The electricity supply price most Salem households pay will rise about 15 percent in December, when Salem PowerChoice, the city’s group electricity buying program, moves to new prices that are fixed for three years. The city announced the change on November 4. Even after the increase, the program’s Basic price will be lower than what National Grid currently charges residential customers who buy their supply from the utility.
The change is automatic. Participants do not need to do anything, and the new price will first show up on January electric bills. Anyone who wants to switch options or leave the program before the new prices take effect has a deadline: the request must be in no later than 14 days before the account’s December 2026 meter read date, which is printed on the November National Grid bill.
The new prices
The new prices run from December 2026 to December 2029. The current prices, which end in December, are listed on the program’s price page.
- Basic: 15.560 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 13.481 cents. This is the option most participants are in and the one new accounts are enrolled in automatically.
- Plus: 18.130 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 16.351 cents. Plus supplies electricity that is 100 percent from renewable sources and is available by request.
- Standard: discontinued. Participants now paying 14.281 cents on Standard will be moved to Basic in December.
National Grid’s Basic Service prices, which are fixed through January 31, 2027, are 17.185 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers and 15.568 cents for commercial customers. The new PowerChoice Basic price is 1.625 cents, or about 9 percent, below the residential rate. For commercial accounts the two are nearly identical: PowerChoice Basic is lower by eight thousandths of a cent.
What it means on a bill
These prices apply to the supply portion of the bill only. Delivery charges are set by National Grid and are the same whichever supplier a customer uses. By our arithmetic, a household that uses 600 kilowatt-hours in a month now pays $80.89 for supply on Basic. At the new price that becomes $93.36, an increase of $12.47 a month. The same usage at National Grid’s current residential rate costs $103.11, so the Basic customer would still pay $9.75 less than a neighbor on the utility’s supply. A household on Plus using 600 kilowatt-hours would pay $108.78, up from $98.11 and $5.67 more than National Grid’s current price.
A Standard customer moved to Basic will see the supply price go from 14.281 to 15.560 cents, about 9 percent higher, or $7.67 a month more at 600 kilowatt-hours.
The city cautions that the comparison holds only as far as National Grid’s prices are known. The utility’s rates change seasonally, its prices after January 31 have not been set, and the city says savings beyond that date cannot be guaranteed. The program’s own materials say it is normal for the Salem price to be below the utility’s at some times and above it at others, and that the goal is savings against the average of National Grid’s changing prices.
“Salem PowerChoice, the City’s electricity supply program, saves residents and businesses money on energy bills and lets them lock in multi-year rates for greater predictability,” Mayor Dominick Pangallo said in the announcement. “With this most recent change, Salem residents on PowerChoice’s basic plan will pay 9% less than National Grid’s rate, meaning more money saved.” The city says the program has saved Salem electricity customers more than $24 million compared with National Grid’s prices since it started in 2016.
Why the Standard option is going away
Standard was designed to add 20 percent more electricity from renewable sources in New England on top of what state law requires. The city says buying that extra share used to raise demand for renewable power on the regional grid and encourage developers to build new projects. Recent changes in federal policy have made new renewable projects much harder to build, the city says, so the extra purchases are “for now, not having the desired impact.”
Basic provides the minimum amount of renewable electricity that state law requires. Plus remains for customers who want all of their supply from renewable sources. The city says it remains committed to renewable energy and expects to add renewable content back into the program later.
What does not change
The program’s supplier will still be First Point Power, and bills will still show “Salem PowerChoice – First Point Power” as the supplier. National Grid remains the electric utility: it still delivers the power, sends the one bill customers receive and responds to outages. According to the program website, customers who receive a low-income discount or fuel assistance keep those benefits, National Grid’s Budget Plan continues to apply, and credits from solar panels are calculated the same way.
Participation is voluntary. Customers can change options or leave the program at any time with no fee or penalty, not only before the December deadline. New National Grid Basic Service accounts in Salem are enrolled automatically, roughly once a quarter, after a mailed notice from the city that explains how to opt out first. Customers who signed a contract with a private supplier are not enrolled automatically and should check that contract’s terms before switching.
The program site also carries a warning that is worth repeating as rates change: National Grid will not knock on doors or call customers to talk about their electric bill, and residents should give out their National Grid account number only when they are ready to change suppliers.
How to change options or opt out
To change options, opt out or compare prices with the program’s calculator, go to SalemMA.gov/PowerChoice or call the program’s customer support line at 844-483-5004. Questions can also go to Stacy Kilb, the city’s sustainability engagement coordinator and energy coach, at 978-745-9595, extension 41013, or skilb@salem.com.
When the First Point Power contract ends in December 2029, the city says it intends to sign a new long-term contract and announce those prices before they take effect.
