Raise Your Voice to Reject Eversource’s Proposed Rate Increase for Residential Customers

Raise your voice and sign the petition.

Eversource has submitted a proposal to the Public Utilities Commission to increase electricity rates (Docket 24-070) for its 500,000+ customers across New Hampshire. It also includes harmful provisions that could negatively impact all utility customers, not just Eversource’s.

AARP is fighting against this unfair proposal and will help ensure older Granite Staters have a voice in the process.

Why does AARP object to the Eversource rate increase proposal?

1)    The proposed increase is burdensome.
The average residential customer’s electricity bill will increase 17% or approximately $258 annually. That’s a particular challenge for many older residents and people who are already struggling to make ends meet.

2)    The proposed increase is unfair.

• Eversource is proposing to increase the fixed cost that residential customers must pay before ever turning on the lights. The fixed monthly “customer charge” – the portion of the bill that does not change based on usage – would increase by 43 percent, rising from $13.81 to $19.81 each month. An increase to the fixed monthly customer charge reduces the amount of control a customer has over their electric bill. No amount of trying to conserve electricity can reduce that charge.
• The rate increase falls disproportionately on residential customers. Instead of spreaking the rate increase evenly among residential, commercial, and industrial customers, the Eversource proposal hits residential customers much harder than others.

3)    The proposed increase undermines transparency.

Since it has a monopoly on utility distribution, Eversource must submit a request to the Public Utilities Commission to increase its rates, detailing their expenses and explaining the need for them. The members of the PUC then scrutinize this request, gather input from the public, and ultimately decide whether the expenses are justified and what constitutes a reasonable rate of return on the company’s investment. Eversource is proposing to replace this deliberative process with one that would pave the way for automatic rate increases without meaningful scrutiny or public input.

4)    The proposed increase is permanent.
While the cost of energy in the New England energy market goes up and down over time, the rate change proposed by Eversource would permanently increase utility bills. And since all future rates would be based on this higher rate, the effects will compound over time.

Now is the time to raise your voice and stand up for fair, transparent, and accountable utility rates.

Sign the petition to tell the NH Public Utilities Commission to REJECT the Eversource rate hike.

AARP NH Op Ed Published 1.26.25 Union Leader
Raise your voice before Eversource raises your rates
By Patrick McDermott, Hooksett, NH
AARP NH Volunteer State President with more than four decades of NH electric utility experience

Older Granite Staters are struggling to pay rising costs for groceries, medicine, healthcare, and heating and cooling their homes. That’s why AARP fights to ensure consumers, including people on low and fixed incomes, can afford their utility bills. However, Eversource – which more than 539,000 households across New Hampshire rely on for energy – still wants residents to pay more.

AARP submitted testimony on January 24 to the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regarding Eversource’s proposal to increase rates for its customers and change the way that rate increases occur in the future.

Despite the economic challenges that many older Granite Staters already face today, Eversource has asked for a burdensome 17 percent rate increase on residential customers, which amounts to approximately $258 each year. That’s a particular challenge for many older residents who are already struggling to make ends meet.

Furthermore, the proposed increase is unfair. Eversource’s proposal would increase the fixed cost that residential customers must pay before they even turn on the lights. The fixed monthly “customer charge” – the portion of the bill that does not change based on usage – would increase by 43 percent, rising from $13.81 to $19.81 each month. An increase to the fixed monthly customer charge reduces the amount of control a customer has over their electric bill. No amount of trying to conserve electricity can reduce that charge.

The rate increase falls disproportionately on residential customers, as well. Instead of spreading the rate increase evenly among residential, commercial, and industrial customers, the Eversource proposal hits residential customers much harder than others.

Eversource’s proposal also undermines transparency. Since it has a monopoly on utility distribution, Eversource must submit a request to the NHPUC to increase its rates, detailing their expenses and explaining the need for them. The members of the PUC then scrutinize this request, gather input from the public, and ultimately decide whether the expenses are justified and what constitutes a reasonable rate of return on the company’s investment.

Eversource is proposing to replace this deliberative process with one that would pave the way for automatic rate increases without meaningful scrutiny or public input. If they succeed, this could set a precedent for rate setting for other utilities.

Lastly, the proposed increase is permanent. While the cost of energy in the New England energy market goes up and down over time, the rate change proposed by Eversource would permanently increase utility bills. And since all future rates would be based on this higher rate, the effects will compound moving forward.

On behalf of Granite Staters and our 212,000 members statewide, AARP NH has formally intervened to stop these costly, harmful proposals. AARP NH will testify before the commission at the upcoming hearings, but the commission also needs to hear directly from the Granite State residents who can’t afford another rate hike. Eversource’s residential customers can join us in our fight by signing a petition at action.aarp.org/NHRates.

Utility rates remain top of mind for the many older Granite Staters and their families who are growing concerned with whether they’ll be able to cover their monthly bills and expenses. Older Granite Staters are counting on the NHPUC to do the right thing. It’s time to stop Eversource from raising residential rates, sidestepping the commission with future automatic increases, and increasing the fixed charges that disproportionately hurt our older community members.