La Capra Associates was selected by the Town of Belmont, Massachusetts, to publish for public comment a study of the Municipal Light Department's retail choice options.

Retail Choice Study: Issues and Options for Electric Generation Service
La Capra's report for the city, involved a detailed analysis of the potential benefits and risks of offering Belmont Municipal Light Department's retail customers the ability to choose generation service from competitive suppliers.

The Belmont report was commissioned as a result of the Massachusetts Restructuring Act of 1997, which required the town to conduct a study of the merits of implementing retail choice. According to the Act, the Town of Belmont has the option, but not the obligation, to implement some form of retail choice. The primary objective of the study was to assess whether retail choice has the potential to deliver benefits to the town's electricity customers. The Belmont Electricity Supply Study Committee was formed to carry out the study and public hearing requirements of the Restructuring Act, and La Capra Associates was chosen in January 2004 to assist the Committee with this task.

La Capra Associates' study focused on Belmont Municipal Light Department's current power supply, the approaches of various retail choice systems found throughout Massachusetts and across the country, the present state of New England's power markets, and the future of Belmont's electricity supply. The La Capra team applied its expansive knowledge of the New England power market and past experience with advising retail choice policy in addressing the electric supply needs of the Town of Belmont and making recommendations based on those needs. Accordingly, La Capra Associates presented the Belmont Electricity Supply Committee with a variety of retail choice approaches and weighed the costs, risks and benefits associated with each option. The report culminated in a discussion of which retail choice approaches would best fit the specific needs of the Town of Belmont.

La Capra Associates completed its study in June 2004 and published by the Committee in July. The Committee solicited public comments from the community for and issued its recommendations on the future of retail choice to the Belmont Town Meeting in October 2004.

The full report can also be downloaded HERE or can be read on the official website for the City of Belmont.