Settlement Reached in Liberty Utilities Electric Rate Case

Concord, NH-  The New Hampshire Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that they have reached a settlement agreement with Liberty Utilities (Liberty), the Office of the Consumer Advocate, and other parties in Liberty’s electric distribution rate case. The settlement agreement was reached after months of negotiation following the lack of resolution on the Department of Energy’s motion to dismiss the case at the PUC.

If approved, the settlement agreement will take effect in February 2025 and includes many favorable provisions for customers: Liberty’s base distribution rates will be held to an increase of less than 1% above today’s level. Additionally, Liberty will not be able to request another rate case until 2026, and Liberty has agreed to an IT audit at the company’s expense to better ensure the reliability of information underlying future rate requests.

The settlement agreement represents a significant reduction of Liberty’s requested increase. Liberty initially proposed a rate increase over 2022 rates of $15.5 million in year 1, $18 million in year 2, and $21 million in year 3, totaling approximately $54 million in rate increases over the three-year period. The settlement agreement negotiated by DOE will save Liberty customers almost $40 million of the proposed increase over the three-year period. 

“This settlement agreement is a successful outcome for customers and is the result of the Department of Energy’s significant efforts in this proceeding,” said Jared Chicoine, Commissioner of the Department of Energy. “Our team has done incredible work to negotiate this deal for customers, and we thank the thoughtful engagement from Liberty Utilities, the Consumer Advocate, and the other parties to come to an agreement.”

“Liberty Electric customers in Salem, Pelham, Lebanon, and throughout the state should know that the New Hampshire Department of Energy has their back,” said Chris Ellms Jr., Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Energy. “This is a great deal for ratepayers, and we urge the PUC to approve it.”

“The effective regulation of utilities is a difficult task that would be impossible without the talented and dedicated staff at the Department of Energy,” said Amanda Noonan, Regulatory Director at the Department of Energy. “We have spent countless hours analyzing the data, crafting our arguments and building our case, and the result is an agreement that will benefit Liberty’s electric customers in New Hampshire. This settlement agreement represents regulation done well in service to Granite Staters.”

The settlement agreement has been filed in PUC docket DE 23-039, and the PUC will need to approve the agreement for it to take effect. Liberty Utilities has also filed a natural gas distribution rate case in PUC docket DG 23-067, which is ongoing. 

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