A CCA is like an electricity "buyers club." By leveraging the purchasing power of tens of thousands of households, a CCA can negotiate for clean electricity at an affordable price. A CCA negotiates the price and generation sources of residents' electricity with a selected supply company, and that supplier becomes the default source of electricity for the households and small businesses in the member municipalities. National Grid continues to deliver and bill for the electricity.  While cost is important, the biggest benefit of forming a CCA is that every household is automatically enrolled in the program (except those in the state's Home Energy Assistance Program). From an environmental perspective, it will have the same impact as if every house and small business were to install solar panels on their roofs overnight. Because electricity accounts for 19 percent of our carbon emissions, a CCA that supplies clean electricity will be enormously beneficial.

CCA gives residents more and better electricity choices. Anyone can opt out of the CCA program at any time and at no cost. Residents can switch to another electricity generation mix within the CCA program (if one is offered), back to National Grid, or to another energy supplier entirely. Residents have all the current supply options plus one or more options within the CCA.

Maybe this is good, maybe it's not. Most of these renewable energy projects would be built without local buy-in, because of the state mandates.  Not sure if it really makes that much of a difference, but I'll have to watch and look to see if it makes sense to continue in the program or opt-out. I certainly have a lot of concerns with those industrial solar farms that are popping up everywhere.