Ratepayers: Call or message your state rep NOW!

Dear fellow New Hampshire ratepayers:

I just spent a very frustrating two days in the PUC hearing room, watching our state’s biggest utility flail around in the course of proving it has been blatantly refusing to comply with the state’s Integrated Resource Planning statute.  (That's RSA 378:37 through :40, if you're keeping score.)

Meanwhile – and here’s a bitter irony if ever there was one – tomorrow (Thursday March 9) a bill goes to the floor of the New Hampshire House of Representative that would do away with the Integrated Resource Planning statute altogether.  This is no time to present the state’s electric and gas utilities with a “get out of jail free” card.

So, this would be a great time to message or call your state representative of representatives and ask them to vote “inexpedient to legislate” on House Bill 281, “relative to least-cost integrated resource plan of utilities,” sponsored by Rep. Plett of Goffstown.  This is not a partisan issue; everyone thinks utilities should be accountable and utility bills as low as possible.

I recently wrote a column about why Integrated Resource Planning is one of the two pillars of utility regulation in New Hampshire.  It is a critical mechanism for forcing utilities to show they are working to keep bills as low as possible.  Essentially, every gas and electric utility must file a plan, every two years, explaining how it plans to deploy its resources to meet certain policy objectives enshrined in state law in a manner that is “least cost” from the perspective of ratepayers.

When I wrote my column on March 2, I had not yet watched Eversource basically admit in the hearing room that it has been ignoring the requirements of the statute.  “I own a big part of that,” testified Lavelle Freeman, Eversource’s Massachusetts-based director of distribution planning.  He apologized.

That reflected very well on Mr. Freeman, who is a clearly thoughtful and honorable person.  You know what would really be impressive?  An apology from Doug Foley, president of PSNH (Eversource’s New Hampshire operating subsidiary) or even Eversource CEO Joseph Nolan.

Since I am naming names, I have to commend PUC Chairman Dan Goldner and Commissioners Pradip Chattopadhyay and Carlton Simpson.  They made clear at this week’s hearing that by ignoring “big picture” issues and making no effort to compare the cost of new hardware investments to innovative programs and services that don’t require new toys – and by refusing to consider ways to reduce the bloated cost of default energy service – Eversource isn’t exactly covering itself in glory.

I get it.  Integrated Resource Planning is hard in a state where vertically integrated electric utilities have been replaced by utilities that own no generation assets.  Yes, customers are free to buy electricity from non-utility suppliers (while still paying Eversource for the poles and wires).  But 81 percent of Eversource’s residential customers in New Hampshire are still buying their electricity from their utility.  That makes Integrated Resource Planning as important as ever.

The Integrated Resource Planning statute needs an overhaul – no doubt about it.  That’s why I have publicly offered to work with all of our utilities on a new and improved version.  The utilities seem interested, to their credit.  I respectfully request that the House do its part, and stand with ratepayers, by voting “inexpedient to legislate” on House Bill 281.

Sincerely,

Consumer Advocate Don Kreis