CPCNH Leadership Transition & Member Updates FAQ
- CPCNH
- Apr 18
- 9 min read
Text updated on: 4.18.25
Updates from original version will appear highlighted: Example
The following webpage provides key information regarding the recent
leadership transition at CPCNH and responses to common questions
from our members.
This page will continue to evolve as more questions arise and as additional updates become available. Members are encouraged to attend virtual office hours for direct engagement and further clarification on ongoing developments.
Upcoming Office Hours:
📅 Date: April 25 & May 9, 2025
🕐 Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time
Office Hours subject to time/date change. You can find the latest dates and information on the CPCNH public calendar webpage at cpcnh.org/calendar.
Leadership Transition
Is CPCNH undergoing a leadership transition?
Yes. 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.
Link: Statement on cpcnh.org/news
Has CPCNH appointed acting leadership to manage the transition?
Yes. In February, the Board of Directors voted 15-0 to appoint Henry Herndon as Acting General Manager to lead the organization through its next phase of operations and service. CPCNH is supported by an expert team of staff and vendor partners. The role of Acting General Manager is to manage and coordinate staff, contractors, and resources to ensure CPCNH’s continued success. CPCNH is establishing an Executive Leadership Search Committee to consider remaining staffing needs including options for long-term executive leadership.
What is Herndon’s background and qualifications?
Mr. Herndon played key leadership roles in founding, launch, and scaling of CPCNH operations. He is a respected leader and manager among staff and vendors, dedicated to advancing member interests. He has effectively designed and filled job postings, hiring, training and managing staff and contractors. Mr. Herndon has demonstrated skills in strategic planning and execution including project management and fostering a positive team culture and is effective at delegating technical roles to specialists while organizing and communicating information to ensure informed Board decision-making. Herndon is an expert in state energy policy and regulation.
Status of Joint Reserves & Strategies Moving Forward
What is the status of CPCNH Member’s Joint Reserves?
Due to power supply costs exceeding revenues collected from customers, CPCNH experienced an ~$8.4 million loss during the prior 6-month rate period, from August 2024 through January 2025. This necessitated drawing against the Members’ joint financial reserves to cover costs. Temporarily negative margins during high-cost winter months are typical for a power agency, and one of the objectives of joint reserves is to ensure cash availability during these periods. CPCNH’s reserve drawdown exceeded normally expected levels, for reasons explained in the section below.
As of the end of January 2025, CPCNH had $4.9 million in Joint Reserve. This figure represents the difference between all CPCNH accrued revenues and expenses through end of January. The draw on reserves continued into February. This FAQ will be updated when CPCNH completes its February financial report.
CPCNH has adjusted rates to a level required to cover costs and begin gradually rebuilding financial reserves from March 2025 onwards while balancing our objective of offering competitive rates.
What factors contributed to the draw on reserves?
Deviation from adherence to CPCNH’s Enterprise Risk Management Policy is the primary factor in the draw on reserves. CPCNH Board and personnel have conducted internal policy compliance assessments and have acted quickly to identify and address areas of non-compliance and to implement operational adjustments to ensure continued financial stability. Specific factors include:
CPCNH rates for the August 2024 – January 2025 period did not cover costs, which led to negative margins and a drawdown on reserves.
In June of 2024 the CEO and Risk Management Committee recommended rates for the 8/1/24 through 1/31/25 period that were below what then current forward market prices indicated would be required. The Board approved the recommended rates based on a single point reserve forecast that assumed future market costs would drop, which did not occur.
Our Energy Portfolio Risk Management Policy called for at least 40% hedging prior to rate setting and the use of a probabilistic reserves at risk forecast in setting rates, which did not occur. (Hedging means purchasing fixed-price forward contracts for set amounts of the power portfolio.)
CPCNH proceeded through the rate period hedging at minimum volumes allowed under the Enterprise Risk Management Policy and at certain points breached policy by hedging beneath required levels or later than the policy allowed; the result was increased exposure to the high-priced market.
This winter season was characterized by higher volumes than forecast and higher than average energy costs.
Financial reserve forecasts reported to CPCNH’s Finance Committee and Board of Directors did not disclose the magnitude of financial risk facing CPCNH due to unhedged exposure to market prices, as required by policy; consequently, Member Representatives and Directors were not made aware of CPCNH’s worsening financial position until late December 2024, in the days leading up to setting rates for the next period.
