Mason will pursue a community power program, after Town Meeting voted to approve the town’s plan Saturday morning.

Community power allows municipalities to purchase power in bulk for residents, with the intent of negotiating lower rates and the potential for more energy from renewable sources. Eversource would continue to maintain the power lines and bill customers. Residents would be able to opt out or maintain existing contracts with energy suppliers.

State Rep. John Lewicke, a Mason resident, offered some words of caution, including the inability for net-metered customers who solar arrays who sell excess  power back to the grid to participate. Curt Spacht, chair of the town’s Energy Aggregation Committee, said he would probably opt out himself for that reason. In Peterborough, program co-Chair Joel Huberman said people who had net-metering would not automatically be enrolled due to the potential for people with post-2017 systems to lose benefits.

Lewicke also noted that the state Office of the Consumer Advocate filed a complaint asking three towns, including Jaffrey, to pause their programs because their default rates were higher than Eversource at launch – which the state Department of Energy dismissed on the grounds that “launch” did not mean when customers could enroll.

Select Board Chair Kate Batcheller said the Energy Aggregation Committee will meet March 25 at 7 p.m. at Mann House, and that “our best bet” for implementation is “maybe by November, end of the year.”

Budget and financial articles pass

Town Meeting approved all 13 articles, including a $2.67 million operating budget. The figure is a 6.6% increase over the current budget of approximately $2.51 million, including a $46,782 increase in the cost of health and dental insurance.

“This is a cost we really can’t control. We’re doing the best we can,” Batcheller said.

The following approved articles will affect the tax rate:

-- $18,000 to purchase an overhaul of the Fire Engine No. 1 pump (8.4 cents).

-- $25,000 each for the Highway Department Equipment Capital Reserve Fund and the Fire Department Vehicle Capital Reserve Fund (11.6 cents each).

-- $5,000 each for the Fire Station Capital Reserve Fund and the Fire Department Equipment Capital Reserve Fund (2.3 cents each).

The following articles will have no effect on the tax rate.

-- $71,000 for a new police cruiser.

-- $6,815 for the Town Hall Renovation Capital Reserve Fund.

-- $64,000 for the second phase of Town Hall renovation.

Residents also approved establishing a fund for the Police Department to collect revenue from training it conducts for other departments.