Hatfield Select Board Defers Electricity Contract Decision, Weighs Budget Gaps

HATFIELD -- April 18, 2023, Hatfield Select Board defers electricity contract vote while grappling with a $160,000 snow and ice shortfall. Representatives from Colonial Power Group, Mark Capitola and Denise Allard, told Chair Luke Longstreeth and Member Julia Frisby that indicative market pricing has fallen roughly 30 percent from last year's highs, with 12-month supply contracts available around 14.8 cents per kilowatt-hour, down from the town's current locked-in rate of 22.157 cents. Capitola recommended acting within the month and no further than a 24-month term, warning that markets "are going to run again." The board agreed to wait until Eversource files its July 1 basic service rate with the state, expected around May 16. In a joint session with the Finance Committee, the board covered a $160,000 fiscal year 2023 snow and ice deficit from free cash, directed $61,087 in remaining free cash to the capital stabilization fund, and set the vocational education budget line at $563,796, a partial hedge against a projected $190,000 shortfall driven by higher-than-expected Smith Vocational enrollment.