A Stake In The Future
Laconia City Council Wants Greater Role In Former Laconia State School Property
Also on today’s menu:
Alarmed At NHEC’s Attraction To Spot Rates
NH AG Files Lawsuit Against TikTok, Inc.
The Laconia City Council wants a greater role in the future of the state-owned Laconia State School property, with Councilor Bruce Cheney saying the city should be considered a primary stakeholder.
Legacy at Laconia, the company selected by the state to redevelop the property before it defaulted on the purchase, “had some good ideas,” according to Mayor Andrew Hosmer. “I’d like to believe what we learned from that occurrence would be very beneficial as we vet any potential bidders that submit their bids by July 18.” That is the date the New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services set for interested parties to submit bids to purchase and develop the 220-acre parcel.
Councilors also discussed the possibility of purchasing a portion of the land to build a new Department of Public Works facility and securing the use of Robbie Mills Park with its water tower and parking area. Cheney even suggested that the city might build a future City Hall on the property.
Discussion: The city is claiming a stake in the property after having provided police, fire, and ambulance services, as well as supplying water to the property, which includes two 911 dispatch centers.
Alarmed At NHEC’s Attraction To Spot Rates
Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis has asked the Public Utilities Commission to investigate the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative as a result of recent changes on its board and power purchase policies. Citing his own “deep background in cooperatives” — Kreis served on the board of the state’s largest cooperative grocer and in private law practice representing worker and consumer cooperatives — he said, “I will do everything in my power to hold our state’s only electric cooperative to the cooperative values and principles, and to make sure NHEC members get the default energy service they deserve. This situation screams out for public scrutiny.”
The PUC has no regulatory authority over the NHEC, a customer-owned utility, but Kreis said the Electric Utility Restructuring Act allows PUC intervention if the agency “finds, after notice and hearing, that such action is required to ensure that such deregulated rural electric cooperatives do not act in a manner which is inconsistent with the restructuring policy principles of RSA 374-F:3.”
Kreis raised his concerns after the NHEC Board of Directors met on June 25 and newly elected Chair William Darcy said he favored increasing the utility’s reliance on “spot” purchases from the wholesale market. Kreis called that “a dangerous game” that could lead to wild fluctuations in the rates the members pay. Saying NHEC rates “have been notably low and notably stable,” Kreis wrote, “The NHEC has achieved this laudable record by actively managing its wholesale power portfolio so that it includes a range of resources from very short-term to very long-term.” The spot price of electricity in New England, he said, can go as high as $2,000 a megawatt-hour, or two dollars per kilowatt-hour, versus the more-common price of around ten cents.
Discussion: A dangerous game, indeed. Power procurement professionals advise that utilities should maintain a diverse portfolio to guard against violent swings in electric rates.
NH AG Files Lawsuit Against TikTok, Inc.
Attorney-General John M. Formella has initiated a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court against TikTok, Inc., alleging that the platform violated New Hampshire’s consumer protection statute and other laws. It follows a similar complaint filed against Meta Platforms, Inc.
The complaint alleges that TikTok designed an unfair product and misled consumers about its safety. “TikTok’s platform includes addictive features to exploit young users’ naivete and ongoing brain development and maximize the time young users spend on the platform in the interest of profit,” Formella said. “TikTok’s addictive design features make it hard for children to disengage from the platform and lead to a cycle of excessive use [that] results in profound harm to its young users, including depression, anxiety, and isolation from friends and family.”
The complaint also alleges that TikTok collects personal data from children under the age of thirteen without disclosures or parental consent.
Discussion: This is the latest attack on TikTok’s nefarious practices that have the potential of brainwashing young users with propaganda from China, which maintains the right to access all of the information gained from the application’s use. Of course, the main charges about unfair and misleading practices are true of most social media platforms which make their money by harvesting and selling the “data points” they collect from unwitting users.