LEBANON — As a nonprofit energy supplier prepares to take over energy procurement for a handful of Upper Valley communities, a process designed to save residents money on their utility bills is also aiming to make it easier for them to go green.

Enfield, Hanover, Lebanon and Plainfield are among 10 municipalities organized in the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, or CPCNH, which will become the default energy supplier for most homes and businesses, starting next month.

As part of the transition to community power, residents are able “opt up” to a series of renewable energy options, which would have the coalition get more of its energy from renewable sources.

“Right now, all the greener options save money compared to the current Liberty charge,” a flyer from Sustainable Lebanon reads, referring to the company that currently provides power to residents in the city.

The rate for electricity purchased from Liberty, at around $0.22 per kilowatt hour, or kWh, is historically high and is expected to come down in August, though it is unclear how much. Electricity from Eversource, another utility, is rated at $0.20 kWh, and the New Hampshire Electric Co-op’s rate is about $0.14 kWh.

Lebanon and Enfield’s default community power option is dubbed “Granite Basic” by CPCNH. The rate is priced at $0.158 per kilowatt hour, and contains 23.4% renewable content. That is the state’s minimum renewable energy standard, and is the same level of renewability met by energy supplier from Liberty and Eversource.

The energy aggregation committees for Hanover and Plainfield elected “Granite Plus” as the default rate for Hanover and Plainfield, which is $0.162 per kWh and at 30% renewable content, exceeding the state’s standard. However, residents in those towns can “opt down” to the least costly rate.

Two additional options offer higher levels of renewability at 50% and 100%. The rates increase with renewability, but even the priciest — and most renewable — rate still offer savings for the average household as compared to the Liberty rate, according to Sustainable Lebanon.

Community power users can opt to a higher renewable option and back down — or out of CPCNH entirely — at any time.

The green options are renewable through renewable energy certificates, or RECs. Every megawatt hour generated by a clean energy source, such as a wind or solar energy systems, creates one certificate.

Each certificate is purchased on a retail market and registered by New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission.

CPCNH will purchase electricity along with a proportional amount of RECs, packaging the two together based on the renewable energy content the coalition’s customer selects.

As the community power programs mature, they could potentially purchase their renewable energy supply directly from particular generators — either far afield or close to home — as opposed to relying on certificates.

For example, community power could source some of its renewable energy from a specific offshore wind project, or a solar installation in its service area.

“In the set of goals that we have as a community power coalition, achieving the ability to execute long-term contracts and build new renewables and battery storage projects right in our towns is a priority for Hanover community power and the other community power programs,” said Yolanda Baumgartner, co-chairwoman of Sustainable Hanover. “It’s in our plan to go in that direction, and see (certificates) play a diminishing role in our renewable supply.”

Regardless of what level of green energy customers choose, they shouldn’t notice much of a difference when CPCNH begins supplying power in May.

Billing will still be managed by the default utility — in the participating Upper Valley communities, that will be Liberty — and the utility will be responsible for responding to outages.

Participating communities will host information meetings about community power this week:

■Lebanon — Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall in Council Chambers.

■Enfield — Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Enfield Community Building.

■Plainfield — Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Singing Hills, 71 King Dr.

■Hanover — Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Richmond Middle School.

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.

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