Community Power Committee

Contact:
Address:	5 East Main Street PO Box 265 Warner NH 03278
Phone:	603-456-2298 x1
Email:	power@WarnerNH.gov
Hours:	By Appointment

Agenda

Minutes

The Community Power Committee was formed in 2021 as a means to bring lower cost electricity to the residents of Warner.

Documents:

Electric Aggregation Plan
PUC Plan Approval
Yankee Chronicle Special (3/2/23), Direct link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQnVE7lRThY

Warner Electricity Ratepayers Survey

The committee is creating a proposal for 2023 to pool rate-payer accounts into a large group to buy electricity at lower rates. The plan would offer several mixes of renewable vs. fossil fuel energy. The lowest rate would be lower than or equal to the Eversource default rate. If the plan is approved at Town Meeting 2023, Warner Community Power would become the default electricity supplier shown on your Eversource bill. (You could Opt-Out at any time, no penalty.).

Warner Community Power would appreciate it if you'd complete a survery. You can drop it off in the Town Hall lobby or mail the survey to: Select Board, Warner Town Hall, P.O. Box 265, Warner NH 03278. The web survey can be found here and the hardcopy survey can be downloaded here.

What is Community Power?

New Hampshire cities, towns, and counties procure electric power supply on behalf of their residents and businesses and provide related services.

Pooled Purchasing Power for Energy Supply
Access to competitive markets
Joint risk management = lower costs & price stability
Option to source power locally & build new renewables

Utility Company Delivers Power
Utilities own & maintain power grid
Connecting generation to load
Ensuring reliable electric service

Communities Benefit from Value Added Services
Affordable rates
Access to green power options
Time-of-Use rate options
Solar, storage, electric vehicle support

Enabling Legislation: RSA 53-E, Relative to Aggregation of Electric Customers by Municipalities & Counties

WARNER: We can buy electricity as a community-wide group!

Get Control over Rates and Sources of Power

A recent change in NH law lets towns like Warner pool residential and small business electric users into a single group-buy account to bargain for the best possible electricity rates. That means we would have the group-buying power of hundreds of individual accounts to get the best prices from independent electricity producers throughout New England. And as individuals in the group we could choose one of several options from 100% renewable to mostly fossil fuel sources.

By creating what is, in effect, a town-wide electricity buyers’ club, we can take control of our electricity purchases, getting better rates and more choice about the sources of our power.

As a group, we would buy power from the vendors who give us the best choices and rates, but Eversource would continue to handle the distribution on their poles and wires.

What is Warner Community Power?

The Warner Selectboard has appointed the Warner Community Power committee to put together a plan spelling out how the group-buy would work. With input and ideas from a wide range of people in town, that plan should be ready for a vote at Town Meeting in 2023.

This fall Warner joined a coalition of about a dozen other NH towns and cities which are exploring options and sharing ideas and information about bringing Community Power to their communities. Some towns in the coalition like Harrisville, Hanover and Lebanon have recently adopted their plans. More than a hundred towns and cities across the U.S. are already working with successful Community Power plans.

As a voting member of the Community Power Coalition of NH, Warner would take advantage of the administrative and technical support provided to members. Warner could also choose to get even more control over rates and sources by joining other towns in the Coalition to create a very large group-buy pool. Like large corporations, the more electricity we buy as a group, the lower the rates.

No Cost to the Town & Opt-out Anytime

The Warner Community Power Plan won’t affect the town’s budget or raise taxes. All the costs for administering the Plan would be included in the electricity rates you pay.

If the town votes to accept the plan, all residents and small businesses would be included. But if you want to stay with Eversource or an other source as your supplier, you could simply Opt-Out of the Warner Community Power Plan anytime.

Long-term Goals: More Renewable Energy & Control over Rates

In the coming years we expect more volatility in default electric rates as fossil fuel costs rise and renewable energy (hydro, solar, and wind) become more competitive. More towns and cities across New England will probably be adopting community power plans, encouraging more producers of renewable energy to enter the market. And the leverage of long-term group-buy contracts would ensure Warner residents get low costs and stable rates year after year.

Frequently Asked Questions:

No. Participation is voluntary and up to each Eversource account holder.

If Warner gives the go-ahead to Community Power, it becomes the default source for our electricity in the way that Eversource offers us just one default electric supplier. People moving into town would automatically be included in the Warner Community Power program. The difference is that each new customer would need to choose which of the supply plans they wanted, from 100 percent renewable to other combinations of renewables and fossil fuel.

Anybody can choose not to participate by opting out at any point with no fee or penalty. If you opt out, you would continue to get your electricity from Eversource’s default supplier, or you could choose to go it alone with an alternative supplier. The more ratepayers who are included in Warner’s community power group, the more purchasing power we have.

