Starting tomorrow Unitil customers will no longer be able to buy renewable energy from the utility. Only 25 of the company’s 75,000 customers in the state opt to pay extra for renewable power, and the utility says the cost of running the program don’t justify continuing it.
Unitil’s Green Neighbor program has been around for three years, which is when the legislature required utilities to create such programs. But only .03 percent of their customers signed on, and so the law allows them to ask regulators for permission to shutter the renewable option.
Customers who want renewable power can still switch to a competitive supplier who can provide it, which is the solution Unitil is promoting. “And we’re going to keep that up on the website, contact information for some of the third party suppliers in the area,” says Spokesman Alec O’Meara, “So [customers] can sign up for that and find the option that works best for them.”
Unitil is the second New Hampshire utility to shut down its renewable power option, Public Service of New Hampshire was the first this past summer.
