By Marty Bitner
In Belmont, there are clear benefits to buying local when it comes to energy usage, and that means powering our lives with electricity whenever possible. In contrast to the investor-owned corporate utilities serving many of our neighboring communities, where financial benefits primarily flow to shareholders who live far away, Belmont Light is a municipal electric utility, operated in the public interest. In Belmont, we are both the customers and the shareholders, and doing what is best for ratepayers is always the objective.
Our electric rates are determined not only by the amount of money needed to purchase electricity from power plants but also by the cost of maintaining the grid infrastructure that delivers electricity to our homes. The expense of maintaining the grid is mostly fixed—independent of the amount of electricity used by Belmont Light customers. So, in the same way that a local restaurant can maximize profit by having all of its tables occupied by paying customers, the citizens of Belmont can realize the greatest financial benefit that comes from being served by a municipal utility when residents power as much of their lives as possible with electricity, particularly during non-peak hours.
For example, Belmont Light has quantified the financial impact of heat pumps and electric vehicles and found that a central, ducted heat pump system can bring additional annual revenue above costs of up to $1,200 per installation. An electric vehicle can bring in an additional $200 to $300 above costs per year. If just 500 of the roughly 17,000 cars in Belmont were replaced with electric vehicles, it could bring in upwards of $100,000 above costs per year. Belmont Light could use this additional revenue to help stabilize electric rates for all residents. It could also use those dollars to fund initiatives to increase the share of clean electricity purchased. Striving to electrify more of our lives yields benefits to Belmont for both environmental and financial reasons.
Marty Bitner is chair of Belmont Drives Electric, co-chair of the Belmont Energy Committee and a Town Meeting member.
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