The Fayetteville Village Board recently voted to allow an energy aggregation company, Good Energy, to collect energy data from Fayetteville to see if they can bring their product to the village as a way to lower electricity bills to residents.
A public hearing on the matter was held at the Sept. 27 board meeting.
Edward Carey, a representative from Good Energy, said his company is a provider of municipally-endorsed energy savings for natural gas and electricity. The New York State Public Service Commission recently passed an order that allows the company to bring their Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program to municipalities in New York.
Carey explained the timeline of the program, which would include a first wave of data collection of the energy flow to the village, a second wave of data collection if a cost-savings for the village was found, a period of community education on the matter and approval of legislation by the village board that would allow Good Energy to provide for the village. According to Carey, the only information collected from residents will be their energy account numbers.
According to the Good Energy website, benefits of the CCA program include: long-term fixed energy pricing; predictable monthly energy expenses; protection against volatile seasonal prices; and support for sustainability-driven community goals and initiatives.
If the village board decides to move forward with the program, Carey said residents in the village will receive a letter that will give them information on how to opt-out of the program, which they must do in 30 days or they will be automatically switched to the new energy provider.
Fayetteville resident Marguerite Ross said she had concerns over allowing the company to collect data from residents, and that residents already have the ability to look into purchasing alternative energy supplier.
“I question the village’s authority to allow companies to collect data from their citizens,” said Ross. “If I want to seek an alternative energy supplier, I can do so myself … I also don’t want to have the hassle of having to opt-out of the program.”
Trustees Dan Kinsella, Chris Randall and Mike Small all agreed that the data collection aspect was something they wanted to look into. Other municipalities such as Skaneateles, Solvay and Hamilton have similar programs, said Randall.
“I’ve spoken to a few residents about the idea, and no one seemed to have a negative attitude about data collection,” said Small. “I think we should go forward with the data collection.”
Trustee Dennis Duggleby said he felt bringing a program like this into the village was like making a consumer choice for residents, something he doesn’t believe is a duty of the village board.
“I don’t believe our board should be in the business of making consumer choices for the village,” said Duggleby. “To a lot of us, it’s not worth it to give the government our data.”
Mayor Mark Olson said he disagreed with Duggleby, saying, “It is our place to help our residents.”
The board voted 4 to 1 to begin the data collection process by Good Energy. For more information, contact the village clerk at 637-9864.
