PMLD continued to upgrade its electrical distribution system, installed and connected electric services for new customers, continued to develop the new wind farm project, and operated under tight financial constraints. PMLD thanks all of its customers for their continuing support of public power. PMLD is a non-profit public service corporation, whose primary goal is to provide reliable and low cost electric service to the residents and businesses of the Town of Princeton. PMLD is a Town asset, working as a separate governmental unit, with its own Board of Light Commissioners, policies, and budget serving the needs and providing value to our ratepayers.
By the end of 2003, PMLD provided service to 1362 residential, 5 Farm, 96 commercial, and 15 municipal customers. Almost 90% of the town’s energy use is due to residential customers. Our customers consumed approximately 16 million kWh of energy in 2003, and the average home used approximately 800 kWh per month.
Wind Farm Project
The Wind Farm Project continues to keep us busy, but we are all committed to successfully completing it soon. We will begin the permitting process in early 2004 and if all goes well begin installation of the new turbines in the fall of 2004. PMLD strongly believes this small scale project will successfully demonstrate that renewable energy plants can be sited responsibly and sized appropriately within the environment they are meant to protect. The project will demonstrate our commitment to renewable energy, reduce our dependency on the fossil fuels that cause pollution, reduce our Town’s energy costs, most importantly, balance the environmental and community impacts. Please continue to support our community project.
Besides providing low cost and reliable energy, PMLD performs many other services for the Town and our customers.
Discount the cost of Town owned streetlights 17% or $1,500
Install holiday decorations, Town Common lights and other banners and signs
Include Town related mailings in monthly bills to save postage and handling costs
Sponsor electrical safety classes for our children at the Thomas Prince School
Participate in the Community Reading day at Thomas Prince School
Provide storage and meeting space for the Princeton baseball league, Friends of the the Library, Wachusett Garden club, Princeton girl scouts cookies, and Town Selectmen
Offer new energy efficient, electric hot water heaters
Sponsor Town wide battery and lamp collection and disposal program
Manage Wachusett Earth-day household waste pick-up and collection
Reliability
Delivering and maintaining reliable energy to every customer in Princeton is one of our main goals. PMLD is trimming and removing trees that could damage our utility poles and wires or cause outages. In order to efficiently remove brush and branches from the lines, PMLD and the Town’s Highway Department, jointly purchased a boom mower that can cost effectively trim around the electric lines and along the sides of the road. This will improve the reliability of the electric system and increase visibility along our roads.
Rates
PMLD continues to provide low cost reliable energy as compared to Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) and our neighboring municipalities. The average home in Princeton spends approximately $98.00 per month on electricity. If you lived outside our electric service territory, you could have paid more for the same amount of electricity.
Over the past 19 years, PMLD has had only five rate increases. This represents an average rate increase of only 2.7% per year, less than the average annual rate of inflation! PMLD’s number one priority is to maintain the lowest possible rates, while providing the most reliable electric service possible.
PMLD’s commitment to protecting the environment and purchasing renewable energy continued through FY2003. Generating and purchasing renewable energy makes a difference in our community. In FY2003 PMLD purchased approximately 19% of its energy from various hydroelectric power plants in the region. This renewable energy is purchased at very favorable costs compared to market and contract power costs.
Our Wind Farm generated a very small amount of renewable energy for the Town in FY2003. This year's wind generation was lower than average since some of the units are not working. The plant is 19 years old and the wind turbines are at the end of their useful life. PMLD realizes this and will run the old units to failure in anticipation of installing the new much larger wind turbines.
PMLD will continue to upgrade and maintain its electrical distribution system and explore new services, such as high speed Internet access and cable television in 2004. Please come by the Light Department and let us know how we are doing. Thank you again for continuing to support PMLD.
Respectfully Submitted,
Board of Light Commissioners; Bradford Hubbard, Scott Bigelow, and Richard Chase