CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES TO ADVOCATE FOR NH CITIZENS STRUGGLING WITH HIGH UTILITY RATES AND ELECTRICITY SHUT OFFS
CONCORD, NH - New Hampshire residents and community advocates called on Eversource and NH Legislators to prevent more utility rate hikes and end electricity shut offs. Advocates called for sensible legislation to protect ratepayers, and business policy changes to put customers before shareholder profits.
“We need to help people who are struggling to pay bills or facing electricity shut-offs now, prevent more rate increases, and hold Eversource accountable for putting corporate profits before people,” said Elisabeth Bialosky, Organizer with 350 New Hampshire. “We need more renewable energy, energy efficiency, grid modernization, and community power to lower electricity bills and push New Hampshire towards a greener future.”
New Hampshire representatives tried to address utility rate hikes this year. Lawmakers passed additional emergency energy assistance funding for households making 60-75% of the median household income in addition to the usual low income house energy assistance available for households making less than 60% of the median income. Inefficient outreach and administrative delays meant waiting longer for aid for some, and less than 2% of the additional energy funding was distributed.
“New Hampshire has a climate change denial problem,” said State Representative Tony Caplan, who sits on the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee. “It also has a fossil fuel dependency problem that’s come home to roost in the form of electricity price hikes that are impacting all corners of our state. The two problems are one in the same and the connection is obvious - an overdependence on natural gas in electricity generation has hit us hard, with prices spiking due to the war in Ukraine. This volatility is especially hard on the people least able to afford it.”
350 New Hampshire organizers have said Eversource and the NH Department of Energy are targets right now. Both have the ability to put a moratorium on electricity shut offs in the short term in order to address the larger systemic issues causing extreme electricity rate hikes. Since the utility companies are publicly regulated, changes can be made in the near future to shift the costs of fuel away from customers and rein in unreasonably high profit margins.
“What we’re lacking is not technology, but political will,” Said Jordan Applewhite, community organizer and relentless clean energy advocate in the North Country. “Last winter, working people were hit with surprise $800 bills because Eversource raised the default rate to an appalling 22 cents/kwh. At the same time they bragged about bringing in record profits. You start to realize how intertwined our economic problems are with our ecological problems. When you’re struggling to keep your head above water you do not have time to resist. This is why climate justice matters. Because when we prioritize the communities and individuals who are typically last in line to benefit from infrastructure spending and other significant investment, we make it possible for them to participate in and accelerate our movement.”
Despite complaints about the increasing cost of fracked gas, Eversource announced $1.4 billion in profits in 2022 and doubled pay for their CEO. Eversource claims they exist to serve their customers but these huge profits call that into question.
Joy, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation suggested systemic changes to who controls these large companies. “We should own the energy companies. We should own the banks. We should own the distribution centers. We should own the houses. Because it is workers, not owners, who make these things and make them profitable. It is only through a democratic system of collective working class ownership that we can meet the needs of the people instead of capitulating to the insatiable hunger of the market for profits.”
350 New Hampshire, along with NH Renews, hosted a number of Utility Rate Town Halls and forums last year after rate hikes were announced. Since talking about utility rates on social media, they received an overwhelming number of comments and stories from concerned residents about utility rates, some of which they also shared at the press conference.
As the time for negotiating new utility rates for Eversource is around the corner, and emergency energy assistance has not been adequately distributed, 350 New Hampshire calls on Eversource and the NH Department of Energy to:
end rate hikes: prevent electricity rates from continuing their dramatic upward trend, and;
halt electricity shut-offs: prevent NH residents from having their electricity turned off during this time, especially since aid was not adequately distributed.
This press conference was just the first step in announcing these demands, and 350 New Hampshire organizers and community members will continue to fight for more just and sustainable energy policies. For more information, you can watch the full press conference here, which includes several questions from the press.
350 New Hampshire is a grassroots organization fighting for climate justice in NH. For more information, go to 350nh.org.