CPCNH Office Hours | Media Training for Member Representatives (May 22, 2026)

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

Welcome to today's office hours. We're
going to be covering uh media training.
Um
and just a quick overview of uh the
agenda. Ander provenencing principal of
Main Street Strategic is going to lead
our presentation
and afterwards executive director Henry
H. Hearnen is gonna talk a little bit
about the timeline for upcoming rates. I
am Nick Gosling, CPCH communications
manager.
Um I'm wearing a few hats today, so I'm
going to be monitoring the chat,
advancing slides, things of that nature.
Um, if you look in the chat, I've
dropped a few links
to uh the uh
Thanks, Dave. Yeah. So, uh where is
that? Artist Bluff from Artist Bluff. Um
I've dropped a uh link to the office
hours web page. You can see a schedule
of upcoming office hours in there. Um
there's this record this is being
recorded and will be shared to that web
page in the archive section at the
bottom of that web page. Um we will also
distribute it through a member
communications.
And then finally there's a one sheeter
that we've prepared a media inquiries
guide that uh there's a link to that in
the chat as well and you can
um uh download that and uh share. All
right. So, with that, I'm going to kick
it off to Andrew.
Welcome, Andrew.
>> Great. Thanks, Nick. Uh, great to talk
to everyone today. Once again, my name's
Andrew Perventure. I'm with Main Street
Strategic. Uh, we have a couple
different hats as well, um, with CBC&H,
including some, uh, lobbying and
government relations and also
communications. Uh today's kind of goal
of of uh what we're trying to accomplish
is kind of give member reps uh kind of a
a greater background and information on
kind of what to do when media reaches
out um and understanding how to kind of
coordinate with the CPC&H staff and some
you know great you know rules of thumb
so to speak to to help you out that
process. Um Nick you want to jump to the
next slide? Beautiful. So, uh, I'd say
if there was one kind of core core
message, um, that could be taken away,
the cliff node version of of today's
presentation, it'd be that, uh, CPC&H
staff is is here to help. And, uh, as
inquiries come in on the local level,
uh, it's always helpful to kind of work
within the structure to help get advice
and information. Um, but that ultimately
no one is ever going to know your
community better than the member reps in
that community. So, I think we value
very much being able to have like local
knowledge and input. Um, because you'll
generally have a really good uh
conceptual basis of what the the pulse
of your community is like. Um, so I
think on the larger kind of big 30,000
foot view, CPC&H has core messages and
has um, you know, central themes and
points and things that we think
strategically make sense to be, you
know, moving forward with in a proactive
manner or reactive to things that we're
hearing. Um but having a uh a good way
to get information from you on the local
level and then be able to have that um
work and coordinate with kind of an
overarching goal is is critical to a
strong kind of communication loop for
us. So uh some of these kind of key
member the key pieces we'll talk about
is you know speaking clearly and
accurately making sure that some of the
quotes that you're using comments you're
using are reinforcing core messages that
CBC&H has has been using for years now.
Um and that also that there are kind of
um you know best and practice ways to
filter information over to CPC&H and
then have information that you need or
need requested from brought to you. Um
and we want to kind of walk you through
some of the ways that uh that could be
helpful.
Uh jump next one.
So why media coordination matters?
uh in our state in in general,
especially in a small state like New
Hampshire, uh the kind of the background
in reporting has really changed over the
last few years with uh social media with
a kind of a different uh scope in which
we have shorter time frames. We have a
lot of media reporters who are moving
from paper to paper or publication to
publication. we have a kind of a media
uh landscape now that involves uh kind
of some I'd say more uh political nature
from their funding. Um, so you have
online publications and journals that
maybe have more of a a political slant
one side or the other. And the kind of
long form journalism that will take a
complicated issue and break it into uh a
into little pieces over a period of
time. That form of long form journalism
uh is is increasingly more rare. So what
this means is a lot of times the issues
that CPC&H and others in the energy uh
landscape are dealing with are very
complicated issues that involve a lot of
uh moving pieces and and important
perspectives.
But in order to get our information
across, we're likely going to have to
take what is a very complicated subject
matter and bring that down to a much
more um uh tighter uh easier to
understand uh communication message. And
we want to make sure that when we're
doing those that we're not compromising
uh how accurate our responses are or or
the information that we're presenting.
