To the Editor:

Marion residents have been swamped with offers in the mail and over the telephone of "clean energy." The ads are artfully designed to persuade folks to designate a new source for the supply or generation portion of their electrical bills.

Most of us would assume that “clean” is good and that the offer will probably be a bargain. Not so! Eversource’s invoices clearly state who your supplier is, and what its generation service charge is.

For example my last bill showed that I had selected Public Power LLC, charging $0.10122 per kiloWatt hour. The ad that I received today from CleanChoice Energy offered the generation rate of $0.1440 per kWh.

In other words, they are offering power at a generation cost 42% higher than I am already paying. For a family using 300 kWh per month, changing to Clean Choice Energy would add about $10.35 to the  monthly bill.

Just because electric power is “green," or “renewable," does not mean that it will always be less expensive. Let the buyer beware!

Bill Saltonstall

Member, Energy Management Committee