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Community Power Update January 2024

Eversource has announced that in February it plans on decreasing their default rate from 12.58 cents per kilowatt hour to 8.285 cents per kilowatt hour for the supply portion of the bill, a decrease of 4.29 cents (or approximately 35%). To compare this to the Swanzey Community Power Plan (CPP) launched in 2023, the Swanzey Plan’s default rate is 11.470 cents per kilowatt hour and will stay at this rate until December 2025. Eversource’s new rate will go into effect in February and will be available to customers for six months before Eversource will go out to bid again.

Given that there is a savings available to residents on the Eversource default rate compared to the Community Power Plan, the Town of Swanzey would like to emphasize a few points for residents. Firstly, one of the primary goals of Swanzey’s Community Power Plan was to provide residents with a predictable and reliable energy cost over the long term and can be beneficial to residents who do not want to watch the energy market closely and frequently change suppliers. Secondly, the Community Power Plan is not binding and customers can leave at any time with no penalties. For many years energy customers have had choices in their energy supplier and community power does not change that. Customers may opt out at any time and change to Eversource or another supplier. Customers who opt to use a different supplier are advised to monitor supply rate changes to see if they increase in the future. Thirdly, customers who have been participating in the Community Power Plan have been paying a lower supply rate than the Eversource default rate from their enrollment until February.

Community Power Update April 2023

Swanzey’s Community Power Plan is all set to launch in early June, but before then, there are a number of important dates that the community will want to be aware of (Reference those dates below). Going forward, it is important for residents to know that they will be receiving a number of different notices in the mail from Good Energy, Direct Energy, and the Town of Swanzey. If you have any questions about the notices you have received, please feel free to call the town hall at 603-352-7411 ext. 112 or email jpeel@swanzeynh.gov with questions.

Reference those dates here:

April 10: a postcard announcing the upcoming program will arrive to any customer eligible for automatic enrollment
April 20 (start of the 30-day customer consideration period): a detailed Customer Notification Letter will arrive to all eligible electricity customers informing them of the upcoming program and its pricing. It also informs customers how to choose a different program option or, if eligible for automatic enrollment, how to opt-out. Customers can opt-out via a postage-paid mailer included with the letter, calling the supplier, or using the online form at https://swanzeycommunitypower.com/.
April 26: Community meeting to provide an overview of the program and answer questions will take place on April 26th, 2023 at 6:00 pm at Whitcomb Hall located at 17 Main St. in Swanzey.
May 20: this is the end of the 30-day consideration period. Any customer that has not opted out or made an election will be enrolled in the default program. After May 20, customers can still opt-out or can change their program option at any time without penalty. Their choice will take effect on their next available meter read.

Community Power Program Update: March 2023

The Town of Swanzey joined with the City of Keene and the Towns of Marlborough and Wilton to hold a Community Power competitive bid on March 7, 2023. The result of the bid was finding an exclusive energy provider to serve the combined energy needs of the four communities. Direct Energy will be the primary supplier for the four municipalities and their Community Power Program. The Program will launch in June 2023 and will last for 30 months through December 2025.

As we prepare for the June launch, the Town will reach out to its residents a number of times to inform them of potential changes in their energy provider. All customers eligible for the automatic enrollment will receive a notification letter in April 2023 explaining why they are eligible and what the proposed rates are. This letter will also explain how residents who want to opt out of Community Power Program can do so. Further details regarding the program can be found on the Community Power Webpage or by contacting Julius Peel, Land Use and Zoning Coordinator, at 603-352-7411 x112.

Community Power Committee
The Community Power Committee (CPC) was created by the Board of Selectmen in March 2021 and given the task of researching and making recommendations on establishing a Community Power Plan. Community Power refers to a program where a town purchases electricity on behalf of residential and business customers. One of the benefits of Community Power can be a reduction in utility costs because the town is pooling customers together for more competitive pricing. Other benefits include local control over where electricity is sourced and the ability to increase the amount of electricity coming from renewable energy sources.

Public Hearings and Approval of Community Power Plan
Public hearings on the draft Community Power Plan were held on November 17 and December 8, 2021. The Committee voted to approve a Final Draft of the Community Power Plan on December 16, 2021 and the Swanzey Board of Selectmen adopted the plan on January 5, 2022. The plan was considered by voters at Town Meeting in March 2022. Voters adopted the Community Power Plan at Town Meeting. The Community Power Plan was submitted to the PUC for approval in October 2022. The final approved Community Power Plan can be downloaded by clicking here.

Public Informational Meetings
On September 29, 2021, the CPC hosted two public informational meetings with the Town's consultants, Standard Power and Good Energy, to present information on the Community Power program and the results of the community survey conducted in August and September. The recording from the Zoom meeting can be viewed by clicking here.

Community Power Survey
The Committee created a survey to better understand the needs and interests of Swanzey residents to design our Community Power Plan. The survey was conducted during the months of August and September. To view the full survey results, please click here.

Understanding Community Power
Interested in learning more about Community Power? Please download the informational handout created by the Community Power Committee by clicking here.

You can also visit the websites below for more information:

Agendas and Minutes
Community Power Committee agendas and minutes are posted on the Town’s website.

Members
The Community Power Committee charter allows the Board of Selectmen to appoint up to 5 members. Committee members each serve a 1-year term with the goal of presenting a Community Power Plan for voters to consider at Town Meeting in March 2022. The current members of the committee are:

Bob Audette
Cheri Domina
Dan LeClair
Barbara Skuly
Bob Wyman

Comments and Feedback
If you have any comments or questions, please contact Michael Branley, Town Administrator, at mbranley@swanzeynh.gov or 603-352-7411, ext. 107.

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