So we always want to go out of our way
to make sure that we're providing good,
accurate, smart information to the
general public and reporters and that
will help us kind of continue to build
relationships with them which leads to
us um having some good connections in
the state. Uh so when we talk about uh
why coordination matters part of it is
timelines and when information is due is
generally uh pretty quick and if you are
asked for a quote or you need
information uh you'll want to be able to
provide that in a quick manner but we
don't want to do that at the expense of
giving them accurate information. So, I
know the CPCNH staff, whether it's Nick
or Jackson or myself or Henry, I think a
lot of folks are are um ready to move
quickly and are trying to be very nimble
to be able to take uh local community
questions and thoughts, be able to get
you the information you need or be able
to point you in the right direction of
an issue expert that might be able to
answer something that maybe you don't
have as much of a background on. Uh
likewise, there'll be information that
comes to us, request that comes to us
about a local issue and we'll likely
reach out to a member rep in that
community to say, "Hey, you know, we
need some of your background on what you
think is the best fit and what's the
best messaging piece here." So, um you
hear we talk about a communication loop
a lot. And that's that's kind of the the
core uh piece there. So, we want to be
accurate and consistent with what we're
doing. Um and a lot of times the local
perspective is uh very important. We
have, like I said, not as many news
publications anymore, but there are a
lot of smaller localized, whether it be
blogs, um, or local weeklys, um, papers
that do have a good audience. So, we
want to be able to kind of hit all those
different buckets. Not everything is
going to be in the Union Leader or the
Conquer Monitor, um, or, you know, COS
online. So, we want to make sure that
we're we're hitting our local ones and
and speaking to our communities where
they're getting their their information.
And kind of to to heart back on this
last Pet, we never have an expectation
that members should have to handle these
inquiries on their own. And there's no
expectation that members should have to
be, you know, issue experts in every,
you know, nuanced piece of of energy in
in the state or community power.
Go next. Beautiful.
So, talking now where you've just had a
reporter reach out to you and they're
looking for information on on something.
Some of the key pieces that you're going
to want to do is first kind of
collecting the details. So, we're going
to want to know the reporter's name,
ideally the media outlet, um what what
the best contact information to get in
touch with them is. Um, you know, this
sometimes this will be something you'll
have to do on the first time you talk to
someone in the community, but you know,
sometimes you might already know the
local reporter who or they're going to
select board meetings, you've met them
in another way, so you have some of this
information already. Um, and then the
two two kind of really important pieces
that I think can be forgotten sometimes
is you'd like to ask, you know, what's
the topic or or the question that's in
mind, like what what what's the story
that they're trying to write and then a
deadline in which they're looking to do
that. And most reporters that I've
always talked to, um, you know, easily
can answer those. You know, I'd say
professional reporters can easily answer
those last two questions and say, "Hey,
we're writing a story on the new rate
setting and we're looking for local
perspectives on that and, uh, you know,
I need it in by Thursday." So, uh,
normally if it's if it's kind of if if
someone's pushing back on those and
saying, "Well, you know, we're just
collecting information on this or you
know, we don't have a set timeline or
deadline." Um, sometimes you'll get that
from, I'd say, a much less professional
source or maybe a group that's not
necessarily tied to, um, I'd say like a
traditional media outlet. Um, and that's
when kind of you get the little like red
flags. So, you uh, a reporter calls you,
asks a question, um, you know, you have
want to collect some of that
information, and then I think part of
that communication loop is just
notifying Jackson, hey, we've got a
request in our community on X, Y, and Z.
They want to talk about this or
background on here. Um, sometimes you
might get a local inquiry uh and it's
it's part of a larger uh a larger piece
that we're already aware of. Um, and
it's important for us to be able to
connect as many dots as we can knowing
where some of this information is coming
from or where these questions are coming
from. Um, so by having Jackson be kind
of a a central uh hub of of of these
media requests, we're able to then kind
of decipher a larger picture of what,
you know, what narrative change might be
happening or or what questions might be
getting pushed through a community. Um,
so kind of working with to let Jackson
know and then be able to kind of figure
out the staff and the partners that we
might want to identify with the best
messaging or appropriate messaging. It's
not uncommon sometimes where you'll have
a reporter contact a few communities and
you know every community saying the same
thing, but they're just kind of still
looking for someone who's going to say
something different that fits kind of a
different narrative that they're looking
to have in their story. So, um it can be
really helpful for us to know um you
know if we talk to a reporter and they
say, "Hey, can you let me tell me some
communities to talk to?" And we give
them a list um and then you know we know
they're still reaching out to folks. It
wouldn't be uncommon for me to say,
"Hey, uh, were you able to get in touch
with the three folks that we gave you?"
