2 weeks Ago By Mara Hoplamazian
A new legislative session is underway in Concord, and bills on energy and environmental issues are making their way through committees in the House and Senate. Climate change continues to drive warmer, wetter conditions in New Hampshire and across the globe. 2024 was the earth’s hottest year on record ; it was New Hampshire's , too.
How to address climate change – whether to implement policies to mitigate warming and adapt to changing conditions – remains a divisive policy issue among state lawmakers. But some bipartisan support exists for efforts to protect communities from increasingly intense disasters , which are fueled by a warmer atmosphere. Here are some things to watch.
Efforts to shake up energy policy One bill proposed by Strafford Republican Rep. Michael Harrington would phase out New Hampshire’s renewable portfolio standard. Currently, that standard requires electric utilities in the state to generate about a quarter of their power using renewable resources, or buying certificates that represent renewable generation.
Harrington said he believes it’s time for individual residents in New Hampshire to decide how much of their energy they want from renewables. New Hampshire’s standard is less ambitious than other New England states, which are aiming to increase renewable energy use over the next several years. A 2018 review of New Hampshire's law found that it had increased the use of renewable energy and provided economic benefits to the state.
Another bill, sponsored by Weare Republican Ross Berry, would dissolve the Office of the Consumer Advocate and fold its duties into the New Hampshire Department of Energy. That agency is meant to be an independent voice for the interests of people who pay utility bills in the state. In a memo to the Residential Ratepayers Advisory Board, the state’s consumer advocate Don Kreis said he was concerned that wrapping his office’s duties into the Department of Energy would undermine the ability to focus on the needs of ratepayers.
“It throws no shade on such executive branch initiatives to point out that they are not always in the interest of ratepayers as ratepayers,” he wrote. A bill sponsored by Rep. Jeanine Notter, a Republican from Merrimack, would make a change to the state’s renewable energy fund, which as of now provides money to state clean energy initiatives.
The change would instead return money to retail electric ratepayers. New directions for electricity generation Another focus for lawmakers is shifting New Hampshire away from its tentative interest in the offshore wind industry. A resolution to reject all offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Maine, and a bill to prohibit infrastructure and development for wind projects in New Hampshire’s territorial waters, have gained support among Republican lawmakers.
Meanwhile, efforts to support nuclear energy seem to be gaining popularity. One effort would allow utilities to own and operate “advanced nuclear resources.” Another, a House resolution , would declare that the development of nuclear technology would be in the best interest of the state.
A bill with bipartisan support would change the state’s definition of “clean energy” to include small-scale nuclear energy. Counting costs Henniker Democrat Rep. Tony Caplan is proposing the establishment of a commission to determine how much climate change is costing the state of New Hampshire and the best way to recoup those costs.
The bill proposes municipal bonding, insurance, legal action and fees as some potential options. Other states, tribes and cities are beginning to sue fossil fuel companies for their contributions to climate change. A separate bill would create criminal penalties for companies that misstate their impacts on the environment.
A bill filed by Rep. Wendy Thomas, a Democrat from Merrimack would create a division of climate change and damage within the Department of Environmental Services. That division would be responsible for adaptation planning, research on future climate change scenarios, public engagement campaigns, and grant management.
A bipartisan bill , sponsored by Acworth Republican Rep. Judy Aron, proposes an increase to the amount of money municipalities can request from the state after a disaster. The legislation would raise the limit from $25,000 to $100,000 within a calendar year.
When using Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to help with recovery efforts, communities often pay for costly repairs upfront and wait for reimbursement. Between 2011 and 2023, New Hampshire received federal assistance for 16 disasters – more than most states in the country, according to a report from Rebuild by Design. The state received about $74 million in federal disaster funding between 2011 and 2021.
.
