Inside Rochester Community Power, Joule Assets

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — If you just moved to the City of Rochester or area municipalities like Henrietta or Canandaigua, you probably got a letter from Joule Assets. The letter will outline sample rates for electricity, along with a message on opting out of the program if you choose.

Joule Assets is a company that works to buy power for these towns, under the Community Choice Aggregation law.

In 2021, after the passage of the CCA law, the City of Rochester signed a contract with Joule Assets. Since then, local municipalities like Canandaigua, Henrietta, and Brockport has signed on with Joule.

Jessica Stromback, managing director of Joule Assets says they buy a lot of renewable energy, mainly hydropower for use.

“It’s one of the single most important climate actions a city can take,” Stromback. “Through this contractual process, we’re moving a lot of the population toward renewable energy certificates.”

When you move to a place that buys electricity through Joule, automatically you are opted in, but can opt-out at any time. You can also opt back in at any time, with no fee.

Important to note, that this is just buying the power. RG&E, if that is your company, still handles infrastructure, repair, and billing.

You are locked into a fixed rate for the duration of the contract, allowing you to plan and budget.

“So that’s the protection that’s put in place is that the suppliers are not allowed to raise the fees for the duration of the contract, which means you know what you’ve got, and that can provide security for families they appreciate,” Stromback said.

Over Joule Asset’s last contract with the City of Rochester, which ran from 2021 to 2023, Stromback said they saved Rochester customers about $1 million. The current contract was signed in 2023 and will run until November 2025.

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