They say, "Oh, yes." You know, we
contacted them. We got quoted from them.
Um, and then it's like, "All right, you
know, what what more do you need?" Um,
so these are all just kind of important
background pieces for us to help as we
kind of shape larger stories. Um, and
being able to kind of funnel that
through the central hub of Jackson is is
really critical in us being able to do
that in a in a kind of an efficient and
uh and really productive manner.
Um, jumping over to our suggested
responses.
So, and Nick's put together some great
suggested responses here. I always think
um whenever I'm responding to a media
inquiry and it's not something that I
consider myself to be an issue expert on
um or something that I even just need
maybe a little bit more time to to think
about. Um I'll always want to make sure
that I can say, "Hey, I I I can't answer
your question right now, but I want to
make sure I get you the most up-to-date
and accurate information. Let me get
your contact information and I'll have
someone get in touch with you." Um, and
what's really critical there and the
only way that we can be successful is
that that information then gets sent
over to Jackson and we're able to then
respond to them in a very timely manner
so they understand that when they talk
to you and you say you're, you know,
escalating this up the chain to get more
accurate information that then there's
someone on that back end who's going to
take that response and and and reach
back out. Um, so that's that's kind of
the important part that CPCH needs to
make sure they're doing a good job on. I
think it's something we've really done a
a very good job on um uh since the
inception. Uh additionally, kind of when
it asked about um you know, if they
they're looking for like an immediate
comment, I've almost never been in a
situation with a reporter where they the
the comment that they needed was so
immediate that they couldn't get that
comment in 15 minutes or 20 minutes. Um,
so I think that that's, you know, I I
always feel free to say that you don't
want to speculate. You want to collect
good information and that you're going
to get them an accurate response as soon
as possible. Um, I think that's kind of
a a boilerplate um, you know, safe
suggested response. And kind of
additionally here, they talk about if
you're approached at an event or a
community event, you know, we had the
poverty plane solar. There were a lot of
reporters there talking to folks. Um, I
think that there's a lot of things that
you might be able to speak to on a local
perspective. Um, but if there are more
technical issues or technical questions,
um, for for instance, maybe someone had
a question about, you know, offtake or
something having to do with, uh, poverty
planes, maybe you think you know the
answer to it, but for us to be accurate
and for us to make sure that we're
getting the best information, we're
probably going to want to elevate that
up and make sure that we're talking, you
know, directly from the source so we can
uh, be giving the the correct
information as opposed to um, maybe we
think we knew something, we say
something slightly wrong, and then now
we're kind of working to uh recorrect
something that you know wasn't done in
any sort of um uh negative manner but is
more you know accidental in the approach
and uh deadlines do matter. Uh deadlines
are real for these reporters. Um, but
getting accurate information is
critical, not only for th those
reporters, uh, but for us and for the
work that we do at CPC&H to ensure that
we're bringing those, uh, accurate, uh,
responses, uh, to to the media and to
the public. Want to make sure we can
stand by and when we say something,
folks know that it's not half-hazardly
concocted, but something that is um,
coming from a a factual basis.
Uh jump to the next one.
So this is um
I think I got a different slide here.
Nick uh so some sometimes that there
there will be scenarios in which um you
know CPC&H might ask you to speak or
there might be a scenario where you're
uh where someone in the local community
reaches out to you about something that
you know fits really well into that uh
narrative. So, for instance, a reporter
might be looking for a local quote on
behalf of your municipality or county
program. So, they're looking for
something that's particular to you. What
what does um what's your town's approach
been in regards to, you know, clean
energy investments or how has community
power been, you know, seen in your town
since launching? Those are very
localized questions that you know you'll
have a good pulse on and that you'll be
in a great situation to answer and I
think is critical and uh having that
having that local comment likely uh
leads us to a greater chance that that
is then going to actually be published
in in your you know local newspaper. Um
there might be time when uh CPC&H staff
uh looks to connect you with the media.
