Community Power Committee Appointed

Press Release, 8-18-2023

Contact:

Ari Levine, ari.levine@fisherbroyles.com

or

Jamie Pike, Town Administrator,
selectmensoffice@francestownnh.org

 

 

 

In late July the Francestown Select Board initiated a process to empower town residents to negotiate for lower electricity rates. A Community Power Committee was appointed and has begun work to prepare for Town Meeting in March 2024.

 

“Community Power” was made possible by state laws passed in 2019 (HB 315 & SB 91). The legislation authorizes towns to purchase electricity supply for participating residents and small businesses by bundling the buying power of a town’s electricity customers and negotiating a price for the power they consume.  The utility selected by the town will manage billing and maintenance. Currently in the Monadnock region, electricity is both supplied and delivered to homes by Eversource, although individual customers can choose from an array of suppliers. However, in the absence of collective action, electricity consumers in New Hampshire pay the fifth highest rates in the nation.

 

The Select Board appointed six residents as members of the new Community Power Committee (FCPC). Three members have lived in town for more than forty years:  Sue Jonas, Jim Pietrovito, and Jim Tovey. Ari Levine, Ben Pollak, and Kevin Pobst are newer town residents serving on the FCPC. Levine was selected as the CPC Chair, based on his expertise and depth of knowledge. He was a member of the committee in Harrisville that spearheaded that town’s adoption of Community Power through CPCNH.

 

So far, sixteen NH towns and cities have begun Community Power programs that provide lower rates than those charged to individual residents by NH’s utility companies. In many ways the Monadnock region has led the way with Keene, Harrisville, Marlborough, Peterborough, Swanzey, Walpole, and Wilton launching Community Power initiatives as of the summer of 2023. Some of these towns elected to join a coalition of other NH towns and cities (including Nashua) to gain greater leverage to negotiate for lower rates. As of July, savings for participating households for a six-month period range from $48 to $90, with a base price per kilowatt hour significantly below what Eversource, Liberty, and Unitil charge. Hancock is expected to launch Community Power soon.

 

Francestown’s Community Power Committee (FCPC) was appointed in late July and met for the first time on August 9. The committee is charged with bringing a warrant article to Town Meeting 2024 that, if approved, would empower the town to pursue Community Power. To prepare such a warrant article, the CPC will conduct a survey of residents to determine what Francestownians want with respect to their electric service. Based on survey results the CPC will formulate an “Energy Aggregation Plan” to accompany the proposed warrant article. The plan will articulate the town’s energy goals. If voters support the warrant article, the process to select an energy supplier would begin with robust communication to all residents as decisions are made.

 

No individual homeowner would be compelled to participate. Residents may “opt out” at any time without a penalty.  Homeowners who prefer to choose a supplier on their own may continue to do so.

 

In the first year of Community Power in New Hampshire two models emerged. A non-profit coalition of thirty-three towns and cities incorporated as the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (CPCNH) to aggregate the purchasing power of their members’ 125,000 customers. Twelve towns in the CPCNH launched their plans in 2023. Many others are set to participate in 2024.

          An alternative model was selected by Keene and its partner villages. They chose to negotiate through a for-profit broker/consultant, Standard Power and Good Energy. Both models achieved comparable savings. Keene’s town website has an array of documents and videos explaining how their program works at keenecommunitypower.com. Given the newness of the Community Power program in NH, undoubtedly other models will pop up in the next few years.

 

Both CPCNH and Standard Power aspire to increase the proportion of electricity supplied from renewable energy sources. For some towns, leveraging growth of energy generation from renewable sources is an important goal of their Community Power initiatives. Both Standard Power and CPCNH offer a range of prices per kilowatt hour to customers depending on the percentage of renewable sources in the supply they select. Both offer financing for towns to construct renewable power sources, if approved by the Select Board and, if necessary, the Planning Board.    

 

In the coming months Francestown’s CPC is planning to conduct a community-wide survey and community-engagement and education events to prepare residents to decide about Community Power at Town Meeting 2024.  Residents offering input as the committee begins its work can contact the FCPC at francestownfcpc@gmail.com.