Executive Committee
Clifton Below, Board Chair
Assistant Mayor and Councilor, City of Lebanon
Clifton Below, Assistant Mayor and City Councilor, is the prime author of the Community Power Law (NH RSA 53-E, 2019) and co-authored and sponsored of the nation’s first Electric Utility Restructuring Act (NH RSA 374-F, 1996).
Clifton joined Lebanon’s City Council in 2015 and chairs the Lebanon Energy Advisory Committee, served as a state Representative (1992-1998), state Senator (1998-2004) and Public Utilities Commissioner (2005-2012), and worked to advance New Hampshire’s interests at the regional and national levels by serving as:
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President of the New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners (NEPUC);
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Vice Chair of the Energy Resources and Environment Committee of the National Association of State Utility Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC);
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Board officer of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. (RGGI);
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Member of the Public Advisory Council and Energy Efficiency & Smart Grid Advisory Group of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and
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Member of the Smart Grid & Demand Response Collaborative of NARUC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Clif is leading the development of the Lebanon Community Power program and a Transactive Energy partnership between the City, Dartmouth College and Liberty Utilities, and also represents the City in various Public Utility Commission proceedings (pertaining to Grid Modernization, Net Energy Metering, Liberty Utilities’ residential battery pilot and Time-of-Use rate design, and the Statewide Data Platform proceeding).
Most recently, Clif was invited by Public Utilities Commission staff to lead a series of stakeholder workshops and took the lead in developing draft administrative rules for Community Power Aggregators.
He subsequently led the successful negotiation to re-write House Bill 315 (2021), which adopted language that protects municipal local control authorities, clarifies data access procedures and expanded Community Power authorities to include Purchase of Receivables — a significant credit enhancement that will benefit all Community Power customers and programs.
Kevin Charette, Vice Chair
Energy Advisory Committee, City of Portsmouth
Kevin was also responsible for the utility’s interaction with the competitive electric energy suppliers operating in Eversource’s service area. He represented the company on customer proceedings before the NH, CT and MA Public Utility Commissions. Beyond customer operations, Kevin has experience managing enterprise IT projects, corporate process improvement, emergency response, corporate merger integration and internal auditing.
Kevin holds a B.S. in Finance from Fairfield University and a M.B.A from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He and his wife Lori moved to Portsmouth in retirement in 2020 after raising their two daughters in Durham, CT. They are currently enjoying all NH and the Seacoast region have to offer. Kevin is incredibly pleased to support CPCNH’s exciting mission and help to deliver the broad range of energy related benefits to NH communities including Portsmouth.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-charette-a64443124/
Kevin recently retired from Eversource Energy after a 37-year career in the electric and gas utility industry. He was a customer operations director with leadership responsibilities across New England. He directed the strategy, operations and performance of various customer facing functions, including: the company’s residential and business contact centers, new customer service, mid-size business account executives, metering, billing, payment solutions and collections.
Kimberly Quirk, Treasurer
Energy Committee, Town of Enfield
Kimberly has her Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. After 25 years in high tech industry and entrepreneurial efforts in the Boston area, she started her own solar installation company in 2009 to help address the climate crises.
In 2019, Kim's company Energy Emporium merged with ReVision Energy, and Kim now serves as the Upper Valley Branch Manager and the storage expert for ReVision company wide.
To get some hands on experience before starting Energy Emporium she renovated a 1850’s home to a zero net energy building which gets all of its heat, hot water, and electricity from the sun. The house has a seasonal thermal storage tank, solar hot water, 10kW of solar PV and battery backup. There are no fossil fuels or combustion in the house. The project won a “Lean & Green” Award from NH Business Magazine in 2012 and Kim has presented the project at the NESEA conference in Boston as well as a number of renewable energy conferences.
Kim is a former chair of the Enfield Energy Committee and the current chair for the Enfield Community Power Plan.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberley-quirk-a4b130/
Evan Oxenham, Secretary
Energy Committee, Town of Plainfield
Evan Oxenham serves as co-chair of the Plainfield Energy Committee and has been a member of the committee since 2014. Working with the members of the Plainfield Energy Committee and the Cornish Energy Committee, he helped pass warrant articles at the 2018 Town Meetings of both Plainfield and Cornish to commit the towns to the Ready for 100 goals. That commitment has been an important driver for Plainfield to join CPCNH, as community power Is the only way that Plainfield will be able to achieve the goal of 100% renewable grid electricity by 2030.
Evan is a software engineer and certified Project Manager Professional whose career encompassed a broad array of projects including gas and oil pipeline supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, municipal electrical peak-shaving systems, a John Deere vehicle diagnostic system, and, in his final position before retiring, engineering simulation software, including battery simulations.
After moving with wife Lee and son Ian to New Hampshire in 2011, the entire Oxenham family became increasingly concerned about the climate crisis. This concern prompted Evan’s engagement with the local Energy Committee and his church’s climate ministry. It motivated Lee to become a New Hampshire State Representative, serving on the Science, Technology and Energy Committee. Ian earned a JD and a Masters in Energy and Regulatory Law from Vermont Law School, drafted a successful NH energy storage bill, and has worked on issues before both the PUC and FERC.
Evan has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and a Master of Science in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. He is an award-winning photographer and particularly enjoys capturing the action in dance and theatrical productions. He has photographed numerous North Country Community Theater productions since 2012 and Revels North productions since 2015.
Energy Committee, Town of Rye
Lisa Sweet chaired the Coalition's Member Operations and Engagement Committee since its establishment shortly after the founding of CPCNH. After the Committee successfully fulfilled its charter of supporting member municipalities to launch the state's first Community Power programs, Lisa continues on chairing the reformed Member Outreach and Engagement Committee.
Lisa Sweet
Lisa and her family are committed to making changes to reduce carbon emissions. She joined the Rye Energy Committee with the goal of helping to educate others and to try to make change on a community level. Lisa taught middle school math and science in public, private and international schools. She has also worked in educational publishing developing curriculum and aligning existing curricula with new standards as well as an educational consultant working to support other teachers. Her hobbies include sustainable gardening, hiking and travel. One favorite contribution to community was working with Sidewalk Farms to sustainably grow food in small spaces around the community. This led to Sidewalk Farms being the first to farm the conserved Goss Farm in Rye. Establishing those practices for future farmers has benefitted the land and the community.