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Eversource will sell its power plants

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Eversource, the largest energy provider in New Hampshire, announced the sale of its power plants this month.

Without those power plants, Eversource will now buy all of the electricity for its customers on the open market.

Lower costs for customers?

Eversource is selling its power plants because of an agreement with the Legislature from 2015.  Legislators believed Eversource customers were unfairly paying extra to support the company’s older fossil fuel power plants.  Other, newer power plants offer much cheaper electricity on the open market.

Eversource customers were also responsible for an expensive pollution scrubber at the coal power plant in Bow.  Eversource is writing off some of the Scrubber costs as part of the deal to sell its power plants.

Click here to learn about the historical debate over the scrubber in Bow. 

According to Eversouce, “We anticipate significant savings overall for our customers once the sales have been approved by the NH Public Utilities Commission because our rates going forward will not include ongoing costs of owning and operating these power generation plants.” 

Less energy security?

Eversource originally wanted to keep its power plants to ensure its customers had a stable supply of electricity during peak demand.  They argued that their coal power plants help stabilize electricity costs when the demand for natural gas spikes, especially during the winter.

The companies buying Eversource’s power plants have agreed to operate the power plants for at least eighteen months, but after that the plants may shut down.  If the demand for natural gas continues to rise, and there are no new pipelines to deliver more natural gas to New England, electricity customers might see more volatility in their electricity rates.

Click here to learn more about the debate over electricity costs in New Hampshire. 

Have your say!

Do you think Eversource selling its power plants will result in lower or higher electricity rates?  Share your opinion in the comments below.

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