The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (CPCNH) Board of Directors has announced a new electric base rate that is projected to generate a total of $5.5 million in savings for community power customers, including those in Peterborough.

Starting Aug. 1, community power customers will be offered a base electric rate of 10.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, which board members say is competitive to the state’s three leading electric companies – Liberty, Unitil and Eversource.  Currently, Eversource is the largest electric company in the Monadnock region. If the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission approves Eversource’s new rates, its customers will be paying a default rate of 12.582 cents per kilowatt-hour starting Aug. 1, an estimated 36% decrease from their previous rate at 20.2 cents.

Coalition Chief Executive Officer Brian Callnan stated he’s looking forward to bringing savings to 75,000 community power customers statewide. 

“As a nonprofit, we are working to bring innovative solutions, ratepayer savings, and increased community control to our customers and member communities. At its core, CPCNH exists to solve problems, and we are excited to once again bring multiple options and millions of dollars in savings to our customers,” stated Callnan. 

The state has granted towns the permission to establish community power programs, which allow them to combine their residents’ electricity usage and leverage the collective buying power to negotiate lower rates among energy providers and offer more energy from renewable sources. To kickstart the program, towns are required to develop a community power aggregation plan (CPAP) and obtain approval through a Town Meeting vote.

Once authorized, the town can negotiate and sign a contract with service provider for the benefit of its citizens, businesses and the town itself.  Currently, Peterborough, Jaffrey and Wilton have launched community power programs. According to the coalition, community power customers will have a choice between renewable energy rates of 33, 50 and 100 percent, with prices depending on the renewable energy rates. 

According to Peterborough Community Power co-Chair Joel Huberman, more than 3,000 residents are currently utilizing Peterborough Community Power, and the vast majority of those customers are using the Granite Plus package which provides customers with 33 percent renewable energy at 11.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. Peterborough is a member of the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire.

Huberman said residents who switched from Eversource to PCP are saving more while simultaneously providing more money toward green infrastructure. 

“The immediate benefit is financial savings. PCP customers are also receiving the benefit of increased financial reserves. Because of these reserves, [PCP] will always be able to have a rate lower than Eversource. We can build that money up for renewable energy infrastructure in the Monadnock region,” said Huberman. 

In addition to Peterborough, Jaffrey and Wilton, members of the Hancock Community Power Committee are following closely behind and are  in the planning phases of their own community power system. Hancock is also a member of the coalition.

In Dublin, residents can expect to vote on the proposal to build a community power plan at next year’s Town Meeting in March.