News & Events

02
Feb

RESA Supports House Bill 1238 and Calls for the Public Service Company of New Hampshire to Divest its Generation Plants

Concord, New Hampshire — Today, before the New Hampshire General Court’s House Committee on Science, Technology and Energy, Daniel Allegretti, vice president for energy policy with Constellation Energy, and New England State Chair for the Retail Energy Supply Association (RESA) testified in support of HB 1238.

RESA supports this legislation as it is in keeping with New Hampshire’s landmark electric restructuring law enacted in 1996. That law, and now HB 1238, enables New Hampshire to move from a system of regulated electric monopolies to a restructured industry, in which competition for customers drives efficiencies, savings and innovation in the production and sale of electricity.

During his testimony, Allegretti stated that both Unitil and Granite State Electric Company have fully exited the generation and electricity supply business and have become electricity delivery companies, arranging for the provision of default service to their remaining customers through outsourcing agreements with competitive generation suppliers. Unlike its peers, Public Service Company of New Hampshire (“PSNH”) halted a similar divestiture of its generation and supply assets in 2002. Only eight years later, in May of 2010, PNSH reported significant numbers of customers leaving its default service for more competitive offers. For PNSH, this meant higher costs being shared by a shrinking pool of ratepayers, and price increases on its remaining customers, many of them residential and small businesses.

“To end this destructive cycle of increasing default service prices, RESA member companies, power generators, and others all recommend that PSNH divest its generation plants and arrange default service supply from the marketplace as other local utilities have done,” said Allegretti. “Investors, not consumers, should bear the risk of capital investment. Divestiture of assets is a process that has been successfully overseen and implemented in New Hampshire and in other states. The residents of New Hampshire should no longer be held hostage to system that enables costs to be recovered on the backs of ratepayers.”

“In states across the nation, fair and balanced competitive markets are working to provide consumers with access to safe, reliable and competitively priced electric products,” said Allegretti. “We encourage the end of power plant ownership and investment by regulated utilities, as it follows the original intent of the 1996 restructuring act and will benefit the consumers of New Hampshire.” RESA member companies include providers of competitive energy supply and related services throughout the five New England states that have implemented electric restructuring, including in the service territories of Public Service Company of New Hampshire and other New Hampshire electric utilities. RESA members advocate for the support of vibrant competitive markets such as those that have taken hold in Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio.

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About RESA

RESA represents competitive energy suppliers dedicated to creating and sustaining vibrantly competitive electricity and natural gas markets for the benefit of consumers. RESA’s members include: Champion Energy Services, LLC; ConEdison Solutions; Constellation NewEnergy, Inc.; Direct Energy Services, LLC; Energetix, Inc.; Energy Plus Holdings LLC; Exelon Energy Company; GDF SUEZ Energy Resources NA, Inc.; Green Mountain Energy Company; Hess Corporation; Integrys Energy Services, Inc.; Just Energy; Liberty Power; MC Squared Energy Services, LLC; Mint Energy, LLC; NextEra Energy Services; Noble Americas Energy Solutions LLC; PPL EnergyPlus, LLC; Reliant; Stream Energy; TransCanada Power Marketing Ltd. and TriEagle Energy, L.P.. For more information about RESA please contact Tracy McCormick, Executive Director at (717) 566-5405.