So, um, we know of a certain experience
that your community's had that is a
really great thing to highlight or or or
point to, uh, and a news reporter
reaches out to us and says, "Hey, we're
uh, do you guys have any the local
stories that, you know, fit into X, Y,
and Z?" U, that might be a scenario
where Jackson might reach out and say,
"Hey, I I know you've done this great
work in your community. I'd like to
connect you with a reporter to talk a
little bit about some of the work that
you've done." Um, and then you have
something as, you know, casual as you're
at Property Plane Solar uh solar again
and you you get reached out by a a
member of the media there and they say,
you know, what are your thoughts on
this? Is this how do you see this as
being beneficial for CPC&H? Those are
like localized questions that I think um
you all have a great background and you
can provide good information for. Um,
and definitely it's it's helpful to be
speaking from your direct experience and
whatever your local role might might be.
And um, if there's ever a scenario where
you think there might be someone in your
community or another member rep or
someone within CPC&H who might have a a
stronger uh background there, there's
once again never any any issue with
saying, "Hey, I I' I'd love to give you
some information, but I think there's
someone who can get you something even
better. let me put you in touch with X,
Y, and Z.
Uh, beautiful. So, now we can talk about
some scenarios where I think it's really
important to try to refer something to
CPC&H staff. It's always nice to give a
heads up to everyone. You know, so if
you talk to a media reporter and it's a
local issue and you're able to provide a
quote, you're speaking from direct
experience, something that, you know,
you have a background in, like we said,
it's helpful. just let Jackson know,
hey, I spoke to this reporter on this
day about this. Um there will be some
times where maybe a reporter reaches out
to you and it's something that is um I'd
say like kind of larger and a more
policywide or strategy piece. And those
are ones that we're going to want you to
do that previous step, which is reach
out to Jackson, but say, "Hey, I'm
hoping you can get back in touch with
this person because they're looking for
information on the the timing of our
rate setting or what are the particulars
about procurement. Um, what is some of
the legal background going on in the uh
recent PUC filing? um you know what's
some financial or contractual questions
they have with someone. These are all
things that are beneficial to to bring
these kind of larger broader questions
up to CPC&H and then they can identify
all right who's the what what is our uh
what's our communication strategy with
these things and then who is the best
person on staff who might be able to
lend experience here and in many cases
it's well who's the best um you know
what's what's a community member
community rep or a board member who's
been working directly on these issues
that we can funnel this request to and
who can provide uh some really strong
comment for for some of these. Um if
you're ever kind of unsure about the
question or it doesn't feel right or you
feel like you're not the best person to
answer it, um you know, I feel always
feel free to send that to CPC&H as well.
I'd say more often than not, you know,
you can be safe and sorry, send
something up and you know, Jackson might
go back and say, "Hey, you know, I think
that you're probably the perfect person
to answer this." So, um, you know, feel
free, you know, just so you know, here's
some context on some things that are
going on in the state that might, um, be
part of the background of of this story.
Um, so just kind of the some of the
pieces here, you know, CPCH's policywide
strategy, rates, procurement, legal,
regulatory, uh, you know, legislative,
uh, financial, very maybe sensitive or
controversial topics. Um, and then kind
of anything you think you might be
unsure of. Uh but like they said when in
doubt you know seek out some additional
support with CPC and ag and they can
assist you there.
So uh we have our best practices when
speaking to reporters and uh I think
that these are some just general good uh
pieces to know. So you have uh you know
always have an assumption that what
you're talking about is is being
recorded. I know that um you know the TV
show or the kind of background of hey
you know off the record on the record
kind of stuff um you know that does
happen to an extent but I think that
it's I think you'd be much better suited
to just assume that everything you're
talking about is on the record and all
additional information can be part of of
their story. Um we always recommend for
folks to tell the truth. You don't want
to be caught in a lie or kind of I'd say
like a intentionally um intentionally
kind of explaining something in a manner
which maybe feels a little more
beneficial but you know might be kind of
like hiding the football. So tell the
truth. Don't kind of guess or speculate.
