On Thursday, February 27, 2025, the CPCNH Board of Directors voted 15-0 to appoint Henry Herndon as Acting General Manager, starting March 1, to help lead the organization through its next phase of operations and service.
In this role, Herndon will coordinate staff, contractors, and resources to ensure CPCNH’s continued success. His focus will be on facilitating collaboration across departments and service provider teams, enhancing transparency, and supporting informed decision-making by the Board and staff. This appointment provides stability and continuity during CPCNH’s leadership transition.
CPCNH Board Vice Chair Lisa Sweet highlighted Herndon’s leadership and commitment to CPCNH’s mission: "As Chair of our Member Outreach and Engagement Committee, I have worked closely with Henry over the past three years as we have launched and scaled CPCNH. He is an effective and respected leader among staff and vendors, wholly dedicated to advancing the interests of our member communities.”
Sweet added, “Additionally, the Board expresses its support and appreciation of CPCNH staff’s professionalism and collective leadership.”
Herndon expressed his ongoing commitment to CPCNH core values: "My role is to foster clarity and alignment across our operations, ensuring that our dedicated staff, Board, and members have the resources and information they need to succeed. I am committed to upholding CPCNH’s principles of transparency, collaboration, and community empowerment, enabling informed decisions that best serve our communities. Over the next few months, I look forward to working with our staff, Board and communities to optimize our operations and ensure that CPCNH continues to offer more energy choices, increased local control and competitive rates to our member communities."
At the February 27 Board meeting Chair Clifton Below announced that Brian Callnan would be departing as CEO with this statement:
“As we approach our third year of services being delivered to our members, our CEO, Brian Callnan, has decided with the agreement of CPCNH to step aside on February 28, 2025 to allow CPCNH to begin its next chapter with new leadership at the helm. While at CPCNH, Brian helped grow the staff to eight talented employees and expanded contractor and service providers to meet our growing organizational needs. Brian will be focusing on recently discovered family health issues while looking forward to what new opportunities are uncovered in the future. CPCNH’s staff and contractors will ensure member services and operations are performed effectively.”
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The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (CPCNH) is a public power agency serving a membership of ~70 New Hampshire cities, towns, and counties and ~200,000 electric customers. Governed by communities, for communities, CPCNH works to lower energy costs, expand clean options, and give local governments a stronger voice in state energy decisions. The Coalition fosters collaboration, supports innovative energy projects and programs, and advocates on behalf of consumer interests and the collective voice of our members. Focused on transparency, sustainability, and community empowerment, CPCNH ensures all New Hampshire residents benefit from affordable, reliable, and locally guided energy solutions.
