New Hampshire

Funny math garbles N.H. governor’s take on electricity rates – The Boston Globe

Published

3 weeks ago

May 24, 2024

Funny math garbles N.H. governor’s take on electricity rates – The Boston Globe

“While other states have let politics drive policy, New Hampshire has always put the ratepayer’s bottom line first,” he said. “We’ve let markets, not government, drive innovation.”

Sununu said costs had increased much more over the past seven years in other New England states than they had in New Hampshire. He shared a chart showing electricity rates for residential customers had risen 70 percent more in Maine than in New Hampshire, 83 percent more in Massachusetts, 94 percent more in Connecticut, and 127 percent more in Rhode Island.

The actual differences documented in the underlying data, however, aren’t nearly as stark as Sununu’s statement would suggest. His statement also had a glaring omission.

Other states let politics drive policy. NH has always put the ratepayer’s bottom line first.
We let markets, not government, drive innovation.
We take a technology neutral approach that doesn’t pick winners and losers. Because of it, our residential customers have benefitted! pic.twitter.com/8cF7jwbicq
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) May 22, 2024
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Although the statement quotes New Hampshire Senate President Jeb Bradley, a Republican, as saying New Hampshire’s approach is “unlike the policies of our neighboring states in the region,” it fails to mention one of those neighbors: Vermont.

Including the Green Mountain State would have painted a different picture: Vermont’s electricity rates have risen more slowly and remain lower than New Hampshire’s rates, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration, the same source Sununu’s office cited for data on electricity rates in the other states.

Sam Evans-Brown, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Clean Energy New Hampshire, said Vermont has been aggressive in promoting renewable energy policies.

“If energy and climate goals were driving this trend, why is Vermont so affordable?” he said.

Consumer Advocate Donald M. Kreis said Vermont has pursued aggressive decarbonization policies but hasn’t restructured its electric utilities the way other New England states have.

“Vermont’s electric utilities are still vertically integrated monopolies, whereas in New Hampshire customers can buy electricity from competitive suppliers or community power aggregation programs,” Kreis said. “It would be interesting to figure out whether the EIA data suggests that one of those approaches is superior to the other. I haven’t done the necessary analysis.”

The governor’s office referred questions about Sununu’s statement to New Hampshire Department of Energy Deputy Commissioner Christopher J. Ellms Jr., who did not answer when asked why Vermont had been excluded.

Sununu’s statement lists clean energy mandates in Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut as policies that have been blamed for driving prices higher, and it presupposes that lower electricity rates in New Hampshire would be attributable to the state’s market-driven strategy.

“If anything is clear,” Energy Commissioner Jared Chicoine said, “it is that New England as a whole would benefit from adopting our approach.”

Officials didn’t just cherry-pick data by excluding Vermont. They also muddled data for the states they included by using a calculation that exaggerated differences between the states.

When asked how the percentages from Sununu’s statement were calculated, Ellms outlined an unusual methodology. He didn’t calculate the percentage by which each state’s rate increased. Instead, he calculated each state’s increase in terms of cents per kilowatt hour, then directly compared those price increases across state lines.

For example, residential electricity rates rose 5.28 cents in New Hampshire and 9.66 cents in Massachusetts during the relevant timeframe, according to the EIA data Ellms cited. Based on those numbers alone, his methodology concluded the increase in Massachusetts was 83 percent more than the increase in New Hampshire.

But that methodology failed to account for differences in each state’s baseline. In New Hampshire, the 5.28-cent increase represented a rise of 28.6 percent. In Massachusetts, the 9.66-cent increase represented a rise of 49.3 percent.

That means electricity rates actually increased 20.7 percentage points more in Massachusetts than in New Hampshire.

That difference is notable, but it’s based on snapshots taken from just two months. Ellms said the starting data came from the month Sununu took office, January 2017, and the ending data was from February 2024, the most recent available. None of the ups and downs in between were factored into the analysis.

Evans-Brown said state officials portrayed New Hampshire price trends as if they are meaningfully different from other New England states, but that’s an artifact of a cherry-picked timeframe.

“Comparing two points in time in this way just invites spurious conclusions,” he said, adding that the monthly data is noisy and New Hampshire is “right in the middle of the pack.”

Ellms said his methodology worked just fine and the press release accurately reflected how rates have increased in other states relative to New Hampshire.

“No matter how you present it, the underlying data clearly show that New Hampshire’s electric rates have increased substantially less than the other states’ rates,” he said in an email. “Your implication otherwise might be meant to undermine New Hampshire’s relative success compared to the other states but the fact remains that New Hampshire’s ratepayer focus has significantly contributed to these positive outcomes and will continue to do so.”

