To the Editor:

Conflict vs. overlap: In 1993, a special overlapping-role setup was taken as a measure to redress some pretty serious malfeasance and misbehavior at the Hull Municipal Light Plant. Discord that spanned at least a decade between and among commissioners and MLP managers led to a situation that warranted a clear and decisive step. As Pat Cannon, our current MLP board chair recalls, an agreement was reached with the new town manager and the MLP manager’s position was eliminated. There would be no independent plant manager per se.

Responsibility would fall to town hall to manage daily operations and MLP staff. Only rate decisions would be left to the board. This was finalized by mid-1993.

In the time that has elapsed, a long string of changes to the world of energy and infrastructure followed. The liberalization of American electric power markets is one, but the wave of modernization sweeping the entire world is more pertinent. The trends have led nearly all U.S. ratepayers toward an obscure fork in the road, and we’re standing at it now, contemplating our own as if it were unique.

It is not. All parties to the legacy power grid in America need to provision for their energy needs with a long-term focus and with a very different set of assumptions, options, and priorities than those faced by previous generations. Large-scale players are working to adapt, but remain unwieldy. The importance of 100% uptime along with storm and incident resilience is hard to overstate. Our modern economy and activities all depend on electricity, constantly. We’re in a largely digital economy now. Even in 1993, cash and coins would carry a local economy through crisis.

The nature of MLP challenges have changed, but the backdrop of much-larger competitors remains in place. Hull is a tiny one, obligated to buy electricity amid whales. The larger the player and the more consolidated the decision-making process, the tougher it is to make the right moves.

Voting for Article 37 will empower the board and broaden its scope. It will increase commissioners’ flexibility in dealing with difficulties and enable the open dialog that any long-term course plotting demands. We humbly ask for your support in passing the measure at town meeting this year.

JD Kaplan, Chair

Clean Energy Climate Action Committee

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