Loudoun Community Power officials brief Selectmen on rising rates, participation and PUC rulings

Representatives of Loudoun Community Power told the Town of Loudoun selectboard on July 15 that recent market volatility and regulatory changes have raised community power supply rates this rate period, though participation in the program remains steady. The town’s representative to the coalition, Andrew (representative, Loudoun Community Power), said Loudoun had about 1,744 active accounts as of July 1 and “58 percent remain engaged with the coalition.” Jackson Caspari, director of member services for Loudoun Community Power, said the coalition and its member towns successfully intervened at the state Public Utilities Commission to require utilities to recover under-collected supply costs on the supply side of the bill rather than pushing them into delivery charges. Why it matters: the supply-rate difference affects what customers pay for energy on top of utility delivery charges. At the selectboard presentation, coalition staff described a transition in utility procurement that leaves more volume exposed to near-term market prices; the coalition uses more hedging and shorter-term contracts, which can raise rates in volatile periods but can limit future reconciliations against customers. Officials gave specifics. Andrew said the coalition’s supply rate for the current period is 9.7 cents per kilowatt-hour and estimated that, for a benchmark household using about 650 kWh a month, that supply charge would cost about $63 per month. He also said the coalition began the year at 8.9 cents and raised its supply rate to 9.7 cents in March in response to market forces. Jackson Caspari added that utility-filed rates for the coming period hover roughly in the 11–12 cents-per-kWh range for major utilities, with a Liberty Utilities filing showing about 14.8 cents before the PUC ordered a refiling. Coalition staff traced the roots of recent volatility to natural gas price movements and changes in procurement rules. Caspari said the PUC had ordered utilities to increase reliance on the day-ahead market — exposing roughly 50 percent of utility supply to near-term market swings — while the coalition maintains a more hedged portfolio. “We were able to get a favorable ruling from the PUC that at least said…we’re going to have the utilities recover these through the supply side of the bill,” Caspari said, adding that the coalition will keep advocating for timely reconciliations and a level competitive playing field. Selectboard members asked about scale effects and when community power rates might again undercut utilities. Andrew said scale reduces per-customer costs over time but that short-term natural gas-driven market moves have been the dominant factor. Jackson said the coalition expects to revisit rates in December and is targeting improved competitiveness through reserves, procurement strategy changes and legislative advocacy. Board reaction and next steps: selectboard members thanked the presenters for the update and emphasized the town’s role as fiscal overseer and information conduit to residents. Coalition staff said they will continue regular communications with the town’s member representatives and maintain the Loudoun community page at communitypowernh.gov with rate announcements and customer portals for account-level information. Ending note: coalition officials said the organization has an operational horizon of roughly three years to evolve into a load-serving entity that would buy power directly for members, and that their near-term aims are to build reserves and refine procurement to improve rates for participating towns.