Bow could become the first town to withdraw from the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire as residents confront high energy costs.
Town officials discussed the possibility of leaving the Coalition, an alternative to traditional utilities that allows members to buy their own electricity from a range of renewable sources, at a board of selectmen meeting last Tuesday.
“What I want is a plan to get out for all of our taxpayers so that they’re not stuck in a death spiral of what this is,” selectman Chris Nicolopoulos told Community Power representatives.
Merrimack County adopted a community power plan in 2024, allowing any local select board to vote to join the program. Of the county’s 27 municipalities, 13 have joined to date.
Residents in participating communities can opt-out of the service, but they must do so by at least two business days before their monthly meter read to avoid service charges.
Bow joined the Coalition in May of 2025 after residents formed a Community Power Committee to research the program. Selectmen voted 4-1 to adopt Community Power under the impression that it would bring cost savings, said Chair Kip McDaniel.
“That was what was presented to us, and that was the reason, certainly, that I voted, and I suspect at least three other select board members voted to join Community Power,” McDaniel said. “It was about saving money for the town residents.”
Data from Community Power and Unitil, one of the largest utility providers in the county, show that the Coalition did provide energy rates at a lower cost through early 2025. But from February, 2025, onward, its rates have consistently surpassed Unitil’s rates.
Jackson Kaspari, director of member services at Community Power, said the program will save the average residential customer $200 this year.
“In the case of Bow, because they were a community that launched through Merrimack County more recently, they have not experienced that same sort of level of benefit, but it would have been great had they joined earlier,” Kaspari said.
He said Unitil’s lower cost resulted from changes by the Public Utilities Commission, which controls the rates set by regulated electric utilities, allowing a portion of its rates to be based on short-term market prices.
“The rates that are being set are proxy rates that don’t necessarily reflect the actual costs to the utilities during that period, but we’re actively monitoring the situation and it’s something we’re engaged with,” Kaspari said.
Bow’s board of selectmen sent a letter to the Merrimack County administrator on Jan. 14 stating that the town is considering leaving the program. The board will need to send another letter formalizing the town’s exit from the program, according to Community Power representatives.
Kaspari said that the process could take around one year.
“We entered this with, in my view, certainly the best intentions to save Bow taxpayers money,” McDaniel said. “It turns out that what was indicated would happen is not happening, and we’re doing what we should to get out of it.”