Recent history suggests, however, that relatively low rates are far from inevitable in New Hampshire. There is a lot of volatility in the monthly EIA data, and New Hampshire’s rates aren’t always lower than its neighbors — in fact, New Hampshire had the highest rate of any New England state twice in 2023 and five times in 2022, according to EIA data.

Electric rates in New Hampshire skyrocketed in summer 2022, driven by the high cost of natural gas amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. New Hampshire had the highest rate in New England from August 2022 to January 2023, according to EIA data. As natural gas prices fell, the electricity rate in New Hampshire began to plummet.

Sununu blamed President Biden’s administration for high energy costs in 2022, citing Biden’s decision in 2021 to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. Clean energy advocates contended the underlying problem is New England states are overly dependent on natural gas to produce electricity.

Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter. Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.

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New Hampshire

AAU basketball: N.H. Spartans win two Zero Gravity National Final tourneys

Published

4 hours ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

AAU basketball: N.H. Spartans win two Zero Gravity National Final tourneys

The New Hampshire Spartans basketball program entered multiple teams at last weekend’s Zero Gravity Boys National Finals in Massachusetts, and the Hampton-based organization brought home two championships.

Both the Spartans’ eighth-grade and sixth-grade teams won all six of their games in their respective divisions, and won the championship.

“These are two very special teams,” Spartans owner/director Chris Coates said. “Our kids are confident. They’ve been going to big events since they were in fifth grade; they are not fazed by these big tournaments. We have some tough kids, both mentally and physically.”

The eighth-grade team beat the Middlesex Magic, 47-44 in the championship game. Hampton’s Kash Bailey was named tournament MVP and was placed on the all-tournament first team. Other members of the team include Nicholas Minutelli (Newmarket), Colin Morse (Exeter), Kavery Daniel (Rye), Will Jernigan (Lee), Peter Leggett (Dover), John Valhouli (Hampton), Dillon Salinas (Dover), Oscar Sims (Greenland) and Sawyer Demers (Rochester). Chad Cyr was the head coach.

The sixth-grade team beat the Schenectady Envy, 62-50 in the championship game. Rye’s Colin Swartz was named tournament MVP and was placed on the all-tournament first team. Other members of the team include Owen Conway, Jake Renna, Nick Pearl, and Ty Sullivan, all of Rye; Brennan Moriarty and Ethan Brown of Kittery, Maine; Tyler Minutelli of Newmarket, Owen Pierce of Durham; and Matthew Linteris of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Coates was head coach.

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New Hampshire

Mass. tenants of Brady Sullivan and NH tenant advocates protest outside developer's Manchester HQ | Manchester Ink Link

Published

12 hours ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

Mass. tenants of Brady Sullivan and NH tenant advocates protest outside developer's Manchester HQ | Manchester Ink Link

A group of protestors led by Granite State Organizing Project rallied outside Brady Sullivan HQ over housing. Photo/Pat Grossmith

MANCHESTER, NH – About three dozen people gathered outside Brady Sullivan Tower Friday afternoon to call attention to tenants of an Ayer, Mass., complex, owned by Brady Sullivan Properties, who are facing the prospect of eviction from what are presently low-priced, affordable apartments.

The protesters held signs calling for an eviction freeze and rent control. Other signs declared, “Housing is a human right,” and “Don’t Evict Negotiate!” One protester held a silver shield, with a house at its center, with the words, “No one leaves.”

Members of the Granite State Organizing Project, which advocates for tenants and has helped those in New Hampshire being ousted from their apartments through “renovation evictions,” joined the Massachusetts tenants in the protest.

Jessica Margeson noted that Brady Sullivan had done the same thing to tenants of a housing complex on Kennard Road in the city. In 2020, Brady Sullivan Properties bought the rundown complex, consisting of 23 buildings that included duplexes and garden-style apartment buildings, among others. The complex was owned by John Vratsenes, who managed it for 50 years. He died in 2017.

Immediately rents – that were as low as $750 – were increased by a couple of hundred dollars a month. As tenants moved, apartments were renovated. Four years later, the apartments rent for $1,700 for a one-bedroom and $3,100 for a three-bedroom.

Brady Sullivan generally followed the same playbook in Ayer, Mass. The company bought the rundown apartment complex housing 110 families consisting of low-income residents that included bus drivers, child care and retail wokrers, retirees and the disabled. Like Kennard Road, the complex had been family-owned and operated for 50 years. Brady Sullivan, however, didn’t increase the rents, which were about $900 a month. Instead, as tenants left, they renovated the apartments and then hiked up the rents.

