The Hancock Community Power Committee met Tuesday morning to discuss the community power warrant article they are writing that will be voted on during Town Meeting in March. 

The committee has been meeting to create a plan to bring community power to Hancock. The goal is to create a program that would allow the town to buy energy in bulk for residents and businesses, which could offer lower costs to customers and provide options with higher percentages of renewable energy. 

Following the tracks of Peterborough’s power plan, the Hancock Community Power Committee would need to get approval from Town Meeting, the Select Board and the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The committee would then research and interview energy suppliers and recommend a supplier to the Select Board. If all goes smoothly community power could be implemented in Hancock as early as the fall of 2023.

Under the program, Eversource customers would be automatically enrolled and would have the ability to opt out or opt up or down to a different tier with differing percentages of energy coming from renewable sources. Those currently buying energy from suppliers other than Eversource would have the option to opt in to the program.

Town Moderator Ric Haskins attended the meeting and offered advice on the wording of the warrant article. 

“A warrant article is to warn the public this is a discussion that is going to happen,” Haskins said, clarifying that the Community Power Committee’s warrant article is meant to authorize the Select Board to have discussions, not to initiate the plan. 

“The program would not launch unless it offered power at a rate less than Eversource,” committee member Robbie Hertneky said. 

Haskins expressed concerns about the Select Board not supporting the warrant article.

“I can tell you right now the Select Board is not ready to accept this,” he said. “They don’t have faith in it.”

Haskins cited concerns about confusion in the plan as to what the Select Board’s role in the process would entail. He recommended holding more public hearings.

“The time for community to voice concerns is here, at your public hearings, not at Town Meeting,” he said.

Committee member Jim Callihan said there are people in town who haven’t attended meetings and don’t want a plan forced on them.

“People want input on the plan,” said

The Community Power Committee is holding a public hearing Wednesday Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Hancock Town Library. Committee member Kathy Anderson said they will be talking about the revised version of the article, and the purpose of the hearing is “to make sure Hancock voters understand what the warrant article is about and know what the process to create community power would be, so they are ready for the March Town Meeting vote.”

]]>