About Us

The Office of the Consumer Advocate is an independent state agency with a staff of six people. By statute, the Consumer Advocate must be an attorney admitted to the practice of law in New Hampshire.  The Residential Ratepayers Advisory Board meets quarterly to provide input and advice to the Consumer Advocate. Pursuant to RSA 21-G:10, we are administratively attached to the Department of Energy, but we are independent of both the Department and the Public Utilities Commission.

Pursuant to RSA 363:28, our job is to represent the interests of New Hampshire's residential utility customers before the Public Utilities Commission as well as "any board, commission, agency, court, or regulatory body in which the interests of residential utility consumers are involved."  We represent those interests collectively. In other words, we cannot represent the interests of individual customers who have a dispute with a public utility.  We refer those disputes to the Consumer Services Division of the Department of Energy.