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Old 07-27-2022, 08:33 AM   #1
AC2717
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Default Electric Service Question

With the last thread closed and for good reason i have a question on my own when reading comments. If I am in Laconia and have eversource for electric. Is it possible to join a co-op or direct electric or something to lower my bill? I have been trying to understand this for a little bit now and with the change in bill coming, I would like to understand how to go about doing this or if I can even do so in Laconia

Also then in MA as well

Thank you
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Old 07-27-2022, 09:28 AM   #2
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No, most coops were formed long ago and are "private" or user owned utilities. There was an act of congress back in the 1900s that stopped any more of these forming and we have the large utilities as a result. You can move into an area that has one, but you can't choose one, you are stuck with what you have. You can pick and choose who supplies the power generation in some areas, but I have little experience with this and from what I've seen, results are unclear as to whether it is worth it or not. The company that services your area still provides (and charges you for) the path that the 2nd tier generator uses to get to your house. This includes the plant level stuff, like wires, poles, meters and so on.

I'm fortunate in that I have a municipal company at my house in Mass, which is much cheaper than eversource, unitil and the other big companies, and I have NHEC up here which is pretty reasonable too.
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Old 07-27-2022, 11:45 AM   #3
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Default There are many electric suppliers

There are many electric suppliers.
While Eversource delivers the power, you may choose from a variety of suppliers.

Compare Residential Suppliers
https://www.energy.nh.gov/engyapps/c...ice=Eversource

Wondering what all the ads for choosing an electric supplier are about? During the 1990s, the New Hampshire Legislature took steps to provide electric supply choices to electric customers. It took some time, however, for a competitive electric energy supply market to develop, with options for larger commercial and industrial consumers occurring sooner than those for smaller commercial and residential customers. Today, there are many companies, called competitive energy suppliers, registered to supply energy to your home or business. The Commission’s website lists all the competitive energy suppliers doing business in New Hampshire. A comparison of the products and prices offered by competitive energy suppliers is also available.

Your electric bill consists of two parts – delivery service and energy supply. Delivery service is the poles and wires that bring electricity to your home or business. Your electric utility (also known as the electric distribution company) delivers electricity to all customers within its defined service area. The energy supply portion of your bill is for the electricity you use in your home or business. Who supplies that energy is up to you, the customer. You may continue to buy your energy from your electric utility or you may choose to buy your energy from a competitive energy supplier.

If you decide to choose a competitive energy supplier, you will still be a customer of your electric utility for the delivery of electricity to your home or business. The utility will still be responsible for restoring power if there is an outage. What will be different is that you will now also be a customer of a competitive energy supplier for the actual electricity that you use in your home or business. You may receive one bill, sometimes called consolidated billing, from your electric utility for both the delivery and the energy. Or you may receive two bills – one from your electric utility for the delivery of the electricity and the other from the competitive energy supplier for the electricity you used. Everyone’s bill is different, but as a general rule of thumb, about half of the total bill is for delivery and the rest is for the electricity you use.

Remember, regardless of who you buy your electricity from, you will continue to call your electric utility for outages, emergency services and questions about your service.

https://www.puc.nh.gov/consumer/Choo...0Supplier.html
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Old 07-27-2022, 12:11 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thebix View Post
There are many electric suppliers.
While Eversource delivers the power, you may choose from a variety of suppliers.

Compare Residential Suppliers
https://www.energy.nh.gov/engyapps/c...ice=Eversource

Wondering what all the ads for choosing an electric supplier are about? During the 1990s, the New Hampshire Legislature took steps to provide electric supply choices to electric customers. It took some time, however, for a competitive electric energy supply market to develop, with options for larger commercial and industrial consumers occurring sooner than those for smaller commercial and residential customers. Today, there are many companies, called competitive energy suppliers, registered to supply energy to your home or business. The Commission’s website lists all the competitive energy suppliers doing business in New Hampshire. A comparison of the products and prices offered by competitive energy suppliers is also available.

Your electric bill consists of two parts – delivery service and energy supply. Delivery service is the poles and wires that bring electricity to your home or business. Your electric utility (also known as the electric distribution company) delivers electricity to all customers within its defined service area. The energy supply portion of your bill is for the electricity you use in your home or business. Who supplies that energy is up to you, the customer. You may continue to buy your energy from your electric utility or you may choose to buy your energy from a competitive energy supplier.

If you decide to choose a competitive energy supplier, you will still be a customer of your electric utility for the delivery of electricity to your home or business. The utility will still be responsible for restoring power if there is an outage. What will be different is that you will now also be a customer of a competitive energy supplier for the actual electricity that you use in your home or business. You may receive one bill, sometimes called consolidated billing, from your electric utility for both the delivery and the energy. Or you may receive two bills – one from your electric utility for the delivery of the electricity and the other from the competitive energy supplier for the electricity you used. Everyone’s bill is different, but as a general rule of thumb, about half of the total bill is for delivery and the rest is for the electricity you use.

Remember, regardless of who you buy your electricity from, you will continue to call your electric utility for outages, emergency services and questions about your service.

https://www.puc.nh.gov/consumer/Choo...0Supplier.html
Thank you, starting to understand now, is there anyone in Laconia on the forum here that is doing it this way that would chime up as to who they are using for the electicity used side of the bill?
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Old 07-27-2022, 12:35 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AC2717 View Post
Thank you, starting to understand now, is there anyone in Laconia on the forum here that is doing it this way that would chime up as to who they are using for the electicity used side of the bill?
I'm not in Laconia, but people in my town have been doing it for a while and have chronicled it on the forum I moderate.

We've not sought alternative providers because the response from people have been that they save money for a little bit before the "contracts" run out and the costs go up.

Enough people have gotten caught in that process—with the first "non-contract" month's or two charges minimizing the overall savings from the 1/2-year contract—that, added to the shopping around process, we've not bothered.

That being said, until recently, the difference has been pennies or low dollars whereas this new shift may be more significant.

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Old 07-27-2022, 12:52 PM   #6
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Perhaps the new increased rates will make solar a better buy? What's the cost of solar installation compared to, say, five years ago?
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Old 07-27-2022, 01:02 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AC2717 View Post
With the last thread closed and for good reason i have a question on my own when reading comments. If I am in Laconia and have eversource for electric. Is it possible to join a co-op or direct electric or something to lower my bill? I have been trying to understand this for a little bit now and with the change in bill coming, I would like to understand how to go about doing this or if I can even do so in Laconia

Also then in MA as well

Thank you
I highly recommend doing this in Ma. I have saved a considerable amount of money over the years.....

In New Hampshire with our season use NHEC has never been that bad. However with the recent news I may need to reconsider... we will see once I get the first Bill....
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Old 07-27-2022, 01:10 PM   #8
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Perhaps the new increased rates will make solar a better buy? What's the cost of solar installation compared to, say, five years ago?
Solar was trending down steadily, but supply chain disruptions have things a bit more dicey over the past year, so this is a tough question to answer. But solar has definitely not increased by anything like the percentages quoted for electricity in the last thread, so I think you're right that the economics are better today.

Any good solar installer can give you an estimate tailored to your home's exact location, angle to the Sun, electrical rates, etc. They can often do the first pass economics with just a phone call using satellite images and computer modeling.

In Mass, I'd recommend SunBug. For NH, I'd call Revision Energy or ACE Solar.
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