Portsmouth Energy Advisory Committee

The City Council held a Work Session on August 9, 2021 to hear from the organizers of the CPCNH and town managers from Hanover and Lebanon who are participating in the program.

At their August 23, 2021 meeting, the City Council voted to approve the creation of the Portsmouth Energy Advisory Committee (PEAC) in the form of a Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC). The PEAC mission is to research the risks and opportunities of a Community Power program for Portsmouth under RSA 53-E, which allows towns and cities to aggregate their customer demand and purchase electricity in bulk for savings and a more rapid shift to renewables.

What is the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire?

The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire is a non-profit Joint Powers Agency incorporated on October 1, 2021 — governed “by communities, for communities” — empowering towns, cities and counties across New Hampshire to:​

1. Streamline the process for authorizing a Community Power program locally.
2. Share services and staff support across member cities, towns and counties. 
3. Participate in joint power solicitations and local project development opportunities. 
4. Share knowledge and collaborate regionally on clean energy and resilient infrastructure development. 
5. Speak with one voice at the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission on public advocacy issues related to energy and Community Power.

​​​CPCNH membership is open to all New Hampshire cities, towns, counties and regionally operated Community Power Aggregations. There are no upfront costs to join the Coalition.  As of May 15, 2022, the Coalition was made up of eighteen municipal members and one county member. The NH PUC approved the formation of CPCNH in August and the first eight communities are expected to launch their programs in the spring of 2023. Portsmouth expects to file its Energy Aggregation Plan by then with the goal of being among the second wave of communities adopting CPCNH options for its residents. In the meantime, Portsmouth is working with all the member communities to design and launch the Coalition.  For more information, please visit CPCNH.org

Events

November 3, 2022, Button Up New Hampshire, the popular home energy savings workshop series came to Portsmouth. The Portsmouth Energy Advisory Committee partnered with the Rye Energy Committee to host this free workshop for area residents in the Levenson Room at the Portsmouth public Library.  Go to the presentation slides

June 29, 2022 at 3S Artspace the PEAC partnered with Portsmouth Smart Growth to host a workshop on energy supply options, specifically on the Community Power Coalition of NH's effort to give NH residents more say in the source of their power. Go to the video recording of the presentations and Q&A with the audience.