Client: Barr Foundation
September 2017
Tyler Comings, Liz Stanton, PhD and Bryndis Woods
On behalf of the Barr Foundation, Senior Researcher Tyler Comings, Clinic Director and Senior Economist Liz Stanton, PhD, and Researcher Bryndis Woods prepared an Applied Economics Clinic (AEC) report and policy brief to examine how Community Choice Energy (CCE) programs work. The report and policy brief also addressed commonly asked questions in order to inform efforts in the City of Boston to understand the implications of CCE programs, including the program’s costs to residents and businesses, impacts on renewable energy, and contributions to the City’s climate goal. Dr. Stanton presented the findings at the October 3, 2017 meeting of the Boston City Council. At the same meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the Community Choice Energy resolution. In November, AEC updated the findings with a one-pager document that shows that the average household participating in a CCE program will increase their savings, relative to their default utility service, from 2 percent in 2017 to 19 percent in 2018.
This report and policy brief are part of a series of AEC publications funded Barr Foundation examining how community choice energy (CCE) aggregation programs work and addressing commonly asked questions about Boston's proposed CCE program.