IMG 7141 scaled — Attorney Ann Jochnick at a protest outside Brady Sullivan headquarters on Elm Street in Manchester. Photo/Pat Grossmith

The renovated apartments start at $2,200 a month for a one-bedroom.

Attorney Ann Jochnick, who represents the tenant association, said some tenants moved out after Brady Sullivan bought the complex because they knew they would be unable to pay the anticipated higher rents.

Devenscrest Management LLC, Brady Sullivan’s company which bought the complex, issued a statement on Thursday saying no tenant is being evicted unless they haven’t paid their rent or they committed a serious violation of their lease.

They said the Devenscrest Tenant Association owes more than $30,000 in unpaid rents, but Jochnick said the association doesn’t owe any money at all. (The organization isn’t a tenant.) Management also said some members have not paid rent for years.

The company said they’ve repeatedly asked residents to meet with them in various forums but they have refused.

“Over the years, we have made multiple proposals to these residents to address their concerns and ensure they could continue to be long-term residents of Devenscrest Village by paying substantially reduced rental rates. They have not responded at all,” management said in a statement. “We have also asked the Tenant Association’s representatives to work together with us to connect residents with available resources and services. They have not done so in any way.”

Jochnick said she would love for management to inform them of these available resources and services. She said what previously was available has dried up and other programs are no longer accepting applications.

Brady Sullivan also said they invested millions of dollars in Devenscrest Village, with renovated apartments having new upgraded electrical systems, all new kitchens and bathrooms, new appliances, new heat and added central air conditional and other major upgrades.

The company maintains the tenant association’s view represents a small minority and that nearly 75% of the original residents of Devenscrest Village “chose to renew their leases at substantially below fair market rates, upgrade to a renovated apartment at a discounted rate or successfully relocate with our financial assistance. It is incredibly unfortunate that the Tenant Association, which does not speak for the majority of residents at Devenscrest Village, seeks to tarnish such a vibrant community of hard-working individuals and families.”

The company said, “Rather than trying to bully us into selling Devenscrest Village, it would be far more productive for the Tenant Association and their representatives to help residents secure financial assistance to remain long-term residents of Devenscrest Village at the reduced rental rates that are still being offered to them.”

“That’s kind of ironic,” said Jochnick of Brady Sullivan’s comment that the tenants were trying to bully it into selling the apartment complex to them.

Jochnick said tenants found a developer who was willing to pay Brady Sullivan $4 million more than it paid for the apartment complex in 2021.

IMG 7136 scaled — Jessica Margeson, tenants’ advocate with the Granite State Organizing Project, uses a bullhorn in addressing the protesters. Ann Jochnick, in the white blouse, is an attorney representing an Ayers, Mass. Tenants association that wants Brady Sullivan to sell its complex to another developer. Photo/Pat Grossmith

“We view this as a win-win situation,” she said. “Brady Sullivan makes a big profit and the tenants will save their homes. We think we can make the rents affordable. Brady Sullivan can walk off with a really good profit and be a good guy.”

She also said the only person from Brady Sullivan who reached out to tenants was the attorney hired for the eviction process. The tenant association, in issuing a statement, said half of the 110 residents have left the complex after Brady Sullivan’s purchase because they worried about the threat of eviction or were driven off by the doubling of rents in renovated apartments. The vast majority of those remaining are up to date on their rents.

What Brady Sullivan means when talking about tenants not reaching out to them, the tenant group said, is that “individual tenants have not been willing to talk about quietly leaving their homes, so that Devenscrest can be turned into a high income community at rents that few existing residents can afford – in order to make enormous profits.”

Tenants formed the Devenscrest Tenant Association because they have nowhere to go because they can’t afford the high rents.“The Devenscrest tenants want what we all want and what we all deserve to have – safe and truly affordable housing,” Maddy August, using a bullhorn, told those gathered on the corner of Elm Street.

August, a GSOP member, said the issue of renovation evictions is not just a Massachusetts issue and, like Margeson, pointed out that Brady Sullivan has done the same thing in Manchester.

What the Devenscrest residents did, however, was organize, she said.

“And organizing is powerful and yes maybe even frightening to some,” she said, pointing at Brady Sullivan Tower. “Do you wonder why (pointing again at the tower) Brady Sullivan won’t even talk to the Devenscrest tenants? Could it be fear? Do you think that Brady Sullivan knows that if people realized the power they have through organization, the world that Brady Sullivan knows could change? Because change is possible when we work together. Let’s change the world so that everybody can have safe and truly affordable housing.”

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