For electricity customers,
visit CommunityPowerNH.gov
About Us
The Coalition
The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire is a non-profit Joint Powers Agency incorporated on October 1, 2021 — governed “by communities, for communities” — empowering towns, cities and counties across New Hampshire to:
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Streamline the process for authorizing a Community Power program locally.
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Share services and staff support across member cities, towns and counties.
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Participate in joint power solicitations and local project development opportunities.
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Share knowledge and collaborate regionally on clean energy and resilient infrastructure development.
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Speak with one voice at the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission on public advocacy issues related to energy and Community Power.
As of October, 2024 the Coalition is made up of sixty-two municipalities and four county members.
Coalition Membership is open to all New Hampshire cities, towns, counties and regionally operated Community Power Aggregations.
There are no upfront costs to join the Coalition. The expense of launching and operating each Member’s Community Power program will be repaid after program launch, through electricity rates, and the revenues received from participating customers in each program.
Operating
Ready
Planning
County
Members
Our Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
We power New Hampshire communities with local energy solutions, education, and advocacy.
Vision
We envision a future where communities are empowered to realize their energy goals through innovative and competitive means.
Values
We will create value for our Community Power member municipalities by jointly contracting for services, developing projects and programs together, educating and engaging the public, and advocating for communities and customers at the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission.
In carrying out its activities, we're guided by the following values:
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Support communities to reduce energy costs and pursue economic vitality by harnessing the power of competitive markets and innovation.
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Support communities to implement successful energy and climate policies and to promote the transition to a carbon neutral energy system.
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Balance the interests of member communities who are diverse in demographics, geography and their energy goals.
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Use our shared expertise, leadership and skills to educate, empower and build the capacities of our members.
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Help communities demystify the power sector to make informed decisions.
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Facilitate collaboration and teamwork by championing diversity, equity and inclusion of people and communities of all kinds.
Meet Our Board of Directors
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The Coalition is a partnership among cities, towns, and counties spanning the state of New Hampshire. Our Board of Directors is composed of local officials, staff and volunteers elected from our membership to represent the interests of our communities:
Kathleen Kelley
Chair, Audit
Town of Randolph
Androscoggin Valley Energy Collaborative
Clyde Carson
Chair, Finance
Town of Warner
Finance Director
Andrea Hodson
Chair, Governance
Town of Harrisville
Select Board
Matt Miller, Chair, Risk Management
Town of Pembroke
Energy Committee
Chuck Willing
City of Concord
Energy Commitee
Bruce Tucker
Town of Peterborough
Community Power Committee
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Doria Brown
City of Nashua
Energy Manager
Terry Clark
Cheshire County
Commissioner
Jim Garrity
Town of Atkinson
Energy Commission
Joe Lamattina
Town of Newmarket
Town Council
Peter Kulbacki
Town of Hanover
Director of Public Works
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Steve Holmgren
Town of Durham
Energy Committee
Jamie Hess
Town of New London
Energy Committee
Nick Devonshire
Town of Exeter
Energy Committee
David Hemenway
Town of Webster
Select Board
Craig Putnam
Town of Hudson
Sustainability Committee
Coalition Committees
Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire's Board of Directors and Committees are comprised of municipal staff, officials and volunteer community leaders appointed by our Member cities, towns and counties.
Executive Committee
Authorized to act on behalf of the Board on most matters in instances where decisions cannot wait until the next meeting of the Board.
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Clifton Below, Board Chair
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Lisa Sweet, Vice Chair
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Kimberley Quirk, Treasurer
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Evan Oxenham, Secretary
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Doria Brown, Director
Click here for biographies of our Executive Committee.
Audit Committee
Responsible for overseeing the quality and integrity of the Corporation’s accounting, auditing and reporting practices, shall cause an independent financial report of the accounts and records of the Corporation to be made by a certified public accountant each fiscal year, which shall be provided to Directors and to Members.
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Kathleen Kelley, Director (Committee Chair)
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Clayton MacDonald, Member Rep
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Robin Rainie-Lobacz, Member Rep
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Peter Kulbacki, Member Rep
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Terry Clark, Director
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Doria Brown, Director
Finance Committee
Responsible for advising the Treasurer and the Board as to the investments, budget, and general fiscal policy of the Coalition.
