More New Hampshire communities are considering using public power

This story was originally produced Valley News. NHPR is re-releasing it in partnership with Granite State Joint News Service.

All of Sullivan County could soon join the state’s Public Power Coalition as part of an effort to reduce and stabilize energy costs and expand renewable energy options for residential customers.

At the same time, Cornwall is considering adopting the program at the city level, as many other Upper Valley communities have done.

Sullivan County Commissioners are working with the Coalition for Public Power of New Hampshire (CPCNH) to bring public power to smaller towns in the county that may not be able to work directly with a nonprofit or other broker.

CPCNH is a Lebanon-based nonprofit incorporated in 2021, although a group of representatives from cities and counties in New Hampshire, including Lebanon and Hanover, began exploring ways to form a nonprofit community organization in 2019 that later became a coalition. The Coalition provides resources to support the implementation and operation of public energy systems, including covering the initial costs of implementing programs.

At two upcoming public hearings—November 14 and December 3—Cornwall residents will have the opportunity to learn about the city’s proposed community power plan and provide feedback ahead of the March 2025 town meeting, when residents will vote on whether to proceed. .

The government implementing the public powers program must write and approve a plan that describes details such as organizational structure, funding, rate-setting methods and more, in accordance with NH RSA 53-E, which was adopted in 2019 and allowed for consolidation community powers. The plan must undergo public hearings and be approved by the city legislature.

The 2019 Electricity Law allows municipalities to purchase electricity on behalf of residents, and utilities supply electricity through existing transmission lines.

If voters approve the plan, it would give the Selectboard the power to decide whether Cornish will join CPCNH or contract with a private broker to set rates and oversee the program.

“This public power, especially if we choose to partner with the (New Hampshire Public Power Coalition), can offer the city many energy opportunities that we (otherwise) would not be able to take advantage of,” Cornish Energy, the committee’s chairwoman, said Thursday. Joanna Scharf.

CPCNH has been involved in community nutrition programs in New Hampshire since the beginning, and the first bills under their partnership program were published in May 2023.

Lebanon, Enfield, Hanover and Plainfield were among the first municipalities to implement public power. Since then, Charlestown, Grantham, Springfield, and most recently Newport and Lyme have launched community power programs as part of the coalition.

CPCNH now has 62 municipalities and four counties as members, increasing the support they can provide, said Henry Herndon, director of member services.

With more members, the coalition has greater purchasing power, which can further stabilize electricity rates for consumers, while also creating a broader network of communities for learning and collaboration on energy projects.

According to community benefit reports, joining CPCNH significantly reduced the cost of electricity for participating residents. CPCNH also empowers communities to collaborate on energy projects, advocate for energy causes and share services and support, according to its website.

From August 1, 2024 to January 31. 2025 is one of two six-month periods for which electric companies in New Hampshire set default rates for energy services—the CPCNH Granite Basic plan, which is the default plan for most member cities, has a lower rate. than traditional utilities Liberty, Unitil and Eversource.

Utility electricity customers can choose between four different options with varying levels of renewable energy.

Overall, CPCNH saved customers money on their electric bills, according to CPCNH’s benefit reports. For example, from launch in April 2023 to August 31, 2024, Liban Community Power partnered with CPCNH to save customers an average of $1,658 compared to the utility’s default residential rates.

Unless they choose to opt out, residents and businesses with default utilities will be automatically enrolled in the program. Customers can plug in and out at their discretion and can upgrade their plan to include more renewable energy sources. To date, the number of eligible customers who have chosen to opt out of the Upper Valley is minimal; in Lebanon, 2% of registered customers have opted out since launch in April 2023.

The Cornwall Energy Committee and Selectboard had a strong focus on community power from the beginning, but wanted to see how community aggregation worked in other cities before adopting the plan themselves, Scharf said.

“The Energy Committee has been discussing this with the Selectboard for several years, and it finally seemed like this year would be the time to move forward,” Scharf said.

At an upcoming public hearing, the energy committee will explain its draft community power plan, including what community power is and how it could benefit the city. Residents can ask questions and provide feedback about the plan, Scharf said.

Cornish is far from the first town or community in the Upper Valley to embrace community power and join the CPCNH. However, one thing that many of the towns that have adopted community authority in Sullivan County have in common is that they have greater municipal capacity than the towns that have not, which are generally smaller.

Sullivan County is currently working to adopt a countywide power plan to fill the gaps.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the county to step in and help its citizens access better prices and more options,” County Manager Derek Ferland said in an interview Thursday.

Because the plans are entirely voluntary, Ferland said this is an example of how county government can support citizens without infringing on the power or control of local governments.

Since then, the county energy committee has been working on it and has written a draft plan for interconnection. The committee’s next steps are to hold public hearings; They currently plan to hold three hearings, but there could be more, Ferland said. They will use community feedback to revise the plan.

The plan must then be approved by a county delegation of 13 state representatives and then by the Public Utilities Commission. If all goes according to plan, Sullivan County Public Power could begin operations in June 2025, he said.

Cities that already have public electricity plans will not be included in the plan, Ferland said. But residents of all remaining Sullivan County towns will be able to join the county government.

This is the biggest difference between county and city government; In cities that have adopted public electricity, customers who have default electricity providers are automatically connected to the public electricity supply when it is implemented and can opt out.

Customers participating in the county’s plan will only be able to participate if individual cities do not vote to make the Sullivan County community the default provider, Ferland said.

“The main condition for this is that if the county does the aggregation and nothing else happens, citizens can choose to consent. To make this a waiver, additional action would need to be taken at the local level by the Board of Elections or City Council,” Ferland said.

Sullivan County has partnered with CPCNH to implement its community power plan, if approved, and will offer the nonprofit the baseline options for the plan.

Despite all the benefits that community power brings, there are still some obstacles.

Lyme officially launched Community Power on September 25, but the first billing cycle will begin in November. Some clients were confused about how adopting a community power would change their bill, Hebe Quinton, a Lyme Planning Board member and CPCNH member representative for Lyme, said Thursday.

Quinton said that when the first electricity bills come, they will still come from the utilities that distribute the electricity; the only difference will be on the “vendor” line of the invoice, where it will say “Lyme Community Power.”

CPCNH’s Herndon acknowledged that there is sometimes confusion about the roles of the utility and the city when it comes to public authority. Another problem is that because of the way electricity is regulated, customers with solar panels cannot take advantage of public power, Herndon added.

The solar energy issue “is going to require changes in utility practices and regulation, and that takes time… (and) cooperation or potentially clearer leadership from policymakers,” Herndon said.