NH regulators to hold hearings on alternative electricity brokers

The state Public Utilities Commission has agreed with staff recommendations and will look into the actions of two alternative electricity providers, which led to confusion about power suppliers for some 7,000 customers. In an order handed down Thursday evening, the regulatory body said it would “consider whether to assess penalties against or revoke the registration of PNE Energy Supply, a competitive provider of energy supply service, and of Resident Power, an entity that aggregates customers to obtain a better price from the competitive energy supply market on behalf of those customers.” A hearing has been scheduled for March 20 and 22 . The commission’s order prohibits PNE from enrolling new energy customers “until the matters at issue are resolved,” but Resident Power “remains free to enroll new customers.” As reported by The Telegraph in a story this week, staff for the PUC recommended hearings, saying the two companies may have violated electricity deregulation rules. The companies have denied wrongdoing. Resident Power was the first large-scale aggregator to sell electricity to homes in New Hampshire, starting in 2011. PNE became the main energy supplier for its roughly 8,500 customers late that year. Several other aggregators and suppliers entered the residential market in 2012, while similar companies have been serving large businesses for several years. PNE and Resident Power entered the limelight on Feb. 14 when PNE was suspended by ISO-New England, which manages the region’s power grid, because of what PNE later said was its “cash-flow” problems. A week earlier, Resident Power began trying to switch its PNE customers to FairPoint Energy, but for reasons that remain in dispute, that changeover went through for only about 1,200 customers before it was halted by the suspension. The remaining 7,300 customers  were switched back to PSNH, the default electricity company for the region. Nobody lost power during the switchovers, which is largely an accounting change that alters who processes bills and also alters how much is charged for electricity. Residential bills from alternative providers such as PNE are usually about $5-$20 a month less than bills from PSNH, depending on how much electricity is used. David Brooks can be reached at 594-6531 or dbrooks@nashua telegraph.com.