In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Jackson Kaspari, Director of Member Services for the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire. Kaspari, who previously served as Dover's resilience manager and helped launch the city's Community Power program, reflects on the coalition's growth since Dover became a founding member in October 2021. The organization has expanded to 68 member communities with 50 operating programs, serving approximately 175,000 customers statewide.

The conversation covers how community power works, including the opt-out structure, product tiers offering varying levels of renewable energy, and the ease of switching between options. Kaspari explains that about 60% of Dover customers currently participate in Community Power. He discusses the upcoming Feb. 1 rate of $0.14 per kilowatt hour, which will be higher than Eversource's rate, attributing the differential to changes in how utilities now purchase power and the coalition's decision to build community reserves. About two cents per kilowatt hour goes toward these reserves, which Kaspari says will enable more competitive rates and local energy projects in the future. He highlights Dover's participation in the state's largest solar array in Warner, New Hampshire, which will benefit the municipality in the long term.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back at the devastating Cocheco Manufacturing Company mill fire of Jan. 26, 1907. The blaze at Mill No. 1 claimed six lives after a malfunctioning sprinkler head was shut off for repairs just minutes before workers spotted smoke. The fire spread rapidly through the five-story brick building as below-freezing temperatures froze hoses and equipment. After two days of firefighting, the upper floors collapsed, causing $1 million in damage. The mill was rebuilt and reopened by October 1908 with improved safety measures.