In the Community
Concord Light is proud to be a part of the Concord community. Since 1898, we have provided reliable service and quick response to outages.
Concord had a relatively mild winter and spring in 2012 until Superstorm Sandy roared through town in late October. High winds and tree damage caused outages affecting approximately 3,500 customers — the likes of which we haven't seen in Concord for some 20 years. Our Metering and Customer Service teams continuously fielded outage calls from our customers for 72 hours while our Engineering Department and Line Crew Supervisor prioritized and assigned work.
The line crew worked relentlessly, joined by mutual aid crews from Hingham, Mansfield, and Groton. Within the first 36 hours, 93% of our customers had electric service. The remaining 530 customers were restored over the next 39 hours. Over the following weeks, our crews focused on additional clean up and permanent repairs. In the end, the storm required more than 2,500 work-hours to field customer calls and repair damage as quickly as possible.
THANK YOU to all our customers for your extraordinary support, patience, and understanding during Superstorm Sandy.
In-lieu-of-tax-payment
As a municipal utility, Concord Light is exempt from paying taxes to the town; however, we do make a payment to the town each year called a PILOT (payment in-lieu of taxes) based on the amount equal to what NSTAR would pay in property taxes were they serving Concord.. Concord Light will make an in-lieu-of-tax payment of $447,800 to the town in 2013. In 2012, Concord Light made an in-lieu-of-tax payment of $385,000; the payment to the town was $380,000 in 2011.
Good Neighbor Energy Fund
With electric bill inserts and newsletter stories, Concord Light encourages people to donate directly to the Salvation Army's Good Neighbor Energy Fund. The fund is available to eligible Massachusetts residents who need assistance to pay their electric bill because of temporary financial difficulties and are not eligible for state or federal energy assistance.
Hugh Cargill Trust
Concord Light contributes funds annually to the Hugh Cargill Trust which helps eligible Town residents with emergency assistance to pay their electric bills.
Residential Rate Assistance
Concord Light began our Residential Rate Assistance program in 2006 to help Concord residents in financial need. Eligible customers are able to lower their bills by as much as 50%. As of February 2013, there were 139 Concord households enrolled in this program.
Minuteman ARC partnership
Concord Light has partnered with the clients from Minuteman ARC for 24 years. Minuteman ARC assists us with stuffing envelopes and mailing both electric and water bills. They share our offices and are an integral part of our operation.
Concord Light Open House
Concord Light hosts an Open House to celebrate Public Power Week in early October. Public Power Week is an annual event planned to highlight the power of local service and observed by utilities that supply electricity on a not-for-profit basis to more than 43 million U.S. residents and businesses. Approximately 160 Concord residents and their families attended the last event which included displays on energy efficient lighting, solar energy, demonstrations on weatherstripping and identifying heat leaks, and learning about how electricity is delivered to the home. The next Open House will be held in October 2013.
Senior lunch
Each fall, Concord Light buys lunch and our volunteers serve the meal to approximately 85 senior citizens during the Council on Aging "Wednesday Senior Lunch" program held at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center. It's hard to say who enjoys this event more – the seniors or Concord Light staff!
Annual holiday tree lighting
Concord Light line crew decorates trees outdoors for the holidays using thousands of energy efficient LED lights in the West Concord business district and at the Town House.
Energy conservation services
Concord Light offers our residential customers energy savings advice and no-charge energy audits; we provide discounts on full-scale audits for our commercial customers. We also offer the following rebate programs:
- Solar Photovoltaic
- Electric Heat Weatherization
- Central Air Conditioning
- CFL & LED Lighting
- Energy Star Appliances
- Electric Thermal Storage (ETS) Heating
Energy and electrical safety education
Concord Light staff conduct a presentation for the third grade students at the Willard, Alcott, and Thoreau schools. The program teaches students about energy efficiency and electrical safety. The program includes demonstrations and other hands-on activities for the students.
In addition, Concord Light has an educational website, e-Smart Kids. The site is intended for kids, their parents, and teachers to help them learn about electricity and how to use it safely and wisely while having fun with games and experiments.
Newsletters for our residential and business customers
Concord Light publishes the bi-monthly Concord News newsletter for our residential customers. Concord News contains helpful energy conservation ideas for homeowners, ways to save money with off-peak rates, updates on current events, community news, and financial information. The newsletter is printed on recycled paper using 100% post-consumer fiber. The paper is manufactured using biogas enery and is certified EcoLogo, processed chlorine free, and FSC recycled.
Business News is Concord Light's quarterly newsletter for our business customers. Concord Light also has an e-newsletter for its business customers. The e-newsletter is a streamlined and environmentally-friendly alternative to the paper version.
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