New leadership coming to Cape Light Compact

Cape Light Compact announced a new leader will lead the organization starting in late March. 

Margaret Song will be the next chief administrative officer of the South Yarmouth–based organization, which provides various energy services for Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard communities, including implementing energy-efficiency programs, reducing energy costs of residents and businesses, and advocating on behalf of consumers on energy-related issues statewide, according to a press release from the group. 

Song will be taking over from Maggie Downey, who is retiring after 29 years of being the company’s first and only administrator. 

“I have worked with Margaret since she started at the Compact over 20 years ago. I can step away knowing that the organization is in good hands,” Downey said in the release. 

Song has worked at the company since 2003, and currently serves as its evaluation, strategy, and policy manager. She held several management positions during her time at Cape Light Compact, including as residential program manager and commercial and industrial program manager. 

She was selected after a nationwide search conducted by the company’s governing board. According to the release, the screening committee reviewed 25 applications and conducted six first-round interviews before Song and two other finalists were brought to the full board. 

“The board considered Margaret the best match to Cape Light Compact’s needs, as evidenced by her unanimous selection by the board,” Colin Odell, who chaired the screening committee, said in the release. 

Cape Light Compact was formed in 1997 in response to the Massachusetts Restructuring Act, which the release states “enabled towns and cities to establish municipal aggregators.” It was the country’s first municipal aggregator, a status that allows a municipality to purchase electricity in bulk from a competitive supplier, according to the state Electric Power Division. Downey led it through several major developments, including the incorporation of energy-efficiency programs into the state’s Mass Save program, and the transition from Barnstable County to become an independent joint powers entity in 2017.

David Anthony, chair of Cape Light Compact’s governing board, expressed confidence in Song’s 20-plus years of work with the organization: 

“She is well-suited to lead the Compact into its next decades of advocacy and energy efficiency for our residents and businesses, and to help adapt to future changes in the energy landscape for our region.”