Simply put, CPCNH set rates too low, did not hedge enough to minimize exposure to adverse market conditions, did not keep the Board of Directors informed of the risk facing CPCNH, and as a result had to purchase expensive winter wholesale power in the ISO New England real-time and day-ahead markets at prices that exceeded rates charged to customers.
What actions and strategies have CPCNH implemented?
CPCNH has acted quickly to identify areas of Enterprise Risk Management Policy non-compliance and to restructure business operations to regain compliance. Immediate actions taken include:
Adjusted rates from 8.9 to 9.7 cents per kWh for March through July 2025 to ensure rates cover forecasted costs, including an anticipated modest amount of joint reserve contributions.
Executed hedges to minimize CPCNH’s exposure to volatile market prices.
Restructured operations to account for the departure of CPCNH’s prior CEO by shifting responsibility for hedging strategy, procurement, financial reserve forecasts, cashflow and cost modeling for supporting rate setting and budgeting, and other Power Resources department functions back to CPCNH’s expert contractors under oversight of the Risk Management Committee.
CPCNH is actively in process of implementing other strategies and reforms to business operations including:
Updating cost modeling used to inform rate setting to incorporate cost factors that had been omitted previously or not estimated accurately.
Implementing regular reporting of financial reserve forecasts to the Risk Management Committee, Finance Committee, and Board of Directors that reflect the range of uncertainty inherent in forecasting energy usage, supply costs, and net revenues over 6-month rate setting periods.
Implementing reporting of other required risk metrics and automating alert-driven procedures that require CPCNH to take prompt action when financial risk exceeds pre-defined thresholds.
Requiring external expert verification of all models, inputs, and assumptions relied upon for risk management.
Producing training materials and conducting an all-day workshop for the Risk Management Committee, Finance Committee, and Board of Directors on Enterprise Risk Management Policy compliance.
The Board voted to acknowledge responsibility for ensuring risk management results and has engaged an expert contractor to oversee restructuring of CPCNH’s business operations and to confirm compliance with the Enterprise Risk Management Policy.
As part of restructured business operations, CPCNH staff are executing an action plan focused on:
Power Resources: improving enterprise data management, cashflow modeling, and load forecasting.
Administration: ensuring access and transparency for Members and improving structure for staff-Board collaboration and problem solving.
Member Services: conducting proactive communications detailing a clear and complete accounting of CPCNH challenges, financial status, and actions to correct course.
Projects & Programs: furthering progress toward development of local renewable generation and distributed energy projects and programs.
Regulatory & Legislative Affairs: protecting the integrity of NH’s competitive electric market against anti-competitive regulatory threats.
Link: CPCNH Staff Action Plan Approved by Board in Feb. 2025
Rates and Rate Setting
What is the current rate and how was it adjusted?
CPCNH provides energy supply service. All delivery and other charges are associated with the electric distribution utility.
CPCNH works to provide the lowest supply rates possible while covering costs and maintaining financial stability. At a January Board meeting the CPCNH Board of Directors adjusted the “Granite Basic” Community Power rate for residential and small commercial customers to 9.7 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), up from the 8.9 cent rate the Board approved on January 2, 2025. The 9.7 rate is effective March 3 through July 31, 2025.
CPCNH had negotiated a Power Purchase Agreement with a local generator to meet a significant portion of energy needs at a cost that would have allowed slightly lower rates. However, for reasons beyond CPCNH’s control, this agreement did not come to fruition in January and CPCNH closed market hedges to manage our position accordingly.
CPCNH has adjusted rates to ensure rates cover costs.
How can I be notified about rate adjustments?
CPCNH notices rate adjustments at least 30 days before they become effective. Rate adjustment notices are posted at www.CommunityPowerNH.gov. All Member representatives and "principal executive officers” (e.g., town manager) of our Member municipalities and counties are notified.
You can subscribe to receive rate announcement emails here: www.cpcnh.org/news. This is a new offering for our customers.
Does Community Power expand competition and energy choices?
Yes. Since launching in early 2023, Community Power has introduced more competition and product options for nearly 200,000 electric customers in New Hampshire. Customers can easily choose from options including 33%, 50%, or 100% renewable energy on a month-to-month basis and can move between Community Power, utility supply options, and third-party providers.
Customers may make product elections by visiting www.CommunityPowerNH.gov, calling 1-866- 603-POWR (7697), or by emailing info@CommunityPowerNH.gov. Additional rate options are available at: https://www.energy.nh.gov/engyapps/ceps/shop.aspx
Has Community Power created savings over time?
