FirstLight Power has extended a power purchase agreement under which Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD) will receive the full output of hydroelectric power and renewable energy credits from FirstLight’s 11 MW Falls Village Generating Station in Connecticut.
Falls Village is a three-unit hydroelectric station on the Housatonic River and is qualified as a Class I renewable run-of-river energy facility. The hydro station, which was completed in 1914, averages around 41,000 MWh per year. The new PPA will run from 2025 through 2040.
RMLD is a municipal electric utility serving over 70,000 residents in the towns of Reading, North Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield Center. The agreement advances RMLD’s strategy of exceeding the state’s noncarbon compliance requirements to obtain 50% of its power supply from noncarbon sources by 2030 and further position the four towns as leaders toward the state’s goal of decarbonization, according to a release.
“RMLD provides reliable and cost-effective electricity to our customers while decarbonizing our power supply, and this innovative deal strengthens our performance in each of those key areas because hydroelectric power is a clean, affordable, and reliable energy source,” said RMLD General Manager Gregory Phipps. “This deal with FirstLight Power maintains our portfolio at approximately 25 percent hydroelectric power and reinforces RMLD’s prudent risk management practice of maintaining a balanced power supply portfolio across geography and generation type.”
“We are thrilled to extend our collaboration with the Reading Municipal Light Department, which will help deliver clean, reliable, and cost-competitive electricity to RMLD ratepayers,” said Peter Rider, senior vice president of commercial operations for FirstLight Power. “The energy transition requires ambitious first-movers to put action on display, and that is exactly what RMLD is doing with this agreement – securing clean electricity for residents while simultaneously lessening the reliance on cost variable fossil fuels.”
FirstLight Power is a clean power producer, developer and energy storage company serving North America. Its portfolio includes over 1,400 MW of operating renewable energy and energy storage technologies, and the company specializes in hybrid solutions that pair hydroelectric, pumped hydro storage, utility-scale solar, large-scale battery and offshore wind assets. The company operates two pumped hydro energy storage facilities, six conventional hydroelectric generating plants and seven run-of-river hydroelectric stations.
