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Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance
November 2023 Edition
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We're thankful...
For our members, who work, day in and day out, to serve their residents, communities, and students.
And for energy supply partners, who share our mission to provide a stable and competitively priced supply of electricity and natural gas to public entities across the state.
From all of us to all of you: Happy Thanksgiving!
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MEGA Renews Partnership with the NYS Association of Counties | |
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In September, the Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance (MEGA) and the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) renewed a longstanding partnership to advance the core mission of MEGA – to provide a stable and lower-cost supply of energy to counties, municipalities, and school districts across New York State.
MEGA is a non-profit local development corporation created by Tompkins and Tioga counties in 1998, just as the state deregulated the energy supply market in New York. What started between the two counties has grown to serve more than 270 public entities, including counties, schools, and local governments in New York.
“MEGA hosts competitive bids to local governments for gas and electricity. Energy procurement officials can use these bids for dependable stable pricing in an uncertain market. We have been in this business for decades and know how to governments manage through volatile economic conditions,” said MEGA Executive Director Mark LaVigne
“Now, more than ever, our counties—all public entities really—need a trusted partner for its electric and gas supply needs,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. “With a changing energy market and an explosion in the number of brokers and consultants, MEGA with its proven track record provides transparent solutions that puts the needs of local governments and their taxpayers first.”
MEGA and NYSAC first partnered in 2009 to 2019, but the two organizations severed ties when MEGA expanded into Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Earlier this year, MEGA paused their CCA offerings in favor of focusing on its original mission of providing stable, low-cost energy supply to New York’s municipalities.
“The partnership between NYSAC and MEGA is critical to providing the education, tools, and resources that local leaders need to make informed data-driven energy supply decisions,” said Mark Taylor, chairman of MEGA’s board of directors, comprised of representatives from participating counties, schools and local governments.
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NY’s Utility Rates on the Rise in 2024 | |
Your monthly energy bills are broken down into two main categories: supply and delivery. Their volatility is a factor of two things—the price of the commodity (as described above) and the cost of delivering that energy to your facilities.
In New York State, the utilities who deliver energy have been asking state regulators--the State Public Service Commission (PSC)—for rate increases to upgrade their infrastructure to accommodate a changing energy market, prompted in part by NY’s Climate Leaders and Community Protection Act, which has set aggressive goals to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
Each utility files regularly for rate hikes to help them pay for upgrades to transition and gas lines, fund the increasing costs of operations, and lay the groundwork for the growing number of renewable energy projects being built across the state.
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New York is carved into multiple utility territories, covered by Nation Grid, Con Edison, NYSEG, Central Hudson, and others.
See New York’s utility map here.
After a rigorous review process, the PSC has been approving those rate hikes. While these increases are usually less than the utility wants, the result is increased monthly energy bills for New York’s residents, businesses, manufacturers, local governments, and schools. What that means for consumers is that the delivery side of your energy bill is going up.
One of the reasons that MEGA was created 25 years ago, was to help municipalities and school districts with the supply side of your bill. MEGA’s energy experts are here to help you understand your options for making your energy supply costs more stable and predictable.
For more information or for a consultation on how we can help visit www.megaenergy.org or send an email to info@megaenergy.org.
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Leveraging the Competitive Energy Market: Constellation | |
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So much of life can seem out of our control. Our taxes go up. The price of food increases. At times, life can seem like a series of events that just happens to us.
The good news is that this is changing in at least one area that affects our lives on a daily basis: energy. Over half the states in the U.S. offer customers the option to shop for electricity or natural gas, and in a few instances, both. Through retail energy companies, we can select, if we live in a power-to-choose state, the kind of power we want and the company from which we want to purchase the power. Thanks to energy choice, taking control of your energy supplier is just a phone call or click away.
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MEGA Webinar: Winter is Coming! And So Are Energy Rate Changes | |
Last month, we held a webinar for counties and local leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities in today’s changing electric and gas marketplace.
In the recorded webinar below, MEGA’s team of experts addressed the global, national, and state energy market and all the factors that go into pricing. They discussed how weather trends, along with supply and demand, are impacting the pricing that we are seeing in our electric bills and pricing. They also talked about how state and federal public policies are impacting the energy pricing we are seeing for our governments and at home, and why and how bills are going up, even as energy prices have somewhat stabilized in the past few months.
| Independent Review of Energy Pricing | |
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If you need help with due diligence, the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has engaged an independent procurement expert that can be called on to help counties, local governments, or schools to review and compare electric or gas pricing proposals.
Karen Storm is a former Albany County Purchasing Director, former president of the New York State Association of Purchasing Officials (SAMPO) and is a sought-after trainer on local government procurement processes.
MEGA customers or any other municipality exploring MEGA pricing against other electricity or gas pricing can get help comparing contracts.
For a no cost, objective consultation of your energy pricing contracts, please contact Karen Storm at krstorm352@gmail.com.
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MEGA attends School Business Officials’ Conference | |
The MEGA team this week attended New York’s Association of School Business Officials’ (ASBO) conference in Saratoga. The school business officials convened for training, workshops, and networking events. The MEGA team was on hand to support the association, meet school leaders, and learn about a variety of challenges facing school districts. | |
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MEGA is searching for a new Energy Program Manager to work closely with the executive director in the Alliance’s operations, communications, and marketing efforts in support of member local governments from across the state. This full-time employee would work independently, but under the supervision of the executive director and board of directors.
The salary for this position ranges from $70,000 to $120,000, depending on experience and aptitude.
For consideration, please submit your resume, cover letter, including salary expectations, to Mark LaVigne at mlavigne@megaenergy.org. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.
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