New Hampshire PSC’s EERS policy framework sets cost-effective energy efficiency targets

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission approved a new policy framework for energy savings on Tuesday that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

The framework – the Energy Efficiency Resource Standard (EERS) – will set the standards for new commission-approved energy efficiency programs that are able to demonstrate their cost-effectiveness.

EERS will be funded by increases to charges on electric and gas bills, but the commission has also asked stakeholders to continue to search for other means of funding the framework.

“Any short-term rate impacts will be outweighed by the benefits of increased energy efficiency for participating customers and, in the long term, lower energy supply costs for all customers,” Director of the Consumer Services and External Affairs Division of the Commission Amanda O. Noonan said. “Low-income households in particular face more significant obstacles to investing in energy efficiency. The increased funding provided by the EERS for those households will help ensure all customers have the opportunity to participate in energy efficiency.”

The commission plans to establish three-year planning periods, within which it will work incrementally toward a goal of all cost-effective energy efficiency. The first three-year goal of EERS will be to achieve a cumulative savings of 3.1 percent of delivered 2014 kWh electric sales, and 2.25 percent of delivered MMBtu 2014 gas sales.