In 2019, the New Hampshire legislature passed the bipartisan Community Power Law that advanced New Hampshire to the forefront of electrical system deregulation in the United States. The CPL removed the monopoly on those energy system functions that are not a “natural monopoly” and returned them to local communities. House Bill 315 would completely roll back the CPL.

The CPL was an important step forward for New Hampshire because, lacking competition, monopoly utilities are not incentivized to:

• Innovate,

• Save their customers money by lowering costs or

• Work to improve their products and delight their customers.

As customers, we accept this or live in the dark.

In 2019 the CPL changed this and did something unambiguously good; it removed monopoly power where it provided no benefit to New Hampshire ratepayers. Local communities make decisions about where they get their power and what programs to offer. Utilities continue to manage a reliable electrical distribution network, where a monopoly is to everyone’s benefit. By giving local communities the option but not the obligation to take over the aspects of electrical power supply that are not a “natural monopoly,” we realize myriad benefits:

• Choice

• Local communities decide from where and what kind of power they buy. They can choose local power that brings economic development or more renewable energy to reduce pollution.

• Local communities can choose to set up programs that match the local communities’ priorities, such as targeted energy efficiency programs that lower electric bills or tax bills when applied to public buildings.

• Local communities and citizens can choose to stay with their current utility offering.

• Aggregation -The CPL allows communities to negotiate on behalf of their citizens for the purchase of power and get them a better deal than they ever have as an individual ratepayer. This is an unequivocal benefit.

The Community Power Law is bipartisan, smart legislation that put energy innovation at the forefront in New Hampshire. HB 315 would destroy that. The rest of the country is divided into states where on one end the monopoly utilities run all aspects of the power system and on the other state legislators are making all the decisions. In 2019, New Hampshire carved its own innovative path of bringing the power (pun intended) back to the local level. Please contact your state representatives and urge them to vote down HB 315.

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