Section 21. The secretary, in conjunction with the secretary of administration and finance, shall design and implement a bidding process for the competitive procurement of electric generation on behalf of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth procuring electricity from a local distribution company via basic service under section 1B of chapter 164. Any such competitive bid received shall include payment options with rates that remain uniform for a minimum period of 1 year. In lieu of designing and implementing a competitive bidding process as required by this section, the secretary may become a member of programs organized and administered by the Health and Educational Facilities Authority or its subsidiary organization for the purpose of such competitive group purchasing of electricity.