The Marblehead Municipal Light Department reached an impressive milestone recently — 73% of its power now comes from carbon-free sources. MMLD hit that benchmark three years ahead of schedule.
“We’ve progressively worked toward improving our carbon footprint as we aim for ambitious targets in Marblehead,” MMLD General Manager Jon Blair told the Current. “Our load continues to grow, and our power resources are continually dropping out of our portfolio as assets reach end of useful life or contracts expire. Therefore, it requires us to remain in constant pursuit of opportunities and to take decisive action when such opportunities are identified.”
MMLD dramatically increased its carbon-free electricity portfolio from 42% to 65% in just one year, marking significant progress toward the town’s clean energy goals while simultaneously reducing costs for ratepayers.
The progress extends beyond environmental benefits. The average wholesale power cost decreased 3.4% year-over-year, dropping from 11.28 cents per kilowatt hour in 2023 to 10.9 cents in 2024. This creates what officials describe as a rare scenario where cleaner energy actually costs less.
To achieve this, Marblehead sources its electricity from a mix of nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar power. The town purchases nuclear energy from Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Connecticut and Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, which provide steady, around-the-clock electricity. Hydropower plays a major role, with sources like New York Power Authority Hydro (8,626 MWh), Hydro Quebec (6,588 MWh), FirstLight Hydro (6,707 MWh) and Brookfield Hydro (7,123 MWh) delivering renewable energy from rivers across the Northeast. Wind power comes from Berkshire Wind 1 (953 MWh) and 2 (1,739 MWh) and Hancock Wind (2,186 MWh), though its output fluctuates with the seasons. Marblehead is also expanding its solar capacity with power from the MSGT Cotton Solar Project (1,217 MWh).
Marblehead is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, a decade ahead of the Massachusetts state mandate for municipal light plants, which requires net zero by 2050.
Blair pointed out that getting to the department’s goal of a net-zero emissions portfolio by 2050 won’t be easy.
“Each milestone becomes more difficult to attain as we approach 100% carbon-free energy, as the proverbial low-hanging fruit is no longer available,” Blair added. “MMLD must ensure that we are not only achieving our decarbonization goals but also that we are adhering to our fundamental responsibility to do so in a way that maintains reliability and affordability for our customers. This often requires more patience and effort than other ‘shortcut’ methods to net-zero; ultimately, we believe doing the right things in the right way for the right reasons will result in lasting, positive results for the community.”
Battery project
MMLD is also discussing a new battery storage project.
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is proposing to build a facility in Marblehead where energy batteries can be housed.
The batteries store energy during off hours, and are able to disperse the energy during high-use times, leading to lower electricity costs and lower carbon footprints.
One possible location for the facility is at the Village 13 substation, along the Rail Trail.
The cost of the project is $5.5 million, and MassCEC is offering to fund $4.5 million. MMLD would also collect fees from other entities using the facility.
“The benefit of the battery during peak capacity and transmission times clearly would be something that we would want,” said Jean-Jacques Yarmoff, chair of the Light Commission.
