Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

PUC Report: Current Electric Market Conditions "Unsustainable" for PSNH

NH Public Utilities Commission

Staff for the agency that regulate electric utilities have released a strongly worded investigation into the effects of cheap natural gas on Public Service of New Hampshire’s electric rates. The report on market conditions suggests the current situation is unsustainable.

The Public Utilities Commission’s report offers several alternatives to the status quo, including PSNH selling all or some of its power plants, or retiring some of them.

The problem, as the report outlines is this: because PSNH owns several power plants that aren’t competitive with the current low price of natural gas, those plants have gone from saving customers money to costing them extra. As more customers leave PSNH for competitive suppliers, the more PSNH rates go up, as the cost of those plants is spread over fewer rate-payers.

In a statement PSNH faulted the report for ignoring the role these plants play as a hedge, if gas prices were to rise. But the report does not share PSNH’s view of the value of that hedge, stating instead that “our analysis shows that the fossil units have very little market value”.

It recommends the legislature and governor get involved and PSNH present a proposal for how to move forward, saying "there is not a great deal of time for the State to act to address what will become an increasingly onerous burden" for PSNH ratepayers.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.