{"id":7624,"date":"2012-04-18T12:45:54","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T16:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/?p=7624"},"modified":"2012-04-18T12:45:54","modified_gmt":"2012-04-18T16:45:54","slug":"what-a-small-firms-challenge-to-psnh-could-mean-for-the-future-of-the-electricity-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/04\/18\/what-a-small-firms-challenge-to-psnh-could-mean-for-the-future-of-the-electricity-market\/","title":{"rendered":"What A Small Firm&#8217;s Challenge To PSNH Could Mean For The Future Of The Electricity Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_7629\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Years after NH partially deregulated its electricity market, a company is challenging PSNH\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/6111678986_f6b9505938_z.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-7629\" title=\"Light Bulb\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/6111678986_f6b9505938_z-620x413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/6111678986_f6b9505938_z-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/6111678986_f6b9505938_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/6111678986_f6b9505938_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Tim Swinson \/ Flickr<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Years after NH partially deregulated its electricity market, a company is challenging PSNH<\/p><\/div>\n<p>More than a decade ago, the New Hampshire legislature partially deregulated its electricity market.\u00a0 The move was supposed to allow residential customers the chance to buy power from companies other than <a href=\"http:\/\/www.psnh.com\/For-My-Home.aspx\">Public Service of New Hampshire<\/a>, which dominates the state&#8217;s electricity market.\u00a0 But for a long time, nothing really happened.<\/p>\n<p>Now, <a title=\"Bid By Resident Power for PSNH Customers Heats Up\" href=\"http:\/\/nhpr.org\/post\/bid-resident-power-psnh-customers-heats\" target=\"_blank\">NHPR&#8217;s Sam Evans-Brown reports<\/a> one company is finally mounting a challenge to PSNH.\u00a0 <a title=\"Resident Power\" href=\"http:\/\/residentpower.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Resident Power<\/a> guarantees customers will save at least five percent on the PSNH rate.<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Resident Power\u2019s bid to woo residential electricity buyers away from Public Service is the first major challenge that the utility has faced since the market was deregulated in 2001.\u00a0They can offer savings because they buy electricity on the open market, while PSNH generates much of its own power, in older, less efficient power plants.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><div class=\"related-content alignright\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/02\/06\/some-key-arguments-for-and-against-making-psnh-sell-off-its-generating-facilities\/\">Some Key Arguments For\u2013And Against\u2013Making PSNH Sell Its Generating Facilities<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/04\/02\/what-a-canadian-newspaper-reports-about-hydro-quebec-and-northern-pass\/\">What A Canadian Newspaper Reports About Hydro-Quebec (And Northern Pass)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/01\/735410952_0a914f212e1-60x60.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/topic\/nh-legislature-2012\/\">The Ultimate Economic Guide To The 2012 NH Legislative Session<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>While Resident Power is the only start-up provider competing with PSNH at the moment, a handful of other companies have filed with the Public Utilities Commission in the hopes of jumping into this new market.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;For its part, PSNH says it isn\u2019t very concerned about losing customers to new competition.\u00a0Public Service spokesman, Martin Murray, says the only reason other providers can offer substantially lower costs is because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/12\/21\/business\/21views.html\">natural gas is keeping electric rates low.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He says that\u2019s not a situation that will last forever.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It\u2019s something we\u2019re certainly keeping an eye on,&#8217; Murray notes, &#8216;but there\u2019s so much volatility that it\u2019s literally changing week to week and even hour to hour.'&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Evans-Brown reports that so far, not even one percent of PSNH customers have switched to Resident Power.\u00a0 So far, the new utility doesn&#8217;t look like a credible threat.\u00a0 But Resident Power just filed with the PUC last fall.\u00a0 That&#8217;s not a lot of time to build a big customer base.\u00a0 And given Granite Staters&#8217; reputation for frugality, it&#8217;s conceivable that down the line (especially if power prices continue to rise), a critical mass of people might decide to make the switch:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_7632\"  class=\"wp-caption module image left\" style=\"max-width: 246px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/3702533665_1d91f849ae.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7632\" title=\"Plug\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/3702533665_1d91f849ae-246x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"246\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/3702533665_1d91f849ae-246x300.jpg 246w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/files\/2012\/04\/3702533665_1d91f849ae.jpg 411w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 246px) 100vw, 246px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">d76 \/ Flickr<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"> Questions remain about whether to move forward with complete deregulation<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The problem with that is that New Hampshire has only half deregulated its electric market. PSNH still owns some of its own power plants, and rate-payers pay for the upkeep and upgrades on those plants.\u00a0For now, it\u2019s only a trickle of customers leaving PSNH, but if that trickle becomes a flood there are real problems down the road.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gencourt.state.nh.us\/house\/members\/member.aspx?member=376581\">Representative Jim\u00a0Garrity<\/a>\u00a0chairs the house committee that hears bills about utilities. \u00a0He says, &#8220;it begs the question, what happens if just you or I are the only ones left, how much is our bill gonna be from PSNH? Well that will never happen seems to be the answer, but\u2026 it\u2019s happening!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Garrity says, we\u2019ll just have to wait and see, but this new competition may force the issue of what to do with PSNH\u2019s aging power plants.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Garrity was a key supporter of <a title=\"HB 1238\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gencourt.state.nh.us\/legislation\/2012\/HB1238.html\" target=\"_blank\">HB 1238<\/a>, a bill that would have finished deregulating the state&#8217;s energy market by forcing PSNH to sell its power plants.\u00a0 But at the end of last month, <a title=\"Plug pulled on PSNH divestiture effort \" href=\"http:\/\/www.nashuatelegraph.com\/newsstatenewengland\/955179-227\/plug-pulled-on-psnh-divestiture-effort.html\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Landrigan reported for the <\/a><em><a title=\"Plug pulled on PSNH divestiture effort \" href=\"http:\/\/www.nashuatelegraph.com\/newsstatenewengland\/955179-227\/plug-pulled-on-psnh-divestiture-effort.html\" target=\"_blank\">Nashua Telegraph<\/a> <\/em>that Garrity changed course:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Garrity asked the House to sideline the bill, and the House agreed, 304-19, effectively killing it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;Garrity scored a bipartisan agreement on divestiture, prompting PSNH CEO Gary Long to call it the most dangerous bill he had seen in 10 years&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The primary purpose of us introducing HB 1238 this year was so that we could reopen in public the policy debate of the divestiture of PSNH assets,&#8217; Garrity said. &#8216;That mission has been accomplished a lot and that discussion will continue.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Garrity said there are Senate bills that could be used to advance the debate, but supporters of divestiture conceded the House vote effectively ends the threat for 2012.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than a decade ago, the New Hampshire legislature partially deregulated its electricity market.\u00a0 The move was supposed to allow residential customers the chance to buy power from companies other than Public Service of New Hampshire, which dominates the state&#8217;s electricity market.\u00a0 But for a long time, nothing really happened. Now, NHPR&#8217;s Sam Evans-Brown reports [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":7629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[555,557,515],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7638,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624\/revisions\/7638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}