Career Center

Position 

The Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs will play a crucial role in developing and implementing regulatory and legislative strategies. As a member of senior management, you will be responsible for championing reform initiatives, and advocating for market-enabling legislation and regulatory proceeding outcomes in the energy and public utilities sector and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. 

You will work closely with our CEO and a new team consisting of a Director of Administration, a Director of Load and Energy Resource Optimization and a Director of Member Services.  You will work with various stakeholders, most of all the Coalition’s Membership, as well as government agencies, legislators, industry associations, and distribution utilities to shape policies and regulations that align with the public interest.  

The Coalition has the political capacity to enable reforms and the operational capabilities to offer innovative services that create new value for New Hampshire residents.

Your opportunity will be to connect these dots, articulate the vision, and help lead the way to make it a reality. 

Our organization is governed by a 20-member volunteer board focused on efficiently assisting member municipalities and counties to realize and expand the benefits of Community Power throughout New Hampshire.  Our Coalition Chair, Clifton Below — a former State Representative, Senator, and PUC Commissioner who authored NH’s Community Power Act and co-authored NH’s Utility Restructuring Act (the first in the nation) is providing expertise as lead advisor and advocate on the agency’s regulatory and legislative engagement activities.  Our Officers, Board of Directors, seven committees, and seventy (70) community Member representatives are engaged, have a wide range of expertise, and are committed to the success of CPCNH.

Our Membership and community relationships help us carry out statewide public campaigns and achieve structural market reforms at the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission to advance consumer interests and the energy transition.

If you want to make real and sustained changes to how communities interact with energy — ultimately reforming utility business models and modernizing state regulatory practices in the process — while working with a collaborative and empowered team, this is the place for you. 

General Responsibilities

The Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs is responsible for a wide range of regulatory and legislative matters and will report to the Chief Executive Officer, work closely in collaboration with the CPCNH Chair, and support the Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Committee. 

Focus is primarily on state energy policy and utility regulation, and relevant ISO-NE stakeholder initiatives, but responsibilities may also include federal and local government regulations and policies and support for other staff positions as needed.

Duties are illustrative and may vary:

1. Regulatory & Legislative Strategy and Planning
   1. Align regulatory and legislative goals with the overall strategic direction of the Coalition and ensure the development and implementation of multi-year regulatory and legislative strategies to advance the Coalition’s competitive market position and mission. 
   2. Identify and manage membership in relevant industry associations, representing the Coalition's interests and actively participating in committee meetings and events.
   3. Contribute to the development of an annual budget as necessary to implement regulatory and legislative strategies.
2. Regulatory & Legislative Engagement
   1. Evaluate and improve the Coalition’s internal processes for meeting regulatory, legislative and compliance obligations.
   2. Collaborate internally with staff and service providers to promptly mitigate operational inefficiencies through regulatory and legislative engagement, and to generally ensure that engagement consistently conveys credible ‘front line’ expertise, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
   3. Ensure that key bills and filings prepared by utilities and other entities that could impact the Coalition and its customers are tracked, reviewed, analyzed, and summarized.
   4. Ensure that filings are prepared, reviewed, and submitted in a timely manner, in compliance with regulatory requirements and deadlines.
   5. Ensure that the Coalition is represented in regulatory proceedings through preparation of data requests, written responses, position papers, analytical models, testimony, and exhibits.
   6. Collaborate with legislators, government officials, and other parties to propose and support legislation that aligns with the Coalition's interests and objectives. 
   7. Ensure that expert testimony is provided when needed during public hearings, regulatory proceedings, and legislative committees to effectively communicate the Coalition's position on relevant issues and support favorable outcomes.
   8. Monitor legislative activities and propose strategies to influence policy outcomes, with routine coordination with the Director of Member Services for opportunities to engage the Membership through grassroots campaigns. 
3. Board Committee and Member Support
   1. Serve as primary staff support for the Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Committee by providing guidance, insights, and resources necessary for effective decision-making and advocacy efforts.
   2. Ensure that the Coalition monitors, tracks, reviews, analyzes, and summarizes regulatory and legislative strategies and developments in New Hampshire, along with key regional and national developments and industry trends / best practices, for the Board, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Committee, and Membership. 
   3. Participate in public meetings, including in local Member community meetings, to convey regulatory and legislative developments relevant to Member communities and inform strategies and positions.
4. Grant and Application Management
   1. Engage and work with the NH Department of Energy, and key stakeholders such as but not limited to the New Hampshire Energy Data Governance Council, to develop a plan to implement a HOMES rebate program (as defined in H.R. 5376).
      1. Manage the development and submittal of grant proposals to secure funding relevant to supporting regulatory and legislative strategies.
      2. Ensure compliance with grant requirements, and tracking and monitoring performance metrics, budgets, and expenditures.
5. Other duties
   1. Manage and ensure the timely submission of all mandatory compliance obligations.
   2. Take on additional responsibilities and projects as necessitated by the evolving needs of the organization, such as supporting other staff positions.

