Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a program by which a town, group of towns, or city, buys bulk power on behalf of residents and businesses, while still receiving distribution services from the existing utility. It’s a concept that was first implemented in Massachusetts in 1997 and has now been authorized in nine other states, including many of Connecticut’s neighbors (NJ, NY, RI, MA, and NH). With community input, a CCA develops a plan that can result in residents saving money and increasing the renewable energy content of their electricity. More proactive CCAs have become important players in developing local energy efficiency programs and helping organize financing for renewable energy projects.
A growing coalition of groups, including the Acadia Center, Consumers for Sensible Energy, Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, Peoples Action for Clean Energy, Clean Water Action, Solar Connecticut, and Efficiency for All continue to advocate for enabling legislation in Connecticut that will allow municipalities to participate in CCA. In addition, a number of Connecticut towns (New Haven, Middletown, Simsbury and Mansfield, as of January 2020) have passed municipal resolutions calling on the legislature to pass CCA enabling legislation or are in the process of doing so. Below are informational resources for those wanting to learn more about CCA.
For more information and to schedule a presentation on CCA, please email CCAConnecticut@gmail.com, to reach Peter Millman, Dan Knudsen, and Michael Uhl.