Surging electric bills to sting NH customers: Here's how much, why and how to get help.

New Hampshire residents are expected to take a hit on their electric bills through the rest of 2022. The supply rate for Eversource, is more than doubling, adding more than $70 to an average home's monthly bill, according to the utility company.

We take a look here at what this means for New Hampshire residents, why it's happening and what kind of help is available in the state:

How much is my bill going up?

New Hampshire Eversource residential customers will see their default service rate is proposed to increase from 10.669 cents per kilowatt hour to 22.566 cents per kilowatt hour on Aug. 1. 

With this adjustment to the default energy service rate, on average, an Eversource residential electric customer in New Hampshire who uses 600 kilowatt hours of power each month will see a bill increase of approximately $71.39 per month. 

This rate is based on the responses to the company’s process to set a purchase price from wholesale suppliers on the competitive market. 

The Office of the Consumer Advocate has said utility bills are likely to rise by about 50% based on recent rate changes filed with the Public Utilities Commission.

There are two parts to an average bill: the supply rate which is the price you pay per kilowatt hour and the delivery side which charges for what it takes to deliver the energy to your home.

Seacoast news: Download the Seacoastonline mobile app and the Fosters.com mobile app to stay connected.

“This increase will look different for everyone,” Eversource spokesperson William Hinkle said. “It’s an unusual year. Typically in New England, our electric supply rates go down in the summer and rise in the winter. Our reliance on natural gas is most expensive in winter because of the dual demand for electricity and heating needs.”

Exactly how much a customer’s bill will go up depends on how much energy is used, their rate category, and weather conditions. If approved, this rate would be in place for six months until the next rate change goes into effect on Feb. 1, 2023.

“This all-time high in supply prices will coincide with customers using roughly 25% more electricity to cool homes in the summer months,” Hinkle said. “That can exacerbate the impact of the supply increase.”

What is government doing to help?

In response to the increases, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu on Wednesday announced a $100 million state emergency energy relief program to assist households with the electric bill sticker shock this summer and winter. 

The program offers a rebate to help offset some ratepayer costs, using $60 million from state surplus to provide a $100 credit to nearly every ratepayer in the state, no application or rebate process required. 

The program also includes $7.5 million to provide a direct benefit to the 24,000 households that received assistance this past winter through the Fuel Assistance Program, $7 million from state surplus dollars for the electric assistance program to provide electric bill assistance to those making less than 60% of the median household income, and a $25 million increase in funds for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in November.

Where is the money to help coming from?

Sununu said that the program is a “sigh of relief” for customers, by allowing state surplus funds to counteract rising summer electricity costs  and help residents prepare for an expensive winter.

“Energy prices skyrocketing across the country, New Hampshire is investing over $100 million to provide expeditious, efficient relief to ease the burden on families,” Sununu said in a statement. “Providing relief, especially to those in need, is a priority.”

The proposals involving the state surplus require the approval of the Legislature, which won't be in session until September when lawmakers return to take up vetoed bills, according to the Associated Press. 

The state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation quickly pointed out New Hampshire has a state surplus in part because they delivered nearly $1 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding and $94 million in LIHEAP funding in the past two years. They had written to Sununu last week suggesting that money be used for direct assistance.

“We are encouraged that the resources we’ve secured have helped the state have funds on hand to respond to rising energy costs and that the state is moving forward with direct relief,” the delegation said in a statement Wednesday. “The state needs to continue to explore additional ways to leverage remaining federal relief funds to support Granite Staters.”

Why is this happening in NH? 

With the price of natural gas and oil continuing to rise worldwide, the price of electricity is also going up.  The increase is New England wide, forced by a combination of COVID economic recovery, inflation, extreme weather impacting gas-producing states, and the ongoing war in Ukraine driving up prices for natural gas and oil. The region's reliance on natural gas is one of the biggest drivers. 

Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis said he hasn’t seen a rate increase like this in his 23-year career. He said that this goes far beyond the current economic factors. 

“What we are seeing is the natural consequence of the decision New Hampshire made in 1996 to rely on wholesale and retail competition to keep electric prices reasonable,” Kreis said. “With market-based pricing you have to take the good and bad, and this is what the bad side looks like. Wholesale electricity has gone through the roof.”

Kreis explained that historically low natural gas prices for the last decade gave a false sense of security, making the price increase seem drastic. 

“We've seen this coming for quite a while, I’ve been warning people we are looking at a very, very unhappy second half of 2022, especially the winter,” Kreis said. “Natural gas is a volatile priced commodity. We knew the low prices wouldn't last forever and what’s happened is they have come roaring back.”

New England’s reliance on natural gas for its energy generation is largely to blame, Kreis said. When natural gas prices rise globally, that increase is passed on through the wholesale cost of electricity. 

“We're not as diverse as we could be in terms of the fuels that we rely on to produce our electricity and there are constraints when it comes to moving natural gas into New England,” Kreis said. “We need to be more energy efficient. New Hampshire is lagging behind its neighbors when it comes to energy efficiency and so that means higher bills for consumers ultimately.”

If I can't afford my bill, where can I get help? 

Eversource encourages customers to enroll in one of its payment plans or assistance programs if they need help with their energy bill. Customers may be eligible for a variety of flexible payment plans or certain discounts based on income guidelines. Eversource says that there are a few simple tips consumers can use to conserve energy at home. For every degree higher on the air conditioner temperature setting, it will use 1%-3% less electricity. Switching to LED lightbulbs and keeping blinds closed and using thick black-out curtains can also help.

Kreis suggests that those who worry about affording the price increase to their bill should reach out to their local Community Action agencies to see if they qualify for assistance. Besides reducing consumption and applying for assistance through local, state or federal programs, all consumers can do is consider a competitive energy supplier that is not a utility, Kreis said. He said it’s possible to save some money by signing up, but it’s a gamble because most require customers to lock in a rate for a year or longer. 

“Middle-class families will be hit hard because they won’t be poor enough to qualify for assistance from most state and federal programs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t feel the strain in their wallet,” Kreis said. 

Strafford County Community Action Partnership: straffordcap.org

Rockingham County and southern New Hampshire: snhs.org

Why is NH different compared to other New England states? 

New Hampshire isn't the only New England state feeling the sticker shock. The region is expected to see the most expensive wholesale electricity prices in the nation this summer, according to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  

Hinkle explained Massachusetts and Connecticut Eversource customers are also seeing increases, but New Hampshire’s seems drastic in comparison because New Hampshire has had a historically lower rate per kilowatt in the past. 

“New Hampshire had the lowest rate in the previous period, around 10 cents per kilowatt hour, whereas Massachusetts' rate was already 13.73 to 15.7 cents per kilowatt hour,” Hinkle said. 

The 2022 supply rate for most Central Maine Power customers went up more than 80%, adding about $30 to the average monthly bill. Central Maine Power announced last week that customers will get break on their bills starting next month, AP reported. Electric rates will dip 5.5% on July 1 as part of the company’s rate reconciliation and adjustment process, which amounts to about $3.40 per month for a typical customer to offset a $30-per-month increase in the “standard offer” rate on Jan. 1.

Could NH have done more sooner?

State Sen. Tom Sherman of Rye, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, criticized Sununu as being reactive instead of strategic and said Sununu had repeatedly vetoed measures that would expand energy options and mitigate rising costs.

“If we understand the environment in which things are happening, we can anticipate an awful lot of this and be ready,” he said. “We weren’t ready for this.”

Sununu called that criticism “insanity” and said the vetoes saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

“I take a lot of criticism sometimes for vetoing those bills but it’s the right thing to do, not for Chris Sununu, it’s the right thing to do for ratepayers,” he said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.