New Rate Period Brings Increased Savings and Greener Power for Durham

The new rate period for NH Public Utilities began on August 1, 2024 and runs to January 31, 2025, changing the rates for electricity charged by Eversource and Durham Community Power through CPCNH.  A summary of the previous rates and the new rates are shown in the table below:

* Minimum content compliant with RSA 362-F – Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). ​Total renewable content includes the NH RPS, set to increase to 25.2% in 2025, prior to NH Dept. of Energy reductions.

The Durham Town Council has selected Granite Plus as the default electricity supply rate for Durham Community Power customers for the rate period starting August 1^st. This means that customers who do not actively select another electricity supply option, either through Durham Community Power or through another provider, will receive Granite Plus as their electricity supply rate. Durham thus joins the communities of Hanover, Peterborough, and Plainfield which had previously chosen Granite Plus as their default plan.

Granite Plus provides customers with 33% renewable power (up from the 24.3% state minimum), while saving customers 11.1% relative to Eversource supply rates for this period.

The Durham Climate Action Plan “establishes a clear course of action for local efforts in Durham, New Hampshire, toward a reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of 2019 levels by 42.8% by 2030, and achieving zero emissions by 2050” (Durham Climate Action Plan). Durham Community Power, and the Granite Plus default rate, enables our residents and community to keep over 300,000 pounds of CO₂ out of the atmosphere per month, equivalent to removing the emissions from 355 cars for that month.

How will this affect individual residents? During the initial rollout of Durham Community Power in February 2024 …

1. If you were on Eversource default and took no action to modify your power plan or power supplier, you would have been migrated to the Durham Community Power default plan, which was Granite Basic. Now, if you take no action, you will be migrated to the new Durham Community Power default, Granite Plus, starting August 1^st.
2. If you were using a competitive power supplier and took no action, you would remain on their contract and would continue to do so until the contract expires or you make a change to CPCNH.
3. If you were on a Net Metering arrangement with a solar array (or another renewable generator), you would remain on that arrangement and not be migrated to CPCNH during this or future rate periods unless you make that choice. (See FAQs for Net Metering and Community Power.)
4. If you “opted-up” to either the Granite Plus, Clean 50, or Clean 100 plans, you will always remain on those plans unless you make a different choice on the CPCNH web site.
5. If you are not sure what energy plan you are currently enrolled in, here's how to check.

If you want at any time to change your power plan, you have 3 easy options -- just find your Eversource or NH Electric Coop account #, and either:  

1. Go to the Durham Community Power web page at www.communitypowernh.gov/durham, or
2. Send an email with your info to info@CommunityPowerNH.gov, or
3. Call the CPCNH Customer Center at 1-866-603-7697 (POWR)

When you select a different power plan like this, it will remain fixed as your plan going forward until you change it, it will not change even if Durham's default plan should change.  Changes are always free of charge, and will be active after the next meter reading.

And stay tuned for our Seacoast Energy Challenge, where Durham will complete against other Seacoast towns to see which neighbors select the most sustainable utility plans, with “winners” announced next February !