At least 10 New Hampshire towns including Canterbury, Pembroke, Webster and Warner will be deciding whether to join community power programs at town meeting next month, continuing a shift in the way local governments let their residents buy electricity.

Each of these towns – as small as Westmoreland (1,800 people) and as big as Hudson (25,000) – have warrant articles seeking permission to contract with the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire to help them buy electricity for residents on the wholesale market, instead of only from their local utility.  The city council of Dover approved the idea in January, while a dozen other communities including the city of Nashua and the Cheshire County government have already done so.

Large users such as manufacturers have long been able to buy electricity wholesale on the open market rather than from their local power utility, potentially saving money. That option was not available to residents until a  state law passed in 2019 – and defended  in 2021, when attempts to scuttle it were rejected by the legislature – expanded who can do bulk purchases of electricity.

By aggregating demand, communities will be able to buy electricity from producers more cheaply than the default rate charged by utilities under state regulation. Communities can also focus their electricity supplies in other ways, such as emphasizing green power, and make it available to residents.

Communities are in various stages of putting together what are known as Electric Aggregation Plans. It is expected that early adopters will make their first power plans available to residents this year.

Residents will have the option whether to buy electricity through community power or continue getting it from the utility or other third-party providers.

Billing and repairs will still be handled by the utility. No taxpayer money is involved, and communities can withdraw from the program later.

Many other states have similar bulk-purchase options in place, part of changes to the system of making and delivering electricity.  The arrival of technologies like solar power and batteries make it possible to turn electricity consumers into potential producers.

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