Halifax Select Board approves electric aggregation rate hike in 2-1 vote

Select Board · Meeting of February 10, 2026

Halifax Select Board votes 2-1 to raise municipal electricity aggregation rate after a $166,000 cost overrun. Mark, an aggregation consultant with Colonial Power of Marlborough, told the board Tuesday that an unprecedented ISO New England Day-Ahead Ancillary Services charge triggered by the January 26-27 blizzard had outstripped projected costs for all of 2025 and 2026 combined, forcing an amendment that raises the per-kilowatt-hour rate from $14,166 to $15,285 — adding roughly $6.71 per month to the average residential bill. The new rate remains just below National Grid's basic service rate of $15,372.

Selectman Tom Pratt, the lone dissenting vote, warned that "we're being asked to vote on a broken equation." The board also unanimously approved a companion low-income community solar program through Colonial Power, giving qualifying customers a rate roughly two to two-and-a-half cents lower than the standard aggregation rate for 20 years at no cost to the town.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of February 10, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.