Yes. From launch in April 2023 through July 2025 CPCNH’s Granite Basic will have averaged:
15.3% savings relative to Unitil’s supply rate
12.3% savings relative to Liberty’s supply rate
8.7% savings relative to Eversource’s supply rate
Less than a percent difference from NH Electric Cooperative’s supply rate
CPCNH has generated ~$28 million in customer energy savings for New Hampshire from launch through February 2025. These net savings will decline somewhat during the current rate period and will be reported accordingly.
Here is an overview of CPCNH’s rates compared to utility rates and other non-CPCNH CPA rates:
Rates Over Time (Utilities, Brokers, CPCNH)
April 2023-July 2025
How do Community Power rates compare to other options?
Here are the rates for residential and small commercial customers on Community Power:
†Renewable content meets NH's Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement (RSA 362-F) prior to reductions by NH DOE. In prior years, the target has been administratively reduced by the NH DOE. For example, the 2023 RPS target of 23.4% was reduced so that the actual renewable content for RPS was 15.9%.
*Based on 650 kWh/month usage.
Here are the supply rates for small customers offered by the utility companies:
†Renewable content meets NH's Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement (RSA 362-F) prior to reductions by NH DOE. In prior years, the target has been administratively reduced by the NH DOE. For example, the 2023 RPS target of 23.4% was reduced so that the actual renewable content for RPS was 15.9%.
*Note: New Hampshire Electric Co-op rates will increase to 8.887¢ beginning April 1st, 2025.
Are the utility supply rates anti-competitively priced?
The Public Utilities Commission directed utilities to take on 30-100% commodity market price exposure during this current rate setting period, and to propose that any cost overruns be recovered through charges paid by all ratepayers (instead of being recovered from customers on utility supply over future periods). This would force Competitive Supply and Community Power customers to subsidize utility supply customers, while artificially lowering utility supply rates below the cost of service on an ongoing basis.
The cost shifting proposal is anti-competitive and would undermine NH’s competitive electric market by making it impossible for 3rd parties and Community Power to compete on a level playing field with artificially low utility supply rates.
CPCNH is preparing testimony and technical analysis to demonstrate that utility rates are unlikely to recover the costs of purchasing default supply on the market. CPCNH’s analysis estimates that Eversource has already under-collected ~$5 million in February 2025 (the first month that the new rates took effect) due to underpricing market exposure.
House Bill 760 would prohibit this form of anti-competitive cost shifting. Unfortunately, the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee voted 10-8 to recommend HB760 “Inexpedient to Legislate” on March 10. There are ongoing regulatory proceedings where the Public Utilities Commission will rule on whether to enable utilities to shift their supply costs onto non-participating customers.
Link: CPCNH slides on leadership/organizational transition and on HB760 impact and information
Ongoing Updates
How can members stay informed on CPCNH developments?
CPCNH provides multiple ways for members to stay updated on key developments, announcements, and policy updates:
Visit our News & Updates Page – Regular updates, press releases, and announcements are posted at www.cpcnh.org/news.
Subscribe for Direct Notifications – Sign up for CPCNH’s newsletter and key communications via this form: CPCNH Email Sign-Up.
Attend Virtual Office Hours – Members are encouraged to participate in bi-weekly office hours to ask questions and stay informed about ongoing developments. The same Zoom link will be used for all office hours. Full schedule details are available at www.cpcnh.org/calendar.
Where can I access minutes and materials of public meets?
Minutes and supporting materials from CPCNH’s Board and Committee meetings are publicly available to ensure transparency and foster member engagement. You can access these documents by visiting our dedicated repository at www.cpcnh.org/key-documents under the “Board and Committees” section.
Additionally, you can view our public meeting schedule and find related updates on our calendar at www.cpcnh.org/calendar.
How do I submit additional questions for CPCNH leadership?
CPCNH members and members of the public can submit questions or requests for clarification through two convenient options:
Email CPCNH Directly – Send your questions to info@cpcnh.org. This inbox is monitored by CPCNH staff, and your inquiry will be directed to the appropriate team member for a response.
Use the Contact Form – Submit your questions via our Contact Us form, and a CPCNH representative will follow up accordingly.
For real-time engagement, we also encourage members to bring their questions to our bi-weekly office hours (see schedule at www.cpcnh.org/calendar).
