The MBTA is negotiating a new multi-year electricity contract that will power the agency’s trains, trolleybuses, stations, and other facilities exclusively on renewable power – and is furthermore expected to save the agency $3 million a year compared to its current, fossil-fueled electricity contract.
The T is the Commonwealth’s biggest electricity consumer, and uses over 400 gigawatt-hours of electricity every year. Under its current electric power agreement, with BP, the agency expects to spend $15.5 million this year on its electric bills.
But the current 5-year contract is due to expire at the end of this year, and the T has received prospective bids for a new electricity contract that offer much better terms – both in terms of price, and in greenhouse gas emissions. Final pricing would be determined once the contract is finalized later this month, but three bidders have offered estimates that they could meet the T’s annual electricity needs with 100 percent renewable power for $12 to $12.6 million a year.
The switch to all-renewable electricity, which would take effect on January 1, 2021, will immediately slice the T’s carbon footprint by 36 percent.