To the editor:
I own a plug-in hybrid electric car. I love it. This type of car is especially appropriate for a place like our town with many short trips. Thankfully, I can charge the car at home. Last month, I bought 1.6 gallons of gas for it.
Until recently, the Marblehead Municipal Light Department’s public use charging stations simply charged what the power would cost from an outlet in your house. The charging stations down the street from where I live seemed to be fairly consistently used. I would occasionally chat with owners while out on walks. That recently changed. They have been deserted. I have discovered why.
MMLD has implemented a new rate plan that doubles the cost from 5-9 p.m. on weekdays. Their reasoning is that usage during this time increases their peak usage and drives up the cost of their wholesale power purchases. (We buy all of our electricity, generating none of our own.) They also have a “parking” fee of $5 per hour after charging stops.
There seem to be several things wrong with this: First of all, the 50-cent “on peak” rate is exorbitant. You can get more car miles per dollar from gasoline. No one in their right mind will buy electricity for their car for 50 cents/kwh.
The average working person gets home about 5 or 6 p.m. and can conveniently set the car to charge during the evening, retrieving it before bedtime. With the new arrangement they could have to attend to the car in the middle of the night or risk the “parking” fee of $5 per hour.
Also – the peak hours. During the summer we would get telephone pleas from MMLD’s former manager to curtail usage during mid to late afternoon. The peak 2024 summer usage occurred in July between 2 and 3 p.m. In the winter, it was in December between 5 and 6 p.m. Isn’t it strange they have shifted the new “peak” period almost entirely out of the hour of historical maximum use and into the hours of maximum inconvenience?
To top all this off, they are dealing with a minuscule part of their electric demand. Last year they sold $21 million worth of electricity. They expect to “save” $10,000 with this new plan.
Laurence Proulx
Commercial Street
