InDepthNH.org (https://indepthnh.org/series/power-to-the-people/page/6)
D. Maurice KreisPower to the People is a new column by D. Maurice Kreis, New Hampshire’s Consumer Advocate. Kreis and his staff of four represent the interests of residential utility customers before the NH Public Utilities Commission and elsewhere.
Sometimes, in my exasperation, I have been known to complain that New Hampshire’s public utilities are mired in the year 1955. But it turns out that maybe I should be grateful these companies are as evolved as they are.
New Hampshire doesn’t care about who owns its public utilities. But maybe it should.
“Energy justice requires that equity be part of energy policy.” So, declares Shalanda H. Baker, a professor of law, public policy and urban affairs at Northeastern University, in her 2021 book Revolutionary Power.
A pilot project with big implications.
As with any deals of this magnitude, there are a few sticky details. For one thing, you don’t actually get 175,393 pieces of wood – you’ll take title to 3,844 of them, along with a 50 percent interest in 343,098 others. The other half belongs to Eversource.
In visual terms, the most memorable thing about Fargo was the sight of Steve Buscemi’s dismembered body being fed into a tree chipper. It wasn’t exactly heartwarming family entertainment.
The state Consumer Advocate appealed the Public Utilities Commission’s earlier order rejecting a new three-year energy efficiency plan to the state Supreme Court Wednesday.
You don’t need a Kremlinologist to understand my perspective on these things in my capacity as the state’s official advocate for residential utility customers. Rolling blackouts are a small but real possibility this winter.
The state’s utilities, conservation groups, a social service agency and the state Consumer Advocate want the Public Utilities Commission to rehear an energy efficiency plan regulators rejected last month.
ISO-New England officials Monday said if generators lack access to enough fuel, and a prolonged cold snap grips the region, rolling blackouts may be needed to prevent the entire grid from crashing.