New Electricity Contract in Salem Results in 100% Renewable Municipal Energy

In support of the City of Salem’s commitment to a sustainable future and meeting its climate change goals, the City has contracted through Freedom Energy Logistics for a three-year contract for its 200 accounts that includes expanded voluntary renewable energy sources.

To cover its nearly 9.5 million kWh annual usage, the City purchased a combination of Class I MA Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and National Wind RECs. Altogether, the RECs equate to a greenhouse gas emissions reduction comparable to removing 1,459 passenger cars from the road for a year or the CO₂ emissions typically required to provide enough electricity annually to power 808 homes.

The City of Salem strives to exceed the Commonwealth’s standards for carbon neutrality by 2050. The regional Salem and Beverly climate action plan, Resilient Together, highlights the City’s commitment to 100% clean energy for all municipal operations by 2030 and 100% of community energy by 2040. Now, this transition to these RECs covers 100% of its municipal electricity usage in support of that emissions reduction goal.

Salem PowerChoice, the City’s municipal electrical aggregation program, already provides 100% renewable electricity supply for participating homes and business. Since the program launched in January 2016, Salem PowerChoice participants have saved more than $2 million on electricity costs and, because of the program’s commitment to renewable electricity, reduced the city’s carbon footprint by more than 175,000 tons of CO₂, which is the equivalent of removing 34,527 passenger vehicles from the road for one year. Because National Grid prices change and future prices are not known, future cost savings for PowerChoice participants compared with National Grid cannot be guaranteed.

“Changing our nearly 200 municipal electrical accounts to renewable sources for our electricity supply is a major step toward our climate goals and reducing our local contributions to climate change,” said Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll. “It builds on our community’s past work through our municipal electrical aggregation program, the conversion of our streetlights to LED fixtures, the installation of rooftop solar on city buildings, and the ongoing transition of our municipal vehicle fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles. Additionally, as we are poised to potentially become a leader in our Commonwealth and our country on offshore wind, it leverages our own capacity to increase demand for renewable energy. This step demonstrates that we are proactive when it comes to the climate crisis, not only with our words, but with actions, as well.”