Last year, Peterborough residents voted to set a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

This raises questions — How will we get there? How can everyone in town, regardless of economic status, help achieve the goal? How much will 100% renewable electricity cost me?

Peterborough Community Power, if approved on May 10, would play a key role in achieving the 100% renewable electricity goal. It would also provide a means for every resident and business to contribute toward the goal while possibly lowering their cost of electricity. Peterborough Community Power will not raise taxes, nor will residents need to do anything other than pay their electric bills.

Here’s how Peterborough Community Power would work. Eversource is the default electricity provider for Peterborough. It functions as both the electricity supplier, buying electricity in bulk from wholesale markets, and the electricity distributor, delivering power over its electric grid infrastructure. Peterborough Community Power would replace Eversource as the electricity supplier, but Eversource would remain responsible for delivering electricity, maintaining the electrical grid, and billing customers.

Look at your Eversource electric bill. It has two parts. The top part is the charge for purchasing the electricity, and the bottom part is the charge for delivering it. Under Peterborough Community Power, Eversource would continue to bill you, but Peterborough Community Power would be shown as the electricity supplier in the top part of your bill.

The New Hampshire legislature passed a law (RSA 53-E, as modified by HB 315) that allows towns to purchase electricity in bulk for residents and businesses. This could provide three advantages over Eversource. The first is cost. Peterborough Community Power would have flexibility to purchase electricity at times when prices are lower. Eversource is required by law to purchase electricity at specific times twice a year and can’t always do so when rates are most favorable.

Second, the law gives the town more control over the sources of the electricity it uses, so the town will be able to offer options to residents based on cost and percentage of renewable electricity used.

Finally, Peterborough Community Power would have the option to set aside some of the electricity supply fees for projects that would accelerate achieving our 100% renewable electricity goal — for example, investment in local renewable electricity generation and storage. Peterborough Community Power will offer four plans when it launches.

The default option will on average be less expensive or the same rate as Eversource but with a higher percentage of renewable electricity. The electricity that Eversource currently provides is about 25% renewable.

An opt-down option will provide the lowest possible rate while meeting the state’s requirements for renewable electricity.

Two opt-up options will provide about 50% and 100% renewable electricity, respectively, but at higher rates for those able and willing to make the investment.

These plans are very flexible. You can move from one option to another at any time without penalty. If you initially choose to opt out of Peterborough Community Power, you may opt in at any time for no fee. You may also opt out of the program and return to Eversource at any time, again with no penalty. It really is a no-risk proposition.

The Town of Peterborough will not see any additional costs once Peterborough Community Power launches, nor will the town need to devote staff time to managing it. The Peterborough Select Board will select a partner (an electricity broker) who will purchase electricity on the town’s behalf and administer the program. That partner will be paid by taking a small percentage of the price of the electricity it buys on the wholesale market.

If Peterborough residents vote in favor of the community power plan on May 10, the town will then need to submit the plan to the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. Peterborough won’t be alone, as other towns and cities in the state are moving forward with their own community power plans, including Keene, Harrisville, Swanzey, Hanover, and Walpole.

The volatility of the electricity market makes it hard to predict how much Peterborough Community Power might lower residents’ electric bills. However, the program will not launch unless it can do so with its default at a lower or the same rate as Eversource offers. Another reason to be optimistic — Peterborough has used a broker to buy electricity for its municipal buildings since 2013 and has seen savings of two cents per kilowatt-hour and renewable electricity at 70%, averaged over that time.

Peterborough Community Power might be the town’s best path to meet its 100% renewable electricity goal. Please vote yes on Article 11.

PREP Talk is a series of articles written by members of the Peterborough Renewable Energy Planning (PREP) Team who have been tasked by town mandate to deliver a plan by the end of the year for the town to transition to 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and to 100% transportation and heating by 2050. In these articles the team will share the results of their research, analysis, and eventually recommendations for the plan.

Michael Nadeau is a member of the  Peterborough Community Power Task Force.