New Hampshire Governor Won't Reappoint Goldner PUC Chairman

By GARRY RAYNO, InDepthNH.org, InDepth NH

CONCORD, NH — Gov. Kelly Ayotte appears to be cleaning house among executive department heads held over from the Sununu administration.

Monday she announced she would not reappoint Public Utilities Commission Chair Daniel Goldner to a second term on the regulatory board. Goldner was appointed to the commission in 2021 by former Gov. Chris Sununu and was criticized at the time of his nomination for his lack of experience in utilities and energy, but the Republican controlled Executive Council approved his confirmation.

Ayotte was critical of the PUC’s wide-ranging decision to grant a substantial rate increase to the state’s largest electric utility, Eversource, in July.

“I’m extremely disappointed in the recent decision by the Public Utilities Commission. We should be ensuring the regulatory process is transparent, accountable, and protects Granite Staters from rate hikes,” Ayotte said on July 28. “In the meantime, I will continue working with the Legislature to promote an all-of-the-above energy strategy so we can expand options for consumers and lower energy costs for working families.”

Monday she thanked Goldner for his service to the state, but went on to say her office has begun “an immediate search for a replacement to ensure the regulatory process at the PUC is transparent, accountable, and protects Granite Staters from rate hikes. In the meantime, we’ll continue working to promote an all-of-the-above energy strategy to expand options for consumers and lower costs for working families.”

Goldner's four-year term ended July 1. He has been in holdover status since, but his term ended at 5 p.m. today.

Last month, Democrats held a press conference on what they claimed were Republican policies and appointees that have led to high electric rates, targeting Goldner in particular.

Democrats criticized Goldner for his lack of experience and said he was a political appointee with a bias against renewable energy projects, which, with the Republicans’ energy policies, has put New Hampshire way behind other New England states.

A Manchester resident, Goldner is a mechanical engineer and worked for Texas Instruments for 32 years. He also ran unsuccessfully for a District 8 Hillsborough House seat in 2020 as a Republican and lost to Democratic incumbents Jeffrey Goley, and Diane Langley.

Democrats claimed he thwarted efforts for more of a renewable portfolio for the state.

He was also chair when the PUC granted the state’s largest electric utility significantly large rate increases this summer due mainly to the high wholesale cost of energy and to a higher base charge consumers pay no matter how much or little electricity they use.

Rep. Kat McGhee, D-Hollis, the ranking member on the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee, said regulators have a difficult job sorting complex issues with competing interests, but they also wield great power and earn their reputation with stakeholders by meting out just and reasonable decisions.

“I’m pleased to see Gov. Ayotte's response to calls for a return to a PUC that decides cases based upon documentary evidence and a respect for New Hampshire precedence,” McGhee said. “The people of New Hampshire deserve a Commission with energy experience, expertise, and perspective.”

The state Consumer Advocate for residential ratepayers, Donald Kreis, said Ayotte’s announcement “is a positive development for New Hampshire residential utility customers.”
Kreis said Goldner was a retired business executive, but there is a difference between being an executive and a regulator. Goldner could be a good utility executive, but that is not his role as a regulator, he said. “He struggled to get the role right,” Kreis said.

The PUC is the arbitrator between ratepayers and the utility, he said, it is not the PUC’s role to give the utility everything it asked for and more and that is what he did in the Eversource case.

Kreis said he has filed for a rehearing on the case and without Goldner on the commission, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Goldner was very courteous and respectful during hearings, but at the end of the day, he did not care what anyone in the room thought but himself.

“I would like a PUC chair who is truly open-minded and willing to acknowledge the possibility that the right answer could come from any corner of the hearing room when the PUC is in session,” Kreis said. “With any regulator whose attitude is ‘only I can fix it,’ the outcome is likely to be less than satisfactory for everyone concerned.”

The Public Utilities Commission’s Eversource order this summer increases costs for energy, distribution and fixed base assessments, and establishes a new method to set electric rates using a formula based on the cost of living instead of its long-standing cost-of-services process. It also allows automatic yearly rate increases.

Past rate cases were determined by what the utility companies presented as operating and capital costs over the last six months as well as unique costs such as storm damage or recouping the loss of customers leaving the utility for aggregate organizations like regional electrical cooperatives, and then determine if the company’s spending was “prudent.”

The new system approved in the order setting new electric rates for Eversource customers instead is tied to the rate of inflation and a 1.42 percent productivity factor, according to state regulators.

“This alternative regulation approach implements the axiom of simplicity by combining many components previously handled in numerous and complex Commission proceedings with a single revenue requirement adjusted annually, with only stranded costs, a temporary annual recovery mechanism, and major storm recovery outside of the Distribution Revenue Requirement,” the commissioners wrote in the order, noting they rejected the utility’s more complicated formula to set rates.

The order sets the monthly fixed-cost charge beginning Aug. 1 at $19.81. The order allows the monthly charge to increase each year by $2 for five years which will bring it close to $30 a month at that time.

Eversource estimated its fixed cost charge was over $40 a month.

Ayotte said she will continue to work to bring electric costs under control.

She also criticized the shift of greater distribution costs to residential customers and the rate of return on equity Eversource receives under the order.

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.