigate the impact of climate change.
More recently, the administration placed a freeze on wind project approvals.
At the local level, however, efforts to meet climate goals continue forward.
In 2023, 68% of Belmont Light’s power supply came from Renewable Energy Certificates, which are proof that a certain amount of electricity came from a renewable source. About 26% of them were Class I, which are generated from high-value renewable sources such as solar and wind, putting Belmont Light above the state-required threshold of 22%, said Dwayne Breger, director of the Clean Energy Extension at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This year the requirement is 27%.
In addition to the Renewable Energy Certificates, 21% of Belmont Light’s 2023 power supply came from hydropower, 9% from wind, and 4% from solar.
Breger said it’s important for utilities to obtain as much energy as they can from renewable sources. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which accelerates climate change and causes long-lasting damage to the planet.
“We’ve got a climate emergency,” he said. “We have an existential threat.”
Despite the challenges posed by the new presidential administration — which has been hostile to renewable energy — Belmont Light General Manager Craig Spinale and Belmont Light Board Member David Beavers aren’t worried about the future of Belmont Light.
Belmont Light, the nonprofit utility that provides electricity to the town’s residents and businesses, is twice as reliable as big, investor-owned utilities, yet charges customers far lower rates.
How does it do it?
Unlike big for-profit utilities like Eversource and National Grid that need to return profits to shareholders, municipal electric companies are typically nonprofit entities governed by the communities they serve. Founded in 1898, Belmont Light is one of Massachusetts’ 41 municipal light plants and now serves a population north of 26,000.
The typical Belmont Light customer experiences 0.53 outages a year lasting an average of 56 minutes. The average investor-owned utilities customer faces almost double the outages (1.02 per year) and more than triple the outage times (174 minutes), according to the American Public Power Association.
“Why exist as a light department or a utility if you can’t keep the lights on?” said Spinale.
With dedicated line crews working strictly for Belmont customers, it can test underground lines and repair overhead lines faster, Spinale said.
Spinale worked for National Grid for 15 years in engineering operations before joining Belmont Light in 2012 as the director of operations. In 2020, Spinale became Belmont Light’s general manager.
Spinale has lived in Belmont for around 13 years, and he says he’s never lost power for more than 24 hours — even that’s “a stretch.” In his time at National Grid, Spinale covered areas such as the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts and the central western area of New Hampshire.
But it’s not only reliability that distinguishes municipal light plants from the for-profit companies — it’s also the prices. On average, municipal light plants rates are 42 percent lower than traditional investor-owned utilities such as Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil, according to data provided by Belmont Light.
In 2023, Belmont Light customers’ average monthly bill was $127.55. By comparison, National Grid’s was $190, Eversource’s was $188 in eastern Massachusetts and $175 in western Massachusetts, and Unitil’s was $216, according to the Massachusetts Alliance for Municipal Electric Choice.
Municipal light plants enter into contracts while investor-owned utilities are allowed to change their rates at six-month intervals. That can make a big difference in the rates.
Belmont Light has contracts of up to 25 years, which helps avoid seasonal price swings. It tries to keep rates stable for customers, which is why it tends to use longer contracts, Spinale said.
Electricity prices rose significantly after the invasion of Ukraine, but Belmont residents were protected because of the longer contracts, said Beavers.
“We are diversified. A lot of these are flat rates — they don’t go up,” Beavers said. “We were padded because we had these fixed-rate contracts.”
Customers of investor-utilities, on the other hand, can experience more price fluctuations.
“They’re beholden to the market at any given time,” Spinale added.
Not only do municipal light plants like Belmont Light have significantly lower rates than traditional investor-owned utilities, but its energy supply comes entirely from renewable sources, according to its website.
The utility company remains ever active in the community, even in ways one might not expect a municipal light plant to be. It helps move wrestling mats at Belmont High School and installs the town’s Christmas lights.
“The fact that we’re able to help the community more than what an [investor-owned utility] does,” Spinale said. “That’s the biggest win with a [municipal light plant].”
Eli Cloutier is a journalism student at Boston University. This story is part of a partnership between The Belmont Voice and the Boston University Department of Journalism.