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Concord Light overview
Concord Light is a municipal-owned electric utility under the direction of the Town Manager with approximately 110 miles of streets in the service territory, and 7643 meters providing 190,000 MWhs to 6,378 residential; 1,196 commercial; and 69 municipal customers. Fifty-two percent of revenue comes from commercial and industrial customers; 42 percent from residential customers, and 6 percent from municipal customers.
Concord Light maintains a grid that consists of a Town-owned distribution system with substations, power lines, light poles, and transformers. We operate 3 electric distribution substations, and the substation at Forest Ridge is the primary substation which functions as a gateway for all electricity coming into Concord from NSTAR.
Power supply portfolio
Concord Light does not generate electricity; we purchase power through individual suppliers outside of Concord with whom we have "power purchase agreements" which specify the pricing per kWh for the power we use. One of Concord Light’s objectives in the area of power supply is to purchase as much energy from renewable sources as possible provided the economics are in line with more conventional power supply options.
With the expiration of the Morgan Stanley at the end of 2012, the power supply portfolio will change considerably with the addition of a series of three-year wholesale energy contracts and one ten-year energy and capacity contract.
Energy bids between 2010 - 2012 proved to have favorable pricing, and will reduce the cost of energy by 10%. Concord Light will continue to seek out renewable energy opportunities along with other economic and reliable supplies of wholesale energy in an effort to provide the most beneficial energy mix for its customers.
As you will see from the chart below, our power supply portfolio today includes approximately 68% natural gas/nuclear, 22% dispatchable as needed daily, and the remaining 10% from renewable sources of power including hydro, landfill gas-fired, wind (Click here to read more about the Spruce Mountain Wind Project), and solar photovoltaic.
In addition to our power purchases, we are charged for transmission of power to our Forest Ridge substation by the Independent System Operation-New England (ISO-NE). The ISO is responsible for creating and managing the wholesale market for electricity, operation of the power grid and ensuring adequate capacity in New England. While we are an independent municipal utility, we are part of the larger ISO-NE power grid.
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