AT THE HELM

Bob Schoenberger, CEO and chairman of Unitil in Hampton. Amy Root-Donle photo

In November, Bob Schoenberger will celebrate his 10th year as chief executive officer of Unitil Corporation in Hampton, the state's second largest energy utility. A long time energy industry veteran, Schoenberger does not mince words when pondering the industry�s ability to deal with the volatile evolution of the marketplace.

"We need to think long term and outside the box," Schoenberger recently told Ventures. "These are not qualities inherent in the utility industry."

Unitil was originally founded in 1984 and serves more than 100,000 customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In New Hampshire, that coverage ranges from Concord to the southern Seacoast region. Schoenberger and other leaders in the utility energy are dealing with a number of issues, including finding reliable and cost-effective sources of alternative energy, which he believes will revitalize the energy industry and the nation's economy.

On current and future challenges:

People are struggling with high energy costs but we are actually seeing a decline in actual usage as people are cutting back. This is a good thing from a customer point of view but we need to cut our dependency on natural gas. On a regional basis, 70 to 75 percent of our energy is from natural gas and natural gas prices are tied in with oil prices which remain volatile. One of the big policy debates in New Hampshire and the rest of region is this: do we need to change revenue decoupling? Let's disconnect sales from how utilities and have customers pay something similar to a cable fee pay. It allows a utility to look differently at how it serves its customers if we're no longer focused with amount of sales "" it allows us to seek and invest in alternative energies and diversify over time.

On how the future is now:

A case in point is the small wind turbines we have installed along Route 101 near Hampton Beach. We are putting in as many as 15 and it will provide enough energy for one house. It was a new concept available and it's the first utility use of small wind turbines and we want to take advantage. It's a small way of beginning but they just sit there and do the job while we put it up and forget about it. In theory, we could have hundreds of these around the Seacoast. The reception has been good and it's an example of how alternative energy is going mainstream.

On the evolution of the industry:

In the next 10 years the distribution utility will fundamentally change. It's not a question of if but when and we are actively getting ready. Five years ago, I would have said hooey because these new (alternative energy) technologies weren't ready to compete with conventional technologies but now they can, if given a chance. From putting up wires and poles we need to look at issues in an entirely different way and think through business models we never had to think about before.

A green tsunami is coming. The region recognizes we have to diversify but public policy for the past 20 to 30 years has not encouraged this change. For example, there was legislative push to enhance our renewable portfolio but we told the legislators, 'Why don't we make investments in these companies?' And we asked for legislative authority to invest. It's natural for us to be an enabler and it makes a lot of sense. If every utility around the country invested 10 to 15 percent into alternative energy companies, it would transform everything because the biggest problem for small companies is to get the capital necessary to grow.

On the best book he's read lately:

"The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World," by Bjørn Lomborg. It's the best summary I've read that basically says the world is really doing well. He does a cost-benefit analysis of issues such as global warming to show them in a different perspective. It's fabulous book.