Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company

The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) brings a competitive edge to Massachusetts municipal utilities dedicated to providing their customers with low-cost and reliable electricity. We plan, develop and manage energy resources in an evolving marketplace that requires high levels of innovation and expertise. Our values are old-fashioned, reflecting 40 years of public power joint action, but our service is enlightened.

Who We Are

The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), through a public energy partnership established in 1969, provides the services, expertise and strategic vision to help municipal utilities optimize their energy resources and find value in the shifting structure of New England's wholesale power markets.

In 1976, MMWEC became a non-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that is empowered to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance ownership interests in energy facilities. Twenty Massachusetts municipal utilities are Members of the MMWEC organization and 28 are Participants in MMWEC's Power Supply Projects.

MMWEC History

MMWEC is a result of the unwavering commitment of Massachusetts municipal utilities to provide their customers with the best possible service at the lowest possible cost.

Between 1889 and 1926, the residents of 40 Massachusetts cities and towns voted to create their own electric utilities. For many years, these utilities purchased most of their electricity through retail contracts with investor-owned utilities (IOUs) because it was too expensive for individual municipal utilities to build power plants capable of meeting all their needs.
 
This long-established relationship began to change in the 1960s, when the Shrewsbury municipal utility initiated litigation that resulted in a federal court decision establishing municipal systems as utilities in their own right, entitled to purchase power directly from wholesale suppliers. Around the same time, New England's electric utility industry was evolving, with the IOUs planning to create the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), which would coordinate the production and delivery of electricity throughout the region. Eventually, after more litigation, the municipal utilities asserted their rights to participate in NEPOOL and develop their own power supply.

MMWEC Created

In 1969, with the workload of developing an independent public power supply expanding, the municipal utilities decided to create MMWEC, which started out as a private company managed by a public trust. In 1973, municipal utilities became full members of NEPOOL and acquired legislative authority to issue tax-exempt bonds, individually, to purchase shares in NEPOOL power plants. MMWEC coordinated the power supply planning and acquisition activities of the municipals. At the time, the law required each utility to obtain approval for and carry out individual bond issues, a process resulting in duplicated efforts and costly delays.

MMWEC Powers Expanded

This changed with the enactment of Chapter 775 of the Acts of 1975. Under this law, in May 1976, MMWEC became a non-profit, public corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth with the authority to issue tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance electric power projects on behalf of its members.

Using its statutory financing authority, MMWEC has issued more than $4.4 billion in bonds to finance and refinance its 720-megawatt ownership interest in five major generating plants, creating an independent power supply for Massachusetts municipal utilities.

Protecting Municipal Utility Rights               

While the issues and dynamics of the electric industry are dramatically different today, MMWEC continues to bring efficiency and economy to the business of municipal utilities, protecting their rights and advancing their interests in various state, regional and national forums.

MMWEC's corporate home, located on an approximate 400-acre, former Air Force base, is an ideal location for MMWEC's Stony Brook Power Plant and Administrative Offices.

MMWEC purchased the former Westover Air Force Base Strategic Air Command site when it was declared surplus property by the federal government in the mid-1970s. The office building captures the importance of energy efficiency and conservation, including an HVAC system that uses energy from the power plant to heat and cool the building.