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AC–2015ATM PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE FundsFunding Committee Article 35: Accept MGL Chapter 90- RequestedSourceRecommendation I, Section 1 (Complete Streets Program) Approve (8-0) NoneN/A This article proposes that the town accept Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90-I, § 1, as amended, the “Complete Streets Program”, to allow the Town to participate in, apply for and receive funding from said section and Section 6121-1318 of sessions law, Chapter 79 of the Acts of 2014. Section 6121-1318 pro- vides “for complete street certification program established pursuant to Chapter 90-I of the General Laws to be disbursed in the form of grants to certified cities and towns for infrastructure and planning; provided that not less than 33 percent of the grants awarded shall be issued to cities and towns with a median household income below the average of the Commonwealth.” The Committee recommends approval of this request (8-0). FundsFunding Committee Article 36: Authorize Community RequestedSourceRecommendation Electrical Aggregation Program Approve (8-0) NoneN/A At the request of the Sustainable Lexington Committee, Town Meeting is requested to vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to enter into a Community Choice Electrical Aggregation Program and contract Chap- for electric supply for Lexington residents and businesses pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws ter 164, § 247, as amended, part of t he 1997 “Act Relative to Restructuring the Electric Utility Indus- try in the Commonwealth”. The Act created a competitive power generation market in Massachusetts and allows all Massachusetts’ consumers to choose among power suppliers. It was believed that some consumers would choose a sup- plier based upon cost of power alone, while others might choose based upon resource mix (solar, wind versus coal, oil etc.). It was predicted that consumer choice would create competition among electricity suppliers sufficient to drive down the overall cost of electricity. In practice, only large commercial customers have been able to secure the benefits of cheaper power be- cause of economies of scale. Individual consumers have been left behind; they have not chosen competi- tive suppliers and so have not benefitted from the lower price of power available in the competitive elec- tricity marketplace. It has proven too expensive for electricity companies to go door-to-door to secure residential customers. And, it has proven to be both complicated and time consuming for most individuals to research and choose the right supplier for their households. In Lexington, only 10% of residential cus- tomers have switched to competitive suppliers whereas 86% of the electricity consumed by Lexington’s commercial customers is from purchases through competitive electricity suppliers. These large commer- cial customers have secured lower rates by switching. The Act established a municipal aggregation (“Community Choice”) option as an efficient and cost effec- tive way to enable residential customers to benefit from bulk purchasing of power. If this request is ap- proved, Lexington residents and businesses will be able to consolidate their demand and seek proposals for cheaper and/or cleaner sources of power. To do this, the Town’s electricity broker would develop an aggregation plan that would be reviewed and approved by the Board of Selectmen, the Massachusetts De- partment of Energy Resources, and the Department of Public Utilities. Once the plan is approved, the broker would solicit bids to supply power for participants in the municipal aggregation program, all at the broker’s own cost and risk (at no cost to the Town). Once the Town chooses its competitive supplier, there is no obligation to proceed, and no cost to the town, if none of the proposals are acceptable. 39