Nashua Community Power offers electricity rates lower than Eversource

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Nashua energy manager Doria Brown. Board of Aldermen meeting. July 9. Screenshot

NASHUA, NH – Nashua energy manager Doria Brown presented Nashua Community Power’s new community benefit electric rate of 8.8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, July 9.

This would make for an estimated monthly cost of $57, compared to Eversource which has an estimated cost of $68 a month at 10.458 cents per kilowatt hour. 

“I still see people on Eversource, yet we’ve been lower than them the whole time we’ve been on,” Aldermen Derek Thibeault said. “Why wouldn’t people want the cheaper price in electricity?”

Having launched in April 2023, Nashua Community Power currently has more than 30,000 accounts, has sold a total of $238,883,000 kilowatt hours in the last year and delivered about $5.2 million in customer savings, according to Brown.

With the new Nashua Community Benefit rate, she says, “We’re able to offer a significant discount from Eversource’s rate and start accruing money into our discretionary reserve account which goes toward special projects to help further drive down the rate and increase the benefit for Nashua Community Power customers living in our community.” 

The new rate includes a $0.002 adder that will go into a discretionary reserve account. Where the average home uses 600 kWh per month, this would add $1.20 to one’s monthly bill. After two rate cycles (one year) beginning this August, the discretionary reserve estimate is $477,000.

“Members may use discretionary reserves to invest in developing new local energy projects or to fund programs benefiting their customers specifically, or for other uses as determined solely by each individual member,” Brown said.

Potential uses for this revenue are high-speed level three community EV chargers, a rebate program for residential energy efficiency projects, such as heat pumps and insulation, revolving loan funds for residential energy upgrades, among others. 

According to Brown, the Community Power guidance document currently says that it is up to the Board of Aldermen how the money is allocated. 

While the Nashua Community Benefit rate will become the default power option, Granite Basic will be available as an “opt down” product. Other options are also available with different levels of renewable energy content. 

Are you Community Power Coalition Curious?

For more information go to communitypowernh.gov.

Frequently Asked Questions: Community Power 101

1. What is Community Power?

New Hampshire cities and towns that adopt Community Power by their local legislative body (e.g., Town Meeting or City/Town Council) can establish their own locally controlled electricity provider. Community Power provides the actual energy known as generation or energy supply, and replaces the energy supply charge from your utility company (Eversource, Unitil Corporation, Liberty Utilities, or New Hampshire Electric Co-op). The utility will continue to charge you for their transmission and delivery service.

Community Power is enabled by New Hampshire RSA 53-E.

2. Why adopt Community Power? What’s the point?

The New Hampshire Legislature found that allowing municipalities and counties the local control to aggregate retail electric customers for the purpose of accessing competitive markets for supplies of electricity and related energy services was beneficial for lowering costs and creating cost effective and innovative energy solutions with careful consideration of local conditions and opportunities.

Community Power creates more choices for customers, the collective buying power to drive down cost, and the local control to allow New Hampshire communities to chart their own energy futures.

3. What is Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire?

Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, also known as “the Coalition,” is a public power agency, created by New Hampshire cities and towns as a non-profit on October 1, 2021. The Coalition is governed by a Board of Directors of elected officials, staff, and volunteers appointed by each of our local municipal and county members. The Coalition provides comprehensive services to launch and operate Community Power programs. Visit www.cpcnh.org to learn more.

4. How is Community Power funded? Are taxpayer funds used?

Community Power is financed by the revenues received from our customers based on the electricity they consume. Community Power programs are self-funded and provide electricity supply and customer services without using any tax dollars, which ensures that any financial benefits directly serve the community.

5. Does Community Power replace my current utility company?

No. Your utility company (Eversource, Liberty, Unitil, or NH Electric Co-op) continues to provide all electric delivery, consolidated billing, and power line maintenance services.

Community Power only replaces the electric generation and supply services with your choice of energy product at competitive rates.

6. I’m a Liberty Utilities customer and having trouble finding my account number.
Can you help?

Liberty Utilities implemented a new billing system recently. Consequently, all customers have been assigned different account numbers. You will need your new account number to opt-out or opt-in to Community Power service, or to opt-up to choose a different product.

Apparently, a significant number of customers have not been told what their new Liberty account numbers are. Note that your old account number was a 16-digit string of numbers separated by a dash in the middle (for example, “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 — 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8”), whereas your new account number will be a 12-digit string of numbers without any dashes.

Please contact Liberty Utilities directly to obtain your new account number.

7. Who do I call with questions about my bill?

If you ever have questions about Community Power or the electricity supply charges on your bill, email us at Info@CommunityPowerNH.gov or call us at 1-866-603-POWR.

Please note, it is important that you dial 866, and not some other prefix like 800, 888, etc. Unfortunately, there can be scams that are associated with other prefixes. Our customer service representatives will never ask for a credit card number or need any payment from you. 

If you have questions about the rest of your utility bill, please contact your utility directly at: