RLAC Summer Policy Retreat Fosters Collaboration on New Hampshire's Energy Future

By Deana Dennis, Director of Regulatory & Legislative Affairs, and Clifton Below, Chair of the Regulatory & Legislative Affairs Committee

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  CPCNH staff and RLAC committee members at the 2026 Summer Policy Retreat.

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  Staff, committee members and guest speakers participate in the retreat.

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  From left: Don Kreis, Sarah Burke Cohen, Chris Skoglund and Sam Evans-Brown.

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  Chris Skoglund of Clean Energy New Hampshire joins the partner roundtable.

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  Jeremy Hitchcock of StarCube discusses advanced nuclear technologies.

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  Don Kreis and Sarah Burke Cohen participate in the partner roundtable.

This July, CPCNH's Regulatory & Legislative Affairs Committee (RLAC) welcomed members, partner organizations, and energy policy experts to our third annual RLAC Summer Policy Retreat. The retreat provided an opportunity to reflect on the past legislative session, explore emerging energy issues, and begin shaping priorities for the year ahead.

The retreat featured updates on legislative and regulatory developments, discussions about New Hampshire's evolving energy landscape, and the continued development of the NH Energy Forward initiative. Throughout each session, participants returned to a common question: How can New Hampshire deliver more affordable, reliable, and customer-focused energy while encouraging innovation and preserving local control?

A highlight of the retreat was an educational session on advanced nuclear technologies, led by Clifton Below and featured Jeremy Hitchcock of the Portsmouth-based micro-nuclear reactor developer StarCube. The discussion focused not on whether New Hampshire should pursue one technology over another, but on how emerging technologies and business models fit into a competitive energy market that supports community choices. Participants explored how market design can encourage innovation while ensuring new investments deliver real value for customers and communities.

"New technologies like micro modular reactors shouldn’t be evaluated in isolation," said Clifton Below, chair of RLAC. "The important question is whether our market rules allow innovative resources to compete on the value they provide to customers and the electric system."

The retreat also featured a partner roundtable facilitated by Deana Dennis, CPCNH’s Director of Regulatory & Legislative Affairs. Panelists included Don Kreis, New Hampshire's Consumer Advocate; Sam Evans-Brown, Executive Director of Clean Energy NH (CENH), and Chris Skoglund, Director of Energy Transition for CENH; Sarah Burke Cohen, Interim Executive Director and Legislative Advocate of the New Hampshire Municipal Association; and Lindsay Bourgoine, Director of Policy and Government Affairs for ReVision Energy.

"The conversation highlighted shared priorities, emerging policy issues, and opportunities for continued collaboration as organizations begin preparing for the 2027 legislative session," said Dennis.

"One of CPCNH’s most important roles is creating opportunities for thoughtful conversations across New Hampshire’s energy community," she added. "When we bring different perspectives together around a shared commitment to affordability, innovation, and local control, we create the conditions for better policy."

Now in its third year, the RLAC Summer Policy Retreat has grown beyond a planning meeting into an annual forum for education, idea exchange, collaboration, and strategic dialogue. One recurring theme throughout the day was the importance of connecting energy policy to the issues that matter most to New Hampshire residents and businesses – affordable energy, reliable service, and greater opportunities for local communities to shape their own energy future.

The ideas and perspectives shared during the retreat will help inform CPCNH's 2027 Legislative Platform and continued engagement through NH Energy Forward. Just as importantly, the retreat reinforced CPCNH's commitment to as a trusted resource and convenor – bringing together diverse perspectives to help develop practical, customer-focused solutions to New Hampshire’s evolving energy challenges.

More detail about the retreat can be found in the RLAC Report to the 8/6 Board of Directors Meeting.