Green Power Contract on Council Agenda
Correction (as of 4/9/25): Sustainable Westchester clarified that the number of accounts in Rye using its Westchester Power option has remained steady. The group had used numbers from two different internal sources that led to the incorrect assessment that participation had trended up recently.
Sustainable Westchester is looking to renew the City of Rye’s participation in its Westchester Power community choice aggregation (CCA) green power program. The largest CCA in New York State, Westchester Power sources “green power” – almost 100% of it is New York State hydropower. This option is presented as the default option on most electric bills (most don’t realize that through NYPA (New York Power Authority) that the State is one of the largest hydro producers in the country). Just over 50% of electricity “accounts” in Rye use the Westchester Power option, a number that has remained steady.
“So the virtues of the program are number one, environmental impact,” Sustainable Westchester Executive Director Noam Bramson told MyRye.com on Tuesday. “It’s doing more to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions than every other municipal action combined. It’s number two, consumer choice, this creates an option for consumers that would not otherwise exist.”
And certainly for anyone who actually wants renewable energy, it has been a consistently good deal. Lower in cost than what you can get from an ESCO and with all sorts of consumer protections attached to it. And third, it offers price predictability and stability… the utility rate can be highly variable.”
Westchester Power is simply the default electricity provider. Con Edison always provides (and charges for) the delivery of electricity. Consumers can also opt out of Westchester Power and opt into Con Ed supplied power or a myriad of ESCOs (energy service companies) that provide other alternatives. Westchester Power has come under some scrutiny over the last two years as its rates have been higher that the Con Ed alternative. Bramson said that was an outlier, due to a lousy fixed contract signed at the end of 2022 as the Ukraine war broke out, when folks expected electric rates to go up (they did not). Over time, he said date shows the rates are competitive.
“If you look at the program since its inception 10 years ago, we’ve been above and below the utility rate in roughly equal measures… If you look at the first quarter of 2025 we’re roughly in line with utility again,” said Bramson.
The prior contract, which was concluded in 2022 and ran through the last quarter of 2024 was an outlier. That was a problematic contract in which our rate was persistently higher than the utility rate, and it was really the product of just unfortunate timing. It was concluded just as the war in Ukraine was breaking out. The consensus forecasts were that energy prices were going to skyrocket.”
Westchester Power will look to confirm the City’s continued participation in the program. The group’s current contract renews December 1st, so by securing support from Rye and other communities now, it should have better a runway to negotiate.
Bramson will present during the front half of Wednesday evening’s council meeting. You can view the slide deck in advance: Rye City Council Agenda 2025-04-09 – 1 – Sustainable Westchester presentation.