Um try to stick to the facts that you
know and you're aware of. Um, we always
recommend trying to keep our answers uh
brief, clean, uh, very, uh, on point to
the subject matter, the question that's
being asked. U, one of the pieces here
that Nick has is kind of the trying to
avoid the the no comment piece. Um, I
think that folks generally see, um, you
know, kind of a no comment or, you know,
pleading the fifth as um, some sort of
admission of guilt or or or wrongdoing.
In some ways, I think the public uh
views it that way as someone being dodgy
or um you know, trying to avoid a
question where in many cases uh anything
that would be a no comment, I would
recommend instead could be uh let me get
you in touch with CPC&H to talk about
the particulars and I think they'll find
someone who can answer this best for
you. Um is a much better answer than
than a no comment. Uh, and also feel
free to just kind of pause and go slow
and answer. Uh, it's okay to stop
talking. Sometimes, uh, when you pause a
lot of times and you're thinking about a
question, it feels a lot longer in your
head, that pause, than it does to the
person you're talking to. So, it's okay
to just stop and catch a train of
thought um and think through what you're
trying to say before kind of uh moving
forward with the with your quote or
comment. I think if you do have a
scenario where you're coming back in
touch with a reporter, it could be
helpful to, you know, write something on
a piece of paper or just read it through
and make sure that you feel comfortable
with the words you're using, the
phrasing you're using, um and just build
a greater sense of comfort when you're
talking to the reporter.
Also, uh kind of for our more advanced
media training next couple steps for um
folks who are maybe interacting with the
media a lot. It's important to know that
the media will ask you a question, but
ultimately how you answer is is up to
you. And it can be beneficial sometimes
to uh answer that question briefly, but
then to add in the additional context of
the question you wish you would have
been asked. So I can answer directly
completely and then I can continue my
quote to kind of refer back to what I
think are key points of of a question
which I wish I would have been asked by
them in the first place. Um, so that's
kind of the like next next level piece,
but ultimately you're going to be asked
the question, you can reply to that
question anyway which you'd like. Uh, we
definitely recommend trying to work in
core messages and themes into those
responses um just to kind of keep us in
in that loop.
Excuse me.
Uh, handling difficult questions. Um so
we we ideally would like to not have a
scenario where we are uh repeating very
loaded language or charred language. So
there's no need to um you know if you
have a quote they they provide you with
a quote that is very charged or language
is very charged. Um certainly no need to
repeat that information. Uh once again
always good idea to kind of pause before
responding. take a moment to think of
the framing of it and how you might want
to answer. We think that uh like using a
bridge can be really helpful. Um
generally it's recommended that if
you're going to be responding, you want
to uh practice as much as what you're
trying to say as also practicing the
bridges that you might be using. So, you
know, I would frame it in this way or
what I can speak to is this. The
important is this. um the answer to your
question is yes, but I think it's really
important to consider X, Y, and Z. So
those bridge pieces are very helpful in
you being able to kind of bring back
core messages and also to reframe what a
question might look like. So an example
is electricity costs are important to
every customer. What I can speak to is
why our community values local choice
and local control. So, you know, the
question is on in this scenario is
probably um you know, why why is
electricity cost so important? Well, I
don't probably can't speak to what every
individual person thinks isn't is is why
why electricity cost might be important,
but you can say we understand
electricity costs are important to every
customer. What I can speak to is why our
community values local choice and local
control. So bringing it back to you,
talking about what you know, your local
perspective, speaking for yourself, your
community, um, and doing that in a way
that reframes this conversation back to
some of the core CPC&H values of local
choice and local control.
So going on to these core CPC&H messages
and we have a few I think there's three
here that are important you know
consumer choice local control uh
competitive rates and competition. So uh
consumer choice uh participating
communities offer four more electric
product options enabling households. So
I think this goes back to the idea of uh
community power at its core is about
greater community choice, greater
community options, the ability for
people in the community to you know pick
the products that they think best suit
them um or their town. Um so that is a
uh that's a core piece and then also the
idea that customers can always return to
you excuse me utility default uh supply
and receive electricity through a
thirdparty supplier. So um this isn't
about limiting or or preventing choice
from customers. It's about uh giving
additional choice options to to
customers. Uh then we have local control
and this is about communities that are
being directly involved with the
electricity supply and you know ensure
that CPCH representatives their
interests and and their member on the
board. So, not only is your community uh
going to be involved with uh the local
aspects, the local control of your
energy supply, but you're going to have
a a voice as part of the organization to
bring information there to help set
strategic thoughts and guidelines. Um,
this is a local control option that
doesn't necessarily exist in your town
if you're not doing some sort of
community power. And then competitive
rates and competition. And the concepts
here are buying power uh together can
help stabilize costs over time and that
community power through CPC&H is
ensuring kind of healthy competition
against what are monopoly utility
supplies and traditional thirdparty
brokers. So these are u community power
at its core is towns and communities
working together. Working together to
exhibit their local control o over these
issues and then to enable additional
customer choice for their for their
citizens. And by working together uh
that's going to help bring the
additional level of competition and
competitive rates that we're seeking.
