New Hampshire’s consumer advocate, which represents residents and utility customers in government decisions, could be stripped of its funding and independence in the name of efficiency.

Ross Berry, a state representative from Weare, filed a draft request for a bill that he said would not eliminate the Office of the Consumer Advocate entirely, but absorb it into the state Department of Energy.

“As I was perusing, I was like, ‘How can we lower energy rates and better streamline some government as well?’” Berry said. “I found some opportunities to reduce some duplication.”

Don Kreis, the consumer advocate who was first nominated to the role back in 2016, thinks his job is anything but extraneous. To fold it into the Department of Energy, he said, would take away the independent representation of utility customers.

“Ratepayers are an important constituency but not the only constituency, and so if you don’t have an independent ratepayer advocate, then that distinctive voice of the ratepayers is lost,” Kreis said.

The bill is still in the early stages and could change, Berry said. Both he and Kreis said they haven’t seen the exact text of the legislation yet, which will be coming soon.

Berry’s main goal, as of now, is to shift the responsibilities of the consumer advocate to the Department of Energy by refocusing the department’s mission.

The office of the consumer advocate is more than just Kreis. It is a six-person office that represents the interests of residential ratepayers before boards like the Public Utilities Commission, which regulates all the state’s electric, natural gas, water and sewer utilities.

The Department of Energy, Kreis said, pursues the state’s policy efforts and also accounts for business interests. He argued that just as lawyers can’t represent two clients at once, the Department of Energy shouldn’t be saddled with working for both the state and residential ratepayers which, at times, may have competing interests.

“If you absorb our office into the Department of Energy … then there is no longer a ratepayer advocate,” Kreis said. “There is simply a mouthpiece for whatever the policy agenda of the executive branch is, and I think that would be a regrettable change.”

Berry said his main goals are to increase manpower on consumer advocacy while cutting down on energy rates. The consumer advocate’s office is funded by a small fee that’s siphoned from residents’ monthly utility bills – that’s what Berry said triggered him to file the bill.

“My understanding is this office exists to lower the cost of the residential ratepayer, and it is funded by a cost on the residential ratepayer,” Berry said. “Its entire existence seems to be contradictory.”

The Department of Energy and Public Utilities Commission are also funded by those utility assessments. Kreis said his office, which has requested $2.3 million in the next two-year state budget cycle, has a “miniscule effect” on utility rates.

“I don’t see how eliminating our office or causing us to no longer be independent is going to save anybody any money,” Kreis said.

The OCA runs on a little over $1 million each year. If that amount was divided across every residential ratepayer in New Hampshire, Kreis said it works out to “tenths of a cent” per unit of energy.

Berry said he knows his bill likely wouldn’t “make or break” people’s finances, and he’s not looking to cut all six positions, either – his aim is more about consolidating to make government more efficient.

“It’s about empowering the Department of Energy to operate in a way that is more focused for the residential ratepayer and get that entire department focused on ways to bring these ridiculous energy rates down,” Berry said.

The Department of Energy’s current mission statement says it aims to provide “skilled representation, in energy-related proceedings, of New Hampshire’s public interest,” as well as other efforts to create an affordable and reliable energy economy.

Berry said he’s locked in on having consumer advocacy be part of the Department of Energy, but he’s open to changes and suggestions.

“I’m under no delusions that whatever I put forward would be anywhere near a final product,” Berry said, “but I do think it’s a conversation that they should have.”
 

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.