For the first time, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted Jan. 3 to authorize the Town Finance Director Donna Castracane to enter into energy agreements with energy and fuel suppliers without advance BOS approval in order to take advantage of favorable market pricing.

This is a step that the town’s Energy Committee chaired by former selectman Chris Ehlert has long sought. It will allow Castracane to work with School Business Manager Lesley Wysocki to lock in favorable energy pricing when warranted. Since these decisions often must be made quickly based on energy market movement, having this authority gives Castracane the opportunity to reduce the town’s energy supply costs by locking in prices.

Locking in prices for a fixed period of time will reduce the month-to-month energy market fluctuations the town has faced until now and provide pricing predictability, which is helpful for annual energy cost budgeting.

The Board of Education made the move to delegate energy supplier signing authority to Wysocki years ago. With this authority, Wysocki has over the past decade been able to manage pricing fluctuations and energy supply costs.

The school district works with an energy broker. When market conditions are favorable, the broker calls Wysocki to say the district needs to lock in a price for fuel oil or natural gas, for example. Wysocki also has the authority, as will Castracane, to choose alternate electricity suppliers, where pricing warrants it.