And you know the kind of third rail of
that the third layer of sorts is that um
we're doing this in a in a system that
has is is still kind of figuring out its
competitive marketplace. So there are
challenges that we are continuing to
work through together as a community in
order to to to to set that um that
foundation. Um, so it's important work
that's being done, you know, by board
member to board member, community member
to community member, um, for the benefit
of the entire New Hampshire electricity
marketplace.
>> Uh, some additional ones we have is
clean energy investment. So, it's
communities that are able to invest in
their local energy projects and and
participate in community renewable
energy programs. this, you know, there
are some communities that this is an
absolute core message to that have
decided to join CPC and age because they
wanted to have the opportunity to kind
of invest in local energy products. Um,
there might be other communities that
maybe the most important for them is
competitive rates and and being able to
kind of uh take on that competitive
marketplace.
you as a local representative, you'll
know which one of these which of these,
you know, uh core messages fit best in
your community and which ones you want
to kind of be part of your bridge when
you talk about uh community
collaboration. So, this is getting
members together to work together at
scale, bring expertise together. you
know, we have such an impressive uh
board and folks with backgrounds in in
various different kind of energy and
outside of energy spaces that are are
allowing communities to kind of share
resources and information together for
the overall betterment of the
organization. And then this last one is
very important when it comes to the
media. It's just accurate and
transparent communication. So, we want
to be known as a factual thought leader,
someone who when you meet with uh PE
member communities or non-member
communities that they know that they can
trust that what you're telling them is
real and honest and that you're giving
them good and accurate timely
information and you're doing that in a
way that um they can feel comfortable
and that they know that there is um not
some art of motive uh between the
organization but that this is honest and
accurate information that's going
forward. and as kind of local
representatives uh and speaking with the
media, ensuring that you know we do all
those same things is is critical in us
being able to kind of keep that uh core
pillar of of accurate and transparent
communication.
Any other questions, comments, input?
See,
I did have some uh kind of queue ups for
uh questions, discussions. I don't know
if anyone has suggestions, ideas
for these items, but
let me know. Share in the chat. Shout it
out.
I like I guess Bruce sort of suggested
one for number two resources that would
be beneficial. Maybe you know clarified
rate charts on or other visuals on um
yeah the mismatch between market costs
and utility rates.
>> A comment from Joelen. Thank you. Very
helpful. Thanks Joelen.
Only other little thing I did want to
mention is uh Nick had mentioned at the
very beginning with the the uh different
uh links on there, but there is uh they
put together a really good media
inquiries guide that I would uh I think
is probably a helpful thing to just have
um you know if that there is something
that you know pops up and you you know
want to refer back to as something we
cover here. Um so it's got pretty much
all the uh it's the cliffnotes version
of this presentation and it's it's got
there I think it's definitely something
worth having for every member rep.
Yep. And a link to that is in the
comments uh in the chat and we will
distribute it uh as well when we send
out the uh here we go the archives uh
the uh recording from this presentation.
Cool. It's a little longer than one
pager. It's a three-pager.
>> Three-pager. Maybe I can edit my
comment.
All right. Excellent.
There aren't any more comments,
questions, and queries. Um, yeah, feel
free to reach out to
Jackson, Henry, Andrew, or I and um for
followup. And this will be uh online
by Tuesday.
And uh yeah, we'll have a communication
coming out next week, too.
Any
any additions, Henry or Andrew?
>> No. Thank you all so much. Have a have a
great weekend. Nice Memorial Day
weekend.
>> Yeah. Thanks all. Thank you.