SOUTH HADLEY - Climate Crisis

SOUTH HADLEY CC INFORMATION

SOUTH HADLEY ELECTRIC LIGHT DEPARTMENT WORKERS

In 2024 S. Hadley was a designated GREEN COMMUNITY by the state of Mass

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SHELD – South Hadley Electric Light Department
(http://www.sheld.org/) phone 413-536-1050 Board Meeting 4th Thursday of the Month at 6:00 pm
SHELD is a municipally owned power company (MLP). That is good for the rate payers in that the cost of electricity is about half that of an investor owned company (IOU) such as Eversource. We pay $ .15 – $ .16 As of June 2024. SHELD also has a very low rate of power outages and the outages do not last for long. The residents of South Hadley also have a say in how SHELD is run. The elected board meets once a month on a public broadcast with the manager. See: https://www.sheld.org/pages/community/light-board-archive/ SHELD is the only entity that is allowed to sell electricity in South Hadley. That means there can be no power purchase agreements in South Hadley.

Residential Solar (photovoltaics or PV) Net Metering
Net metering deals with how much the electric company will pay a resident with PV for the power they sent to the grid. From 2009 to 2017 it was a one for one exchange. You send a kilowatt hour to the grid you get paid $.15. You take a kilowatt hour from the grid you get charged $.15. In 2017 it was changed so that now Solar owners only get about $. 05. This makes a great deal of difference to solar owners because they can no longer store power from the summer to carryover to the winter.

Rebates
SHELD offers rebates on many items (See SHELD.org in the “residential” and “community” boxes). Only South Hadley residents who are connected to Eversource gas may also get rebates from Masssave because Everssource customers contribute money to the Masssave program. The SEC website has a list of most of the available tax credits and rebates for US citizens (See:
https://www.southhadley.org/533/Sustainability-Energy-Commission).

Rebates for Residential Solar
At various times in the past SHELD has offered rebates for rooftop solar installations. These are not available at the present. SHELD buys its electricity from two nuclear power plants. The amount is at fixed quantity 24/7. During nighttime hours and part of the day this quantity of electricity is greater than the load and therefore must be sold back to other utilities at a loss. Due to this oversupply SHELD does not offer any rebate for new solar residential installations.

Peaker Plant
Sheld signed onto ownership of a peaker plant six or seven years ago. A peaker plant gas fired generator used to help power, the grid during peak periods of energy use. In 2021 Chicopee and Holyoke backed out of the plan and there was a great controversy as to whether it should continue. The idea of being that this is not a good time to build more gas powered power plants however small they are. Construction of the plant has started.

Five G Network
At the end of this year, Sheld will finish installing a 5G network named Fiberspring. The number of residents who have joined has been higher than expected. Shrewsbury also receives their cable service from South Hadley. See: https://www.fiberspring.com/

South Hadley Climate Change Committees & Programs

Climate Change Resiliency & Preparedness
Climate Impacts & Outlook
Falls MA Flood Map and Climate Risk Report
Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness
South Hadley Climate Change Preparation
South Hadley Community Snapshot (Past Water Projects) 26
Sustainability and Energy Commission
South Hadley Tree Committee

Beacon Integrated Solutions – Beth Greenblatt
P.O. Box 320325  Boston, MA 02132  617-469-2172
advise to town of S. Hadley

Western Regional Coordinator Green Communities Division
Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
436 Dwight Street, Springfield, MA 01103 

Green Communities Map and Past Grants – Mass Energy Insight – SB Meeting 3/22 on G. C.

Climate Change Resiliency & Preparedness

Emergency Planning

Cooling and Warming Shelters in South Hadley 24

Map of S. Hadley Resident Lots & Information

Free Energy Audits SHELD call 888-333-7525
For Eversource Gas Customers Mass Save or call 866-527-7283 a new audit is available every 2 years

MA Rules for MLP Towns

MA Climate Action Now MLP Evaluation

MA Municipal Light Plant 2021 Scorecard 22

Master-Plan Update-Adopted March-28, 2022

Number of SHELD ratepayers as of 2021 was about 8,000

Pioneer Valley Healthy Air 22

RENEWABLE ENERGY TRUST — F A Q

SHELD Agendas & Minutes

SHELD’s Annual Reports

MCAN on SHELD Evaluation 22

SHELD Commercial Programs & Rebates 22

SHELD’s Connected Homes Program 22

SHELD’s Cost per KWH to Buy Electricity

SHELD Financial Statements and DPU Reports

2022 SHELD Video Describing the Electric Light Department

SHELD meeting videos – Archives

SHELD 2023 Pathway to Net Zero 24

SHELD NET METERING POLICY (As Amended 03/23/16) – NM is the amount credited to a PV owners bill for electricity not used in house during a month. Amended 7/2018 so only the fluctuating generation charge is credited to bill (about 6-7 cents/kwh it was about 13-15 cents/kwh)

SHELD’s Net Metering (Amended 7/2018)

SHELD Power Sources
* Millstone Unit 3 (Nuclear Project No. 3): Operating license / life extends to November 25, 2045. [1, 2]
* Seabrook Station (Nuclear Projects Nos. 4 & 5 / Nuclear Mix): Operating license / life extends to March 15, 2050. [1, 2]
Power Supply Breakdown by Fuel Source
* Nuclear (77.63%): The massive core of SHELD’s stable baseline power comes via entitlements in the Millstone 3 and Seabrook nuclear generation stations. [1]
* Open Market Mix (16.01%): Short-term or spot-market capacity used to balance shifting load demands. [1]
* Hydroelectric (5.79%): Sourced primarily through long-term contracts via the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Hydro Québec. [1]
* Hedged Market Mix (0.38%): Financed market purchases to protect customers from unexpected rate spikes. [1]
* Solar (0.19%):

SHELD Rebates – as of 2020 Chargers

SHELD Residential Rates – 13 – 15 cents/kwh 2026

Solar PV Installs in South Hadley

South Hadley Construction Permits – Electrical Permits 22

South Hadley Conservation Commission

Know Your Town South Hadley

Map of S. Hadley Resident Lots & Information

S. H. Library has a Killowatt Meter for any plug in appliances.

Holyoke Gas and Electric on Energy

South Hadley Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Listening Session

South Hadley Falls Development

South Hadley Natural Hazards Mitigation
Mitigation Plan