In an op-ed earlier this summer, Eversource claims that they do not have control over the price to ratepayers. This is not true and companies like Eversource need to stop putting the onus of corporate greed onto the public. Not being able to afford necessities, like utilities, is not a moral failing of the ratepayer, but of the corporations and the laws that allow them to take advantage.
This August, rate hikes sent prices skyrocketing. The utility companies’ ineptitude to properly plan for cost should not be the ratepayers’ emergency. We know the climate crisis is causing more extreme weather every year and a volatile administration needs to be further considered when making rate predictions.
The primary driver behind the price hikes and price volatility that NH residents experience is not simply an unavoidable law of the energy market. Rather, these swings can be attributed to a change that state regulators made a few years ago. Before, utility companies would commit to a single price for their customers every six months. Now, utility companies buy half of the power they provide to consumers on a day-to-day spot market where the utility companies guess what daily prices will average out to. When the companies guess incorrectly because of “unforeseen” circumstances, the losses these utility companies experience are not experienced immediately.
The utility companies’ losses accrue quietly over months while electricity bills appear stable until the cost lands on consumers months later via a rate hike. The utility companies are incurring costs they need to recover every time they improperly guess the daily rate. If a grocery store let you buy products from them for the past six months, only to tell you that from now on, you need to pay an extra dollar per item because it undercharged you for the previous six months, you would be understandably frustrated. That kind of behavior would be considered unacceptable. Likewise, we shouldn’t accept and enable this kind of business from utility companies.
New Hampshire gets much of its energy from methane gas. This is expensive and costly to the environment. We have cheaper, more efficient options for generating power — like offshore wind. Renewable energy is more cost efficient than fossil fuels. We need legislation that makes way for easier access to renewable energies in the Granite State. It is imperative that this midterm cycle we elect members to local governance that care about the rate payer and care about the health of our beautiful state.
We know the climate crisis is causing more extreme weather every year and an unsteady federal administration needs to be further considered when making rate predictions. The utility companies are not hurting for money in a way they would like you to believe. Eversource’s CEO Joseph Nolan Jr. total compensation last year was nearly $15 million. New Hampshire families are struggling to afford the cost of utilities. Every Granite Stater deserves affordable, clean energy.
Kayleigh Coates, from Dover, is the Elections Communications Organizer at 350NH and William Brown, from Durham, is a UNH student and fellow at 350NH.