We have heard from some residents that they have received a mailer from ConEdison Solutions and have questions about what it’s all about. This process has been going on for nearly two years before the Town Board, but we haven’t talked about it in a few weeks, so here’s some background.

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a program brought to Ossining by Sustainable Westchester. CCA, which aims to save consumers money on their energy costs, allows all of us to benefit from economies of scale when it comes to buying power, and allows everyone who is currently serviced by Con Edison to receive this more favorable rate.

So when might you have heard about this? On May 12^th, 2015, the Town Board held a public hearing on this topic, and 2 months later, passed a local law to duly enact this mechanism for energy supply. You can read more about CCA pdf here (449 KB) , or check out the pdf Powerpoint Presentation (992 KB) that was presented by Sustainable Westchester in April of 2015.

The mailer you should see this week, which the Town of Ossining approved, is meant to explain the program and show you your new rates. The best part is that our residents who currently use Con Edison don’t have to lift a finger to benefit from this savings-- property owners who don’t wish to participate may opt out, but this less expensive solution becomes the default for everyone who is currently with Con Edison. If you use an ESCO instead of Con Edison and you want in on this savings too, you will have to contact your ESCO and get the details about leaving your contract with them. You can opt in or opt out of CCA at any time.

The sitting Town Board was asked to make only one decision on this agreement, which was to decide whether the default rate should be 100% renewable energy, or whether it should be a mix, also called the “Basic Supply Option”. We decided that we should go green, in the spirit of sustainability, and make the default 100% renewable energy. Our residents save money from the standard Con Edison rate even at 100% renewable, but should your household wish to save even more, you may “opt down” to the Basic Supply Option for an even greater savings in your energy bill.

Please keep in mind that this change only covers the supply side of the equation-- your delivery rate for energy will not be affected by this process, nor will your service-- in the case of an outage or any issues with your service, you will still call Con Edison at 1-800-75-CONED. The only change you’ll notice is a smaller electric bill later this quarter.

Keep an eye out for the mailer- it’s in a white envelope with the Town of Ossining seal on the upper left hand corner, and is coming from ConEdison Solutions. If you have any questions about the mailer or the information it contains, feel free to call my office at (914) 762-6001, or email me at .

Dana