SELCO to benefit from clean energy deal with Hydro-Quebec
By Elaine Thompson, Telegram & Gazette Staff
Published Nov 9, 2020
SHREWSBURY – Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operations is participating in a five-year power flow rights agreement that will increase the amount of carbon-free generation in its power portfolio.
SELCO’s power portfolio was 36.4% carbon-free in 2019. This transaction, which began Nov. 1, increases its carbon-free generation by approximately 6%.
A lineman restocks his truck at Shrewsbury Electric and Cable Operations. T&G Staff File Photo/Tom Rettig
Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, of which SELCO is a member, and the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative signed the agreement with Hydro-Quebec, a Canadian public utility. The power is flowing on existing transmission lines to which MMWEC and CMEEC have contractual rights to transmit from Canada.
Under the deal, in exchange for monthly payments from Hydro-Quebec, the MMWEC and CMEEC contractual transmission rights are transferred to Hydro-Quebec, and Hydro-Quebec will flow clean hydro-power from northern Quebec to a delivery terminal just outside of Boston. The arrangement brings clean, carbon-free hydro-power for use in New England. As one of MMWEC’s members, SELCO will benefit from this agreement.
In the five-year power purchase transaction SELCO will receive 2 megawatts of power per hour, enough to power 2,920 homes per year. SELCO is one of 19 MMWEC member utilities purchasing a total of 15 megawatts through this contract, which represents 131,400-megawatt hours annually. Other MMWEC municipal utilities include Ashburnham, Boylston, Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Sterling, Templeton, and West Boylston.
“We are very excited to bring this opportunity to our community," SELCO General Manager Christopher Roy said in the announcement. "Firm power is most often provided by fossil-fueled generation, and hydro is an excellent carbon-free resource to transition baseload to cleaner sources. In addition, as SELCO crosses the 40% mark for non-emitting resources in our energy portfolio, Shrewsbury is a clear example of how the Commonwealth's emissions reductions goals can be achieved in an expeditious and fiscally responsible manner.”