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Clyde Carson, Director (Committee Chair)
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Kimberley Quirk, Treasurer
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Clifton Below, Board Chair
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Charles (Chuck) Willing, Director
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Paul Looney, Director
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Terry Clark, Director
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Stephanie Giovannucci, Member Rep
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Kathleen Kelley, Director
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Peter Kulbacki, Member Rep
Member Outreach and Engagement Committee
Governance Committee
Responsible for assisting the Members in recruitment of Board Directors; determine eligibility of nominees for consideration of Directorship; monitor the effective functioning of the Board and committees; conduct regular Board orientations and evaluations; periodically review and recommend amendments to this Agreement; and advise the Board and Members, through the Annual Meeting, on governance issues.
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Andrea Hodson, Director (Committee Chair)
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Andrew Maneval, Member Rep
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Martin Bender, Member Rep
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Terry Clark, Director
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Joseph Lamattina, Director
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Beth Fenstermacher, Member Rep
Responsible for supporting and facilitating Member engagement, education, and collaboration across the Membership, present and future, and providing a forum for the Members to interact with one another and with the organization.
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Lisa Sweet, Director (Committee Chair)
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Joseph Lamattina, Director
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Craig Putnam, Director
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Jamie Hess, Director
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Jackie Wengenroth, Member Rep
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Jo-Ellen Courtney, Member Rep
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Steve Holmgren, Director
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Beth Fenstermacher, Member Rep
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Bruce Tucker, Director
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Jackie Wengenroth, Member Rep (Alternate)
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David Hemenway, Director (Alternate)
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Jamie Hess, Director (Alternate)
Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Committee
Risk Management Committee
Responsible for (1) understanding and advising upon enterprise risk factors and mitigating strategies and (2) overseeing our competitive solicitation for services and credit support required to launch and operate Community Power programs for our members.
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Matthew Miller, Director (Committee Chair)
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Clifton Below, Board Chair
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Bob Benson, Member Rep
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Doria Brown, Director
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Michael Prange, Member Rep
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Nick Devonshire, Director
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Peter Kulbacki, Member Rep
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Joseph Lamattina, Member Rep
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Charles (Chuck) Willing, Director
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James Mashal, Member Rep
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Jamie Hess, Director
Responsible for monitoring and advising the Coalition and its Members regarding regulatory and legislative engagement, and also for appointing representatives of the Corporation to serve on statutory commissions, study commissions, and other boards and commissions created by the state legislature.
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Bill Baber, Member Rep (Committee Chair)
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Howard Kalet, Member Rep
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Julie Gilman, Member Rep
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Clifton Below, Board Chair
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Evan Oxenham, Secretary
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Clyde Carson, Director
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David Hemenway, Director
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Doria Brown, Director
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Henry Noel, Member Rep
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Carol Schutte, Member Rep (Alternate)
Coalition Network & Events
The Coalition maintains a communications network across dozens of New Hampshire towns, cities and counties interested in launching Community Power programs.
The Network has remained engaged throughout our formation process by participating in the Coalition’s Joint Action events and by supporting important state policy initiatives such as the House Bill 315 compromise and regulatory rule development at the Public Utilities Commission.
Community Power Summit (June 2020)
On June 5, 2020, the Organizing Group brought together 86 attendees from over 30 cities, towns and counties across New Hampshire representing ~25% of New Hampshire's default electricity load for an interactive discussion on Community Power and the Coalition "joint powers agency" model under development. The event featured a keynote presentation by Girish Balachandran, CEO of Silicon Valley Clean Energy. Watch the introductory overview and keynote below (and download the Summit agenda here):
Coalition Member Candidates Event (March 2021)
As a follow-up to the Community Power Summit, over 70 local representatives of municipalities in various stages of exploring Community Power attended the Coalition's "Member Candidates" event on March 18, 2020.
Members of the Organizing Group provided an update regarding the formation process of the agency and discussed key sections of the Coalition Joint Powers Agreement.
