Hampton’s power play: New program aims to slash electric bills for residents, businesses

HAMPTON — The town is launching its new community power aggregation program that aims to reduce electric rates for residents and small businesses on May 1.

A letter introducing the Hampton Community Power Aggregation Program was mailed on March 22 to Hampton residents and small business owners who buy their electricity from the “default” provider, which is Unitil for most of those in town. The 1,063 residents and businesses who purchase their electricity from a third-party provider, or Eversource, or who have solar panels on the roofs of their structures did not get the letter.

Hampton CPA states the rate per kilowatt-hour for the standard level offered will be 9.425 cents per kilowatt-hour, a rate that will be good for the next 18 months. It also offers two other greener levels that cost more. Currently, Unitil’s rate is 10.718 cents per kWh, according to Hampton’s Administrative Services Director Julie Glover.

“Some people (who’ve received the letters) have said, ‘Well, it’s not a lot,’” Glover told the Select Board at its March 25 meeting. “I said, ‘In terms of electricity it is.’”

Residents must 'opt-out' not to take part.

Hampton Community Power Aggregation – or Hampton CPA – is an “opt-out” program, meaning all Unitil customers will be automatically enrolled, unless they communicate they don’t want to be part of it. Those choosing to opt out may simply call the phone number provided in the letter, or send back the postage-paid postcard, or visit the website listed in the letter.

The program begins May 1, and the town’s electric consumers will see “Hampton CPA Program” printed under “Supplier Services” on their Unitil-issued bills. Consumers will continue to receive one bill and send payments to Unitil. However, customers who have placed a supplier block on their electricity account will have to call Unitil and request the block be removed.

Residents will experience no interruption of service, according to town officials, and there will be no interruption in billing, power or customer service.

Glover said residents can opt out now before the program begins or any time afterward, should they choose, and there will be no penalty fee.

Why some didn't get a letter about Hampton Community Power

Those who currently purchase their electricity from any of the third-party providers in the state are not getting the “opt-out” letter, according to Glover, but they can opt-in to the Hampton CPA. However, before doing so, she recommends consumers check the contracts with their third-party providers. Some contracts require penalty fees if consumers leave before the contract runs out, she said. Most contracts run for six months, she said, so waiting for the contract period to end may be advisable.

Stuart Ormsbee of Colonial Power Group, which will administer the program for Hampton, said a dozen or so residents who purchase electricity from Eversource also did not receive a letter. The reason, he said, is because the current Eversource rate is lower than Hampton CPA’s.

“Eversource is down in the 8-cent range,” Ormsbee said. “But at some point in the future, we anticipate Eversource’s rate will go up, and we’ll reach out to those customers and invite them to join.”

Those who have solar panels on their roofs – known as net metering customers – are also not getting a letter. Ormsbee said that is because they currently receive credits from Unitil that Hampton CPA cannot offer.

“We don’t want to disrupt those valuable credits,” Ormsbee said.

Why an opt-out program instead of an opt-in?

Glover said opt-in aggregate power programs have existed for years, but they’re cumbersome and require someone to get in contact with every resident and business owner and offer a chance to opt-in. That format was just not viable for a community program, she said, and if the town is going to create a program that can effectively try to reduce electric rates for all residents and small businesses, it had to make it an “opt-out.”

It’s similar to moving into a community with a “default” electric distributor – like Unitil or Eversource – which provides energy to those who live and do business there.

Large electric consumers – like manufacturers and even the town of Hampton – have always been able to go to electric distributors to negotiate better rates than the standard set by companies, she said. This new program is intended to offer better rates to those who never could do that before (residents and small businesses), Glover said.

Created a couple of years ago by statute, Hampton voters approved the town moving forward with a power aggregation program in 2023.

Glover said since then, they have worked to make it a reality.

Hampton worked with the Colonial Power Group, of Marlborough, Massachusetts, and Freedom Energy Logistics, of Auburn, New Hampshire. Colonial is an aggregation consulting firm that’s worked with local governments since 2002 to design, implement and manage municipal aggregation programs. Freedom offers energy supply management and renewable energy solutions.

Hampton CPA offers three options for buying electricity

Hampton CPA’s standard plan meets the state’s Renewable Energy Portfolio requirement that 24 percent of the energy provided must come from renewable energy sources.

HCPA has two other, greener offerings. The Green 33 plan exceeds the state’s 24 percent requirement by 33 percent, offering 58 percent from renewable energy sources. That level offers a current price of 10.798 cents per kWh, or about what Unitil is currently charging.

The Green 100 plan, as might be expected, offers 100 percent of energy from renewable sources. That level comes in at almost 13 cents per kWh or 12.918 cents.

Why the town is starting in May

After the state deregulated the electric industry in New Hampshire several years ago, companies could not make electricity and also distribute it to customers. Eversource, in business as Public Service of New Hampshire at the time, chose to sell its energy generators – such as the nuclear power plant in Seabrook – and become a distributor of electricity, as is Unitil.

As a result, electric distributors buy the energy they sell to consumers on the open market, usually twice each year. It’s the reason consumers see their energy rates per kilowatt-hour rise and fall every six months.

According to Town Manager Jaimie Sullivan, the town chose to “pull the trigger” on its new community power aggregation program now because industry analysts believe when Unitil and other distributors go out to purchase electricity the next time, costs will rise.

One of the benefits of HCPA is that the prices offered now will remain the same for the next 18 months.

However, if the expectation of energy prices rising on the open market fails to materialize, and Unitil offers a lower rate than HCPA, according to Glover, Hampton residents will be able to opt-out at any time – effective at their next meter reading – and go with whichever firm they want. And unlike some third-party electricity providers, there will be no financial penalty for doing so.

The town and representatives of Colonial Power Group are holding an information session to answer questions regarding Hampton’s Community Power Aggregation Program on Thursday, April 4, at 6 p.m. in the selectmen’s meeting room at Town Hall.

For more information on Hampton’s Community Power Aggregation Program, visit: https://colonialpowergroupnh.com/hampton/.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Community Power Program aims to slash electric bills