Selectmen Chair John Baldasaro gives directions on how to cast a vote at the Oct. 7 Town Meeting in Chester, which had to be moved outdoors when the number of voters exceeded the capacity of the Chester Elementary School gym.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
CHESTER — By a 10-1 margin, voters on Oct. 7 rejected a Town Meeting proposal to sell Chester’s municipal electric utility. But they had to go outside to do it.
Before the Special Town Meeting could get underway at Chester Elementary School, Select Board Chair John Baldasaro announced that the room had reached its 300-person capacity, and that police and fire officials estimated there were still 200 more waiting to enter. He said they had two choices: to postpone the meeting, or to take it outside onto the school’s basketball court.
After some deliberation among the town officials, and a consensus of the residents assembled, the meeting was reconvened outside by Town Moderator Adam Bryant. The agenda was amended to take a quick majority vote on the second item, on payment of prior-year bills, with no discussion. Then they addressed the question of whether to allow the sale of the Chester Municipal Electric Light Department to Eversource, a for-profit utility company.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
Bryant said the vote would have to pass by a two-thirds majority, and would not take effect unless confirmed by another vote at a subsequent Town Meeting.
A question was asked about who would count the votes. Baldasaro said that following the discussion outdoors, residents would line up to return to the auditorium, sign in to vote, and receive a ballot that would be placed in a box. He said after everyone had voted, the town clerk would count the votes. He said residents could leave after they voted, and did not have to wait until all the votes were counted.
Another resident asked if the Select Board had seen a recent audit of CMELD. Baldasaro said the board had received it that day, and that it had been discussed at a Select Board meeting that took place just prior to the Special Town Meeting.
Baldasaro said it was the first complete audit in a long time. He said it reduced the value of CMELD by $366,000 or 20%, largely due to unaccounted pension liabilities and capital costs.
Another resident commented in response that CMELD has $1.5 million in cash, which is plenty of money. Another asked if that were true.
CMELD Chair Deryck Savoy said he didn’t know the exact cash figure, as it is in different accounts, but that it is significant. He said the total value of the plant is $2.2 million to $2.3 million, “certainly enough money to continue operations.”
Savoy said some of the $300,000 lost are one-time expenses, and some are recurring expenses. He said the audit was extensive, counting everything from pole wires to equipment transfers, and in the end, some expenses came out higher.
“It’s not unrecoverable,” Savoy said, stressing that CMELD is a not-for-profit and has lost money in the past due to equipment purchases. “We’ll pick it up in the next couple of years. The only way for CMELD to collect money is from the rates.”
Asked whether CMELD will continue to lose money in 2024, Savoy said there would be $120,000 less of a loss in pensions and benefits, but the utility would be picking up a one-time truck expense of $45,000.
The question was then moved, and the voting procedure explained again. At the end of the night when all the votes were counted, residents had voted 26 in favor and 266 opposed to selling the town’s municipal light plant.
The Town Meeting vote was prompted by a people’s petition signed by 230 Chester registered voters, even though there was no official offer from Eversource, which had earlier expressed an interest in purchasing the utility.
The majority “no” vote will take the discussion of any sale off the table for two years.
After the meeting, the Municipal Electric Association of Massachusetts, of which CMELD is a member, issued a statement in support of the vote.
“The Municipal Electric Association of Massachusetts, and each of our individual municipal light plant members, is very pleased to see that the people of Chester have voted resoundingly to support the ‘public power’ model for years to come in Chester,” said Joseph M. Sollecito, MEAM president, who also serves as general manager of the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department. “Public power has always been for the people it serves and not shareholders. Congratulations to General Manager Diane Hall, and the employees of Chester Municipal Electric Light Department. The public power community will always stand together in support of affordable rates and reliability.”
The Board of Selectmen discussed the CMELD audit in greater detail at its meeting just before the Town Meeting.
Savoy was present to defend the audit to the board. He said to his knowledge, the department had never before gone through as extensive a review, one that he called “extremely thorough.”
The audit by Goulet, Salvidio and Associates found that as of Dec. 31, 2023, the net position of CMELD decreased by $336,372, or 20%, compared to the year ended Dec. 31, 2022.
Operating revenues for the 2023 calendar year were $1,331,758. Operating revenues consist of the sales of electricity and miscellaneous service revenues.
Operating expenses for calendar 2023 were $1,674,108. Operating expenses consist of purchased power costs, maintenance, supplies, pension and benefits, insurance expense, license fees, and depreciation expense.
Total CMELD assets as of Dec. 31, 2023, were $2,554,494. The complete audit is posted at townofchester.net/2024/10/cmeld-audit-2023.
When Baldasaro asked how CMELD plans to meet its liabilities, Savoy said the plan will be to talk with town officials and look at the rate structure.
“We’re not necessarily happy with the results, but we will move forward from here,” he said.
Baldasaro asked what the audit says about the five- or 10-year prospects for solvency of CMELD. Savoy said the board had only received the audit before the weekend. Baldasaro said he has asked Town Administrator Donald Humason to reach out to legislators about the pension liability, and ask for help about switching providers.
