Power To The People: Don't Believe The Eversource Blarney

By DONALD M. KREIS, Power to the People, InDepth NH

Back when I was in journalism school, an aphorism I learned from the crusty, ink-stained wretches who teach in such programs is: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”

In due course, journalism gave way to law on my C.V., and my legal education led me to become New Hampshire’s Consumer Advocate, running a feisty little state agency whose job is to advance the interests of residential utility customers. But I have never lost my reporter’s sensibilities, and in that spirit, I have an updated aphorism:

If your utility says it loves you, grab your wallet because you and your cash are almost certainly being unfairly parted.

Case in point: Bob Coates, who since 2024 has held the lofty title of “President of New Hampshire Operations” at Connecticut-based Eversource Energy.

Once upon a time there was Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) and PSNH had a president. Think of the late Gary Long, a widely respected figure in the Granite State by virtue of his tenure as president of PSNH back when it was a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities.

Then Northeast Utilities merged with Massachusetts-based NStar in 2012 and the resulting monolith rebranded itself as Eversource. PSNH still exists as an Eversource subsidiary, but there is no longer a president of PSNH – just a “president of New Hampshire operations” whose job is to serve not as a business and thought leader in the vein of Gary Long but as a loyal footsoldier executing orders from his overlords in Hartford and Boston.

Thus the op-ed that ran beneath Coates’ byline in the Union Leader on August 25 (coincidentally, the weekend edition of the paper, the circulation of which vastly exceeds that of the other editions). The headline says: “Your electric bill is higher. Here’s why and how we can help.”

There are only two things wrong with this headline.

First, Coates does not explain why your electric bill is higher – if anything, he misleads his readers about the reasons. Second, Eversource doesn’t have any real help to offer.

Attempting to explain why everyone’s distribution charge went up by more than four bucks on August I, Coates wrote that “following a thorough, year-long process, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) made a final decision on our distribution rate review.” (For some reason, Eversource can never bring itself to refer to a PUC rate case as a rate case – I’s always “rate review.”)

“It’s important to point out that the outcome of that process is not what we originally proposed, and that’s not unusual,” Coates continued. “We certainly didn’t get everything we asked for nor, as some have suggested, did we get more than we asked for, but it was a constructive process and we remain focused on building on our strong record of reliability, which has remained in the top quartile nationally for the last five years.”

This is utter blarney.

In terms of an overall increase in distribution revenue, Coates is technically right. Eversource only got 98 percent of what it ultimately requested (after shunting $454 million in storm recovery costs to other PUC dockets, where these bloated demands for ratepayer money are still pending).

But what truly earns Coates a spot in the obfuscation hall of fame is his failure to disclose that his company did indeed get everything it wants, and then some, when it comes to how it will collect the revenue increase.

Barely a year ago, the fixed monthly charge – the price you pay for the privilege of being an Eversource customer – was $13.81. It was raised on a “temporary” basis to $15 at the beginning of the rate case. Now it’s almost $20.

“We’re working to support customers” as they fork over that extra money, claims Coates. He urges people to “take advantage of the award-winning NHSaves® energy efficiency programs” because, “on average, New Hampshire customers use about 20% more electricity during the summer months and the majority of your bill is tied to usage, so energy efficiency measures can make a meaningful difference in reducing bills through less energy use.”

See what he did there? He’s touting his company’s energy efficiency programs as the antidote to a rate increase you cannot avoid even if you use less energy.

And did you notice the Registered Trademark that Coates inserted after “NHSaves”? That’s salt in the wound.

Eversource, like Unitil and Liberty, does not invest one single penny in energy efficiency – the NHSaves programs are 100 percent funded by ratepayers. So that trademark Eversource is protecting should really be considered public property and utilities should not be allowed to promote NHSaves as evidence of how much they care about their struggling customers.

As for whether Eversource got more than it asked for, I stand behind the claim.

Even though Eversource asked for a $20 monthly admission fee, one of its expert witnesses, Amparo Nieto, submitted an analysis concluding that the charge should really be $43.

And that’s exactly what the PUC decided – specifically, the regulators ordered an increase of two dollars every year until the charge gets to $43. We’ll see if that holds up – rehearing motions are pending at the PUC and appeals could follow thereafter.

But meanwhile, the only way Eversource’s top executive in New Hampshire can credibly deny his company got more than it asked for is by admitting that it kinda sorta did ask for that $43 charge by filing a report in support of such an outrageous monthly sum.

Customers, you be the judge. Is this a utility that only wants to help you?

Power to the People is a column by Donald M. Kreis, New Hampshire’s Consumer Advocate. Kreis and his staff of four represent the interests of residential utility customers before the NH Public Utilities Commission and elsewhere.

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