Our Community Power plan will include three or four choices over sources of electricity, from 100 percent renewable sources to several combinations of renewable, fossil fuel and nuclear sources. In general, an option with a large percentage of renewable power will cost more than an option with a higher percentage of fossil fuel generated power. The Warner Community Power plan will include a range of prices and options so that all ratepayers can make a choice that fits their budget and their needs. But keep in mind that the more ratepayers we have in the group-buy, the lower the cost per kilowatt-hour, no matter the power mix. Over time, the cost of renewable power is likely to come down when compared with the cost of electricity generated by non-renewables.

No.

Warner Community Power is independent of town expenses and taxes. When the program is up and running, all expenses are covered by a small surcharge on your electric bill in the same way that Eversource covers various expenses now with surcharges on your bill.

Our membership in CPCNH gives us additional protection from start-up and other expenses:

We can launch Warner’s Community Power program with no up-front expense through our membership in the CPCNH.
Start-up expenses for our program will be recovered through revenues from electricity sales when our program is established and operating.
All operating costs will be included in the customer rates we set for ourselves. There is no cost to the town.

Warner Community Power pays no fees for joining CPCNH. In fact, we aren’t committed to use the programs and services the CPCNH offers until we decide to. And at that point we would enter into a cost-sharing agreement. Again, all costs will be paid through our power bills.

The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (CPCNH) is a non-profit ‘Joint Powers Agency’ (an organization created and run by the towns and cities which are members). CPCNH helps its members to:

Streamline the process for authorizing a Community Power program in each community and county.
Share purchasing, legal, administrative and other services and staff support.
Participate in joint power solicitations and local project development opportunities such as community solar, large-scale battery installation, robust energy efficiency programs, electric charging infrastructure, etc.
Share knowledge and collaborate regionally on clean energy and resilient infrastructure development.
Speak with one voice at the NH Legislature and Public Utilities Commission on public advocacy issues related to energy and Community Power.

Warner Community Power will serve as the local aggregator for electricity purchases for all retail (town government, residential and small commercial) customers who do not choose to opt-out.

Warner Community Power will then contract with CPCNH to go out to bid for electricity supply for all participating Warner customers along with the customers from other participating communities similar community power plans.

The CPCNH will package the bid for electricity, receive and review all bids, select the electricity providers and then notify all customers participating in each community power plan of the price for electricity as well as the range of electricity options available.

Customers will have a fixed period of time to opt out of the purchase if they would prefer to continue purchasing power from Eversource at the default rate.

Yes. Nine U.S. states have laws enabling community power plans, including California, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia and New Hampshire. In the state of California alone there are more than four dozen local power plans serving millions of California electricity customers. Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to enable the establishment of community power programs with the creation of the Cape Light Compact, serving Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard customers.

CPCNH membership provides Warner with a menu of services it can choose from, including a Complete Service Bundle which includes power supply procurement and management, data and billing, and customer service. Members can also choose to participate in a specific project, such as community solar installations. CPCNH costs associated with providing and facilitating these services are recovered from members receiving those services.

The general administrative costs of CPCNH that are not directly related to specific member services or projects are funded on a shared basis by member communities, with each community’s share being determined based on the community’s annual electric sales on a pro rata basis. These costs are incorporated into the cost of the electricity sold to consumers.

CPCNH members are able to launch Community Power programs at no up-front expense through the Coalition, with implementation and operating costs recovered through program revenues post-launch. Communities can also withdraw from the Coalition prior to entering into a cost-sharing agreement without any financial obligation. After entering into a cost-sharing agreement, communities can withdraw subject to any continuing obligations agreed to in the cost-sharing agreements.

Yes, Eversource will continue to own the transmission and distribution system including all electricity substations, power lines, utility poles, transformers, the electricity feed to your home, and your meter. NH is a deregulated state which means that the incumbent electric utility that provides service owns all the transmission and distribution equipment, maintains these systems, and bills you for the electricity you use. The incumbent utilities purchase the electricity they supply from independent electricity generators, bidding their electricity business on the open market on a periodic basis. It’s the component of your electric bill associated with purchasing electricity from independent generators on the open market that Warner Community Power would replace.

More Local Choice: Warner would have almost complete control over the sources of our electricity, and how rates are set. Our community power plan will open the door to innovative options including time-based rates, solar battery storage (net metering alternatives), large scale local solar production, electric vehicle charging, energy efficiency options, and more.
Supporting Warner’s long-term energy goals: Community Power would give Warner control of its energy portfolio, allowing the town to buy more energy from renewable sources.
Lower Costs: Community Power can lower energy costs by giving Warner access to competitive market options for power supply. Community power programs are operating successfully in a number of states and are supplying power at rates that are on average lower than or equal to the regulated utility.