The Francestown Select Board has endorsed a proposed warrant article created by the town’s Community Power Committee to authorize the town to move forward with establishing community power. 

Community power is a model that allows municipalities to pool the buying power of residents to negotiate for electricity rates, and often has options for more energy from renewable sources. Ari Levine, chair of the Francestown Community Power Committee, said the committee has had strong support from the community. Approximately 22% of Francestown’s 600 households filled out the community power survey. 

“We have had 20 to 30 people come to each hearing, and people have been very involved and asked really good questions,” Levine said. “The response rate on the survey was four to five times what we expected. We feel people are engaged and supportive.” 

The Francestown Community Power Committee has two upcoming public hearings, scheduled for Feb. 7 and Feb. 28, at the Francestown Select Board offices. The committee will present a proposed energy aggregation plan (EAP) for review by residents. 

“We are expecting a good turnout for those hearings,” Levine said. 

Last fall, the committee met with three potential power suppliers, Freedom Energy and Standard Power, who are both private energy brokers; and the Community Power Coalition of NH, a nonprofit organization, to evaluate proposals. Levine noted that the proposed warrant article, which would authorize Francestown to move forward with community power, includes a provision that the town will not initiate community power unless it can offer a base electric rate lower than the default rate offered by Eversource. 

Levine said the Francestown Community Power Committee was grateful for the help of the Select Board.

“They have been incredibly supportive; they’ve helped direct us and given us a lot of support,” Levine said. 

While Francestown residents would be automatically enrolled in community power if the warrant article passes and the town secures lower rates than Eversource, Eversource will still provide billing and delivery services, including information and maintenance in the event of power outages. Residents can opt out of community power at any time with no penalty. 

Greenfield and Bennington are also proposing warrant articles which would launch community power at Town Meeting this March. As of summer 2023, 16 New Hampshire towns had started community power programs, including Peterborough, Harrisville, Keene, Swanzey, Marlborough and Wilton.

More information about the Francestown Community Power Committee can be found at francestownnh.org/community-power-committee.