What is Cornish Community Power?
The Cornish Select Board and the Cornish Energy Committee are proposing that the Town of Cornish become the default electricity purchaser for its residents. By joining a larger pool of participating customers to expand buying power, Cornish Community Power could offer residents greater stability in electricity prices, local control over sources of electricity, and innovative energy services.
Community Power is voluntary: customers can opt-out or opt-in any time before the end of each monthly billing period. The 3 major electric distribution utilities (Eversource, Liberty & NHEC) will continue to own and operate the grid, deliver electricity to all customers, respond to outages, and bill customers.
THIS IS A MATTER THAT WILL BE VOTED ON AT TOWN MEETING IN MARCH 2025.
1. Two Public Hearings will be held to explain Community Power, answer your questions, and seek your input on the Community Power Plan, which is the basic governing document that will underlie the vote at Town Meeting 2025
NOVEMBER 14 2024 from 6:30-8pm & DECEMBER 3, 2024 from 6:30-8pm at the Cornish Town Offices.
2. Cornish Community Power Plan
3. Sample text of Warrant Article: Note: this may not be the final text of the warrant article:
“To see if the Town will vote to adopt the Cornish Community Power plan, to authorize the Select Board to implement the plan, and to take all action in furtherance thereof, pursuant to RSA 53-E. The Cornish Community Power plan is an opt-out program that offers more flexible electricity procurement. The plan will initially provide lower electricity rates for residents, or it will not launch. Initial participation in the plan can be declined, after which enrollment becomes voluntary.”
4. Community Power Coalition of NH (CPCNH): Currently, there is a successful model for Community Power here in NH: the Community Power Coalition of NH (CPCNH), which is a community-governed non-profit power agency. Over 60 NH communities are now members of CPCNH. With more than 170,000 customers, CPCNH is now the second-largest electricity supplier in NH. The Select Board will need to decide if it wants to partner with CPCNH or a commercial broker.
The Cornish Energy Committee recommends that the Selectboard choose to partner with CPCNH because of its openly transparent governance structure, its non-profit status, its presence as a NH-based entity, its commitment to green energy goals, its innovative energy solutions products, its financial reserve fund that will keep prices steady in spite of volatile energy prices; and its expert risk management staff.
https://www.cpcnh.org/benefits
5.CORNISH COMMUNITY POWER (CCP) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be found at communitypowernh.gov/faqs
Below are a few additional FAQs generated by the Cornish Energy Committee.
You can also email josharf@gmail.com with any questions.
1. What happens after CCP is approved at Town Meeting?
The Selectboard will need to decide if it will partner with CPCNH or a commercial broker. If it chooses CPCNH (which the Energy Committee recommends), the Selectboard will need to sign 3 agreements on cost sharing and risk management policies, and will need to appoint 2 positions: an Authorized Officer and a Principal Executive Officer. The launch date will probably be in June 2025. 30 days prior to launch, all residents will receive detailed information by mail as to their options for enrolling or opting-out of CCP. Also, a public information meeting will be held within 15 days of that mailing to answer program questions or provide clarification.
2. Will CCP place a significant administrative burden on the Town?
No. If the Selectboard chooses to partner with CPCNH, the Selectboard will need to initially devote a certain amount of time in reviewing and signing 3 agreements, and then several months later, they will need to attend an informational meeting with residents prior to launch. After launch, all of the administrative work will be performed by CPCNH staff and CPCNH contracted parties, which is all paid for through a portion of revenues raised from participating ratepayers. Either the appointed CPCNH Member Representative (Selectboard member Jason Bourne) or the Alternate Member Representative (Joanna Sharf) would plan to attend CPCNH’s annual Board of Director’s meeting, and can, if they want, participate in other meetings during the year, but they are not required to.
3. Will residents have to pay extra taxes to implement the program?
No. The Cornish Community Power Plan stipulates that the Town will never levy taxes to cover program expenses. CCP will be self-funded through revenues raised from participating customers.
4. Who will be automatically enrolled in CCP, and who won’t?
Any customer who has a standard, default plan with Liberty or Eversource will most likely be automatically enrolled. Customers who have Net Metered solar systems or are now buying their electricity from third party suppliers will NOT be automatically enrolled. It is possible that NHEC customers will NOT be automatically enrolled. If you are on a non-standard electricity plan with Liberty or Eversource you might NOT be automatically enrolled. Please check back closer to Launch to get definitive answers. Any customer not automatically enrolled always can opt-in to join CCP voluntarily.
5. Will CCP lower my electric power costs? Please see FAQ #21 here: communitypowernh.gov/faqs
The Community Power Coalition of NH (“CPCNH”), which is an organization that CCP can choose to partner with, continually monitors the wholesale electricity market, and along with its large pool of customers, has the flexibility to be able to take advantage of lower cost pricing opportunities throughout the year. This is how CPNCH has historically achieved lower “Supply Service” rates for customers. Over the past couple of years, the CPCNH default electricity option, Granite Basic, has so far proved to be less than or equal to the 3 major Utilities’ Supply rates. In 2024, this has saved Eversource & Liberty (but not NHEC) customers approximately $12-$15 per month on the “Supply” portion of their bill (based on an average usage of 650kWh per month), but this might not be true every year. Remember that the Supply portion of your electric bill is not the whole bill. The cost of Delivery is an additional part of your electric bill that will always be determined by the major Utilities.
If you choose other Supply rate options from CCP that contain more renewable energy content, such as Granite Plus, Clean 50 or Clean 100, you may be paying a slightly higher rate for Supply than that offered by other Utilities.
The important thing to remember is that CCP will provide stability in electric Supply prices over the long term. Energy prices vary widely year to year. The coalition of NH towns participating in Community Power is structured to build up a hefty financial reserve fund, that acts as a buffer against price volatility and enables CCP to provide stable, highly competitive prices consistently, unlike the major utilities, so in the long run you will be able to avoid paying higher prices.
6. What is the difference between “Supply” vs. “Delivery” Services? On your electric bill, you will see different rates for “Supply,” and various other items under the rubric of “Delivery.” The Supply charge is the cost of electricity you use. Utilities purchase electricity from third party suppliers on your behalf, and then bill the supplied electricityas a pass-through cost to customers with no profit to the Utility. The Supply portion of your bill is the only thing that NH law allows entities other than the Utilities to provide for you. Customers have the option of choosing another energy supplier to obtain energy on their behalf, but only for supply services. The Utilities have complete jurisdiction over the Delivery of your electricity. There are several components that make up the Delivery charge on your bill: Transmission (the cost of building, maintaining and operating the regional transmission system); Distribution, Operations & Service (maintenance & operation of the Grid, customer service); Public Policy (costs mandated by the state and federal government for financial assistance and energy efficiency programs, stranded cost recovery charge, systems benefit charge). It is from the Delivery portion of your bill that the Utilities make their profit.
7. Will I be able to choose to have a greater portion of my power sources from renewables?
Yes. If CCP partners with CPCNH, at any time before the end of the billing period you can opt-up to Granite Plus (33% renewable content), Clean 50 (50% renewables) or Clean 100 (100% renewables) by calling the customer service phone number, through email or on the website. For a more detailed answer, see https://www.communitypowernh.gov/faqs
8. Will I still receive my power bill from my utility?
Yes. You will continue to receive your electric bill as usual from either Liberty, Eversource or NHEC. See https://www.communitypowernh.gov/faqs