Qualifications

• A law degree is strongly preferred. At minimum: a bachelor’s degree or greater in a relevant field such as public policy, public service, public administration, political science, communications, economics, environmental science, or a related discipline. 
• Five or more years of experience in regulatory affairs and/or legislative advocacy with emphasis on competitive retail services, energy markets, electric procurement issues, distributed and demand-side resources, or closely related fields.
• Strong familiarity with regulatory frameworks, market structures, legislative processes, and policy issues related to the energy and electric utility industry. New Hampshire domain expertise is preferred, and knowledge of relevant ISO-NE stakeholder process (or other RTO), market rules, and FERC decisions is a plus.
• Prior successes in developing and implementing regulatory and legislative strategies.
• Excellent and tactful communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to articulate complex issues clearly and effectively.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with government officials, legislators, industry associations, and other stakeholders, to maintain situational awareness, identify opportunities, and build support for organizational objectives.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess the impact of regulatory and legislative changes on the organization and develop appropriate responses.
• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, provide succinct progress updates, and meet deadlines in an entrepreneurial and collaborative team environment.
• Experience preparing and delivering testimony before regulatory agencies is a plus.
• Knowledge of public agency governance procedures, experience in public meetings and local community engagement is a plus. 
• Grant writing and management skills are desirable.

If you are excited about the prospect of joining our team and believe that you can contribute to our success, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet all the qualifications listed. We value the unique strengths and perspectives each individual brings to our organization.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary will be competitive within the electric utility industry with compensation dependent on experience and qualifications. 

We believe in creating a positive work environment that nurtures and supports our employees' well-being. We are proud to offer an employee benefits package that reflects our community centric mission and values, including comprehensive health care, disability and life insurance, retirement contribution match programs, paid vacation, sick leave, family leave, and flexible work schedules.

Location

The Coalition currently maintains a hybrid work structure, with an expectation of at least one day each week in our primary Lebanon, NH office and as necessary in our satellite office at the state capital (Concord, NH).  

This role also requires onsite engagement at the state legislature, Public Utilities Commission, and other state agencies. 

Additional time in-office and at variable remote locations, including for Board and Committee meetings and in-person staff meetings will be required on an as-needed basis. As these needs may arise urgently, the Coalition expects the Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs to be available to meet in or around either office location within one day’s time (except when on vacation).

Working Conditions and Essential Requirements 

The physical demands described here are representative of those required for the position. Position requires sitting, walking, standing, bending, and twisting in the performance of daily activities. The position requires hand manipulation and repetitive hand movement and fine coordination in using a computer keyboard and other office equipment. The position requires near and far vision in reading reports and use of a computer. Acute hearing is required in supporting meetings and providing phone and in-person customer service. The position may occasionally require lifting and/or moving objects. The Coalition will make reasonable accommodation of the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant with a disability upon request. Possession and continued maintenance of a valid New Hampshire driver’s license or the ability to provide alternate transportation and a safe driving record are required. 

THE COMMUNITY POWER COALITION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IS COMMITTED TO CREATING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE AND SUPPORTIVE AND AFFIRMING SPACE FOR STAFF REGARDLESS OF RACE, RELIGION, COLOR, SEX, AGE, DISABILITY, MARITAL STATUS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, AND NATIONAL ORIGIN OR GENETIC CHARACTERISTIC. PEOPLE OF COLOR, WOMEN, AND THOSE WHO IDENTIFY AS LGBTQ ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

About Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire

The Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (the Coalition) is a democratically governed and forward-thinking all-requirements Joint Powers Agency incorporated to launch and operate Community Power Aggregation (CPA) programs to meet the needs of our growing membership of thirty-five municipalities, representing a quarter of New Hampshire’s population. The Coalition launched default supply service for our first twelve CPA programs in April 2023. We serve more customers than any other competitive supplier, and two of the three investor-owned utilities, in the state. Over the Coalition’s first year of operations, we will have maintained rate savings between 10% to 40% relative to utility supply service, depending on the utility and class, while accruing financial reserves sufficient to cover over three months of operating expenses. The Coalition helps provide energy solutions for communities, speak with one voice at the Legislature and Public Utilities Commission, and benefit participating communities by providing for the delivery of cleaner and more locally produced electricity, “total energy bill” savings, innovative retail distributed energy and demand flexibility progra...ms, joint public advocacy and policy engagement, and the deployment of local programs, projects, and energy infrastructure investments.

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