December 19, 2007

 

                 VIA HAND DELIVERY & ELECTRONIC MAIL

 

                 Ms. Debra Howland

                 Executive Director & Secretary

                 New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission

                 21 S. Fruit Street, Suite 10

                 Concord, NH 03301

 

                 RE:          DE 07-106: 2008 CORE Energy Efficiency Programs

Closing Statement of the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights

 

                 Dear Ms. Howland,

 

Please find below comments submitted on behalf of the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights (CRR) for consideration by the Commission in the above-captioned matter. Per instructions by the Commission at the hearing held on December 17, 2007, this closing statement is being submitted in writing.

 

The Campaign for Ratepayers Rights enjoyed participating in this docket. We enjoyed learning the positions and concerns of all the parties regarding the status of the CORE energy efficiency programs, and hearing suggestions on how to improve the programs.

 

CRR commends the utilities and all stakeholders on the achievements of the CORE programs thus far. We believe that the CORE filing (as revised) and the provisions of the settlement agreement serve the interests of New Hampshire ratepayers in improving the State’s efficiency efforts. CRR very much looks forward to participating in future discussions regarding the effectiveness of the programs, and is especially interested in issues to be discussed at the quarterly meetings between utilities and interested parties.

 

CRR is a signatory to the settlement agreement entered into by parties and Staff on December 12, 2007. We respectfully request the Commission to adopt the agreement as written. As indicated in the agreement, CRR supports the electric utilities’ proposal regarding eligibility of CORE participants to apply for emission (environmental) credits and capacity payments from ISO-New England for their efficiency efforts. The interests of New Hampshire ratepayers are better served by this proposal, rather than by the proposal submitted by Wal-Mart.

 

On December 10, 2007, the electric utilities filed a joint motion for recovery of prudently incurred forward capacity market costs. CRR takes no position on this issue. Thank you for your attention in this matter and feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

 

                                                                    Respectfully submitted

                                                                    For the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights,

 

 

                                                                   

                                                                    Patrick Arnold

                                                                    Executive Director

 

                 Cc: Service List via email