Event materials are available for download here.
Our History
The Coalition’s ad-hoc “Organizing Group” of municipal officials and staff led the formation of Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire beginning in late 2019 and concluding with the organization's incorporation on October 1, 2021. The Organizing Group was led in part by following municipal officials:
Rod Bouchard
Cheshire County
Assistant County Administrator for Special Projects & Strategic Initiatives
Julia Griffin
Town of Hanover
Town Manager
Early Stage Formation
Beginning in 2019, an ad-hoc work group known as the “Coalition Organizing Group” met regularly to research national best practices and explore the viability of establishing a new public power nonprofit to share services across municipalities and counties. The Coalition Organizing Group has been led by the following municipal and county staff and officials:
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City of Lebanon: Clifton Below, Assistant Mayor; Tad Montgomery, Energy & Facilities Manager; Everett Hammond, Assistant Public Works Director
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Town of Hanover: Julia Griffin, Town Manager; April Salas, Sustainability Director;
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City of Nashua: Doria Brown, Energy Manager;
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Cheshire County: Christopher Coates, County Administrator; Rod Bouchard, Deputy County Administrator;
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Town of Harrisville: Andrea Hodson, Selectwoman and member of Electric Aggregation Committee; Ned Hulbert, member of Electric Aggregation Committee.
The Coalition has been supported by technical and community advisors including: Henry Herndon, formerly Director of Local Energy Solutions, Clean Energy NH; Dori Drachman, Co-Founder, Monadnock Sustainability Network; Samuel Golding, President, Community Choice Partners; Dr. Amro Farid, Associate Professor, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College; and Mary Day Mordecai, Growing Edge Partners.
Members of the Coalition’s Organizing Group have:
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Participated and often led discussions in the Community Power informal rule drafting process hosted by the Public Utilities Commission;
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Intervened in regulatory proceedings and legislative hearings to represent the interests of communities and customers, such as by advocating for expanded data access in the Commission’s Statewide Data Platform docket (DE 19-197), and successfully negotiating the clarification and expansion of key Community Power authorities in House Bill 315;
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Assessed power agency design best practices — in terms of community governance and competitive operating models — by interviewing elected officials, senior staff and vendors operating Community Power programs in other states (such as the Redwood Coast Energy Authority and Silicon Valley Clean Energy in California), along with representatives from public power associations (such as the American Public Power Association and the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority) and other industry experts; and
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Hosted a virtual summit on Community Power that was attended by over eighty representatives from thirty-one municipalities, collectively representing one-quarter of the state’s default electricity market.
Execution of legal, community engagement and professional services contracts
In the second half of 2020, the City of Lebanon and Town of Hanover, in collaboration with the Organizing Group, after reviewing six responses to a Request for Qualifications, retained the law firm of Duncan, Weinberg, Genzer & Pembroke and worked with firm president Michael Postar Esq. and subcontracted New Hampshire counsel to draft the Coalition’s Joint Power Agreement. Duncan Weinberg are national leaders with over 50 years of public power legal guidance. In January 2021, the New Hampshire Attorney General approved our governance agreement as conforming to state law. Hanover and Lebanon are the first two municipalities to have voted to approve the Joint Powers Agreement to create the Coalition.
In February 2021, the City of Lebanon — using previously secured grant funding and in collaboration with the Coalition’s Organizing Group — contracted with Henry Herndon (formerly the Director of Local Energy Solutions at Clean Energy New Hampshire) and Samuel Golding of Community Choice Partners, Inc., to provide implementation support services prior to launch. Services include supporting municipalities throughout the Community Power approval and formation process, conducting competitive solicitations for the services, credit support and electricity procurement required to launch and operate member Community Power programs, and supporting the early-stage launch of the Coalition's power supply services and enrollment of initial customers.
The Coalition subsequently contracted with qualified vendors and credit-worthy suppliers to cover the upfront cost of implementing Community Power programs, the expense of which will be amortized and recovered in program rates and charges to participating customers for a specified term. Similar at-risk and performance-based contract structures have been used to successfully launch and operate programs in other Community Power markets.