How can New England find enough energy to meet demand? Should natural gas executives be optimistic about the future? Is solar a viable option for NH? These were among the state’s top energy questions in 1984—uncertainties that energy executives and policy makers are still grappling with today.
Over the past 30 years, the region’s energy sector has experienced dynamic changes, from the deregulation of the electric industry in 2001 to the surge in natural gas usage during the past decade, from bringing the Seabrook nuclear power plant online in 1990 to the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear station this year. But many of the challenges that dominated the sector in the early 1980s have continually resurfaced, including the issue of power supply—chiefly, where NH will find enough energy to power the state, and how much it will cost.
“It’s the same story … we’re still talking about shortages, we’re still talking about (energy) sources. And I think we’re going to be talking about that for some time,” says Dennis Delay, an economist at the NH Center for Public Policy Studies in Concord, who worked for Public Service of NH until 2003.
In 1984, supply concerns revolved around two areas: electricity supply and dependence on foreign oil. Today, the discussion is largely centered on natural gas. During the past few decades, the region moved away from relying on oil and gas toward using natural gas, which is cheaper and cleaner. Today, more than 40 percent of the state relies on natural gas, up from 15 percent a decade ago, says Delay. This trend, in part, prompted the closure of a number of non-natural gas power plants, including several coal plants in Massachusetts and Maine and the Vermont Yankee nuclear station. Vermont Yankee’s owners, Entergy, cited the lower cost of electricity provided by competing natural gas-fired power plants as a main reason to decommission the plant.
New Hampshire is a net power producer—the state produces more electricity than it can use, and a number of facilities sell that excess to other parts of the country. But many of the state’s facilities rely on fuels, like natural gas, that are difficult to come by, and without ready access to those fuels, they can’t produce, says Delay.
The region’s lack of pipeline capacity has led to supply shortages and jumps in wholesale prices for both gas and electricity, says PSNH spokesman Martin Murray. Rates spiked so high last winter that several area paper mills were forced to temporarily close down, including NH’s Gorham Paper and Tissue mill. This year, an expected shortage for the coming winter has prompted most of the state’s major utilities, including NH Electric Co-Op, Unitil and Liberty, to announce rate hikes. “This is the biggest challenge that the industry and New England face today,” says Murray, who has been with PSNH for almost 19 years. “Something is broken here and it needs to be fixed, but very few leaders are stepping up with solutions because they’re going to involve tough choices.”
As prices climb and supply remains tight, state leaders, energy officials and businesses are debating the best way to ensure NH has the power it needs for the future. Some advocate extending new pipelines from energy-rich areas of the country, like Texas; another option under consideration is the controversial Northern Pass proposal, which would bring in hydroelectric power from Canada but has raised concerns from residents and environmentalists about power lines cutting through forests and private property in the North Country.
Others are eyeing alternative energy sources, including solar. In 1984, a handful of NH businesses and residents had installed solar panels, mostly as a way to offset the high costs of oil and gas, but the trend never really caught on here, likely because it became less expensive and more practical to use natural gas, says Delay. But with prices rising, NH may see more people contemplating solar as well as other renewable energy sources. “There is renewed interest in [solar] right now again, but maybe for the same reasons there was interest in the late 70s and early 80s—it’s price-driven, rather than for some other reason, like being green,” says Delay.
Solar activity could pick up, however, thanks to a recent regulatory change to allow group net metering in the state. This approach allows owners of certain small renewable energy-generating systems to form a group with multiple customers within the same utility service in order to offset costs. For solar, it also means a company or individual could install a large solar array and string together a group of meters, then share the value of the excess power—ultimately making solar more practical and affordable.
Garry Golden, a New York City-based futurist whose specialties include energy forecasting, is doubtful solar will ever truly take off in NH as a primary energy source. “Not enough sun,” he says. But he does predict the state’s energy future will include a much more diverse mix of energy types and sources, from natural gas and hydro to bio fuels, solar, wind and other power. “The big story is going to be new sources—newer things from different places,” he says.
Wind may be one of those sources. New Hampshire has some major wind farms in operation, all located in the North Country, including the 24-megawatt, 12-turbine Lempster Wind Power Project, the 24-turbine Groton Wind Farm, and the Granite Reliable Wind Farm in Millsfield and Dixville. At least a half-dozen other towns are considering proposals to build new wind farms.
Golden says he expects New England may also lead the nation in adopting emerging energy sources, such as distributed power or microgrids—localized productions of power at the neighborhood level—and fuel cells, which are essentially appliance-sized boxes in a home or business that convert natural gas, propane or hydrogen into electricity and heat. Both options allow people more control over their power supplies, making them less susceptible to weather problems or blackouts. “New Hampshire, New England—they’d be all over it. It fits that independent, control-of-my-own-world thinking,” he says.
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