Changes Sought To Consumer Advocate's Office For Residential Electric Ratepayers

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — Proposed changes to the state advocate for residential electric ratepayers, would allow the governor to replace the person at any time, and require an emphasis on fossil fuel and nuclear power for the state’s electric supply.

The amendment to House Bill 610 by the new chair of the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee, Rep. Erica Layon, R-Derry, would also change the advisory board for the Office of the Consumer Advocate to be an oversight committee and would allow the consumer advocate to be an engineer or economist as well as the current requirement the advocate be an attorney.

At a work session Wednesday on the proposal, which has not had a public hearing, Layon told her committee rather than eliminate the position of Consumer Advocate as the retained HB 610 would do, her bill would “put some guardrails around what the office does.”

Expanding the qualifications for the position would provide a broader pool to choose from to help protect the residential electric ratepayers in the state, Layon said, noting she is an economist.

The amendment would also allow the office to hire a rate analyst as well as another attorney and economist and engineer and would require the consumer advocate to push for ratepayer protections that are consistent with the state’s energy policy.

The language in the bill gives the Consumer Advocate two main duties: “To represent residential ratepayers by ensuring energy sources that provide the highest level of reliability are given preference over ones that are less reliable; and To represent residential ratepayers by ensuring that the least costly of the reliable energy sources are chosen over those that are more costly to ratepayers and taxpayers.”

That phrase echoes changes to the state energy policy lawmakers passed this year and Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law that would have the state largely rely on fossil fuels and nuclear power for the state’s energy needs, and deemphasize renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro generation.

Layon noted there had been some concern about the consumer advocate’s personal advocacy on his Twitter account.

The current Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis, who has held the position since 2016, said he is not a climate advocate. “That is not my job,” he said. “Choosing among various energy sources is not what we do.”
With the state’s restructured electric industry, state utilities and regulators “rely on the market to determine where we are going to buy our electricity,” he said.

He suggested the best way to describe the duties of the Consumer Advocate would be “to pursue safe and reliable service at the lowest cost while maximizing customer freedom.”

He said there have not been any complaints about his advocacy for residential customers at the local level, but he has opposed the regional grid operator ISO New England which he called arrogant and unaccountable, noting he backed a bill that would have the state Department of Energy study having the state establish its own Independent System Operator (ISO).

Layon noted that he has sent personal Tweets during the day when he is at work.

Kreis said along with advocating for residential ratepayers, he is an advocate as the father for a daughter with cystic fibrosis. He said he works 12-hour days and does take breaks during the day.

He also objected to the amendment reducing his staff from six to four people, noting the office does not contest all of the cases it would like to because it does not “have the bandwidth needed.”
He noted the Maine office similar to his is three times the size with three times the budget.

Kreis said he was neutral on the amendment, but believes the consumer advocate should be an attorney because the position requires advocacy in a legal setting with an adjudicative body, the Public Utilities Commission.

He also objected to the section allowing the governor to remove the Consumer Advocate “for what strikes me potentially arbitrary and subjective reasons. Our independence is our super power.”

Former Rep. Neal Kurk of Weare, who is on the consumer advocate advisory board, said there are some good things in the amendment, but noted the changes to the board are not needed as it already serves as an oversight board, with the consumer advocate following the board’s directives.

The board also recommends the next Consumer Advocate, so he or she would follow the board’s directives, Kurk said.

He thought referring to the state’s energy policy was a good idea, but the Consumer Advocate would be the only one who would have to follow it, not the Public Utilities Commission nor the governor.

The Consumer Advocate would be the only one required to do that, Kurk said, and it would be meaningless.

He also suggested the Consumer Advocate be allowed to go to the fiscal committee for additional funding as the Attorney General does, when additional experts are needed as they often are in cases before the PUC.

But he said it would be cheaper to have those experts on staff than pay $350 to $500 an hour to outside firms.

And Kurk said the language allowing the governor to replace the Consumer Advocate needs to be tightened so there are reasons for the action.

“If it is not clear enough, he will become a political football,” Kurk said. “The one thing you do not want is the Consumer Advocate to become a political football.”

AARP — NH volunteer president Patrick F. McDermott opposed the bill saying the current Consumer Advocate’s office is run very effectively and efficiently.

McDermott, who worked for PSNH and Eversource before he retired, said utilities have lots of money for attorneys so having an effective Consumer Advocate is crucial for the adjudicatory process.

He said the proposed amendment would make the office less flexible and less efficient.

The committee took no action on the bill and will continue to work on the proposal later this month.

Garry Rayno may be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.