New Hampshire ranked 20th in efficiency

October 28, 2015

According to an October 2015 scorecard, New Hampshire is the 20^th state in the nation when it comes to energy efficiency.

The scorecard was produced by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that advocates for energy efficiency.

ACEEE argued New Hampshire could improve by adopting policies that encourage energy efficiency targets for utilities, efficient transportation systems, and combined heat and power (CHP) systems. (CHP systems capture and reuse the heat created from many electricity generation methods.)

The ACEEE ranking was primarily based on the presence of energy efficiency policies. A ranking based on actual energy usage tells a slightly different story.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration ranks New Hampshire as one of the lowest ten states in the nation when it comes to energy consumption per capita.

A 2015 ranking from WalletHub similarly scored New Hampshire 6^th in the nation for home energy efficiency. WalletHub based that ranking on total residential energy consumption per capita and annual “degree days” – days that are hot enough or cool enough to require temperature control.

Do you think New Hampshire should adopt more policies to encourage energy efficiency? Or is New Hampshire efficient enough without further policy intervention? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Comments

Patricia

November 3, 2015

Yes, NH needs to do more on energy efficiency. It is the most cost effective way to address increasing energy demands and reduce the need for new infrastructure. We would score much better than 20th in the nation if our legislature didn't keep cutting RGGI funding. Eversource is a big problem for New Hampshire because the legislature generally does whatever Eversource wants. Last session there was a bill to raise the solar cap on net metering. It was viewed very favorably by the House and Senate until Eversource was invited to comment. Eversource said they didn't like the idea, so the bill was re-written to make the situation for home solar participants even worse. Fortunately, that bill was defeated, but the cap remains in place. And, then there are the pipeline projects that are being planned to be charged to electric ratepayers. People may not realize that Eversource is also a gas as well as an electric utility (only electric in NH) and they and Liberty stand to make money as investors in these pipeline projects.

Another issue I find scandalous is the "Smart meters" or I should say the lack of smart meters. Eversource just deployed over 500K AMR meters (ratepayers will pay for this too!) which do NOT have Demand Response capability. Since Eversource controls over 70% of the electric market, this effectively blocks NH from implementing Demand Response. Someone really needs to look into this!

Look up the term, "Regulatory Capture." That is the situation we find ourselves in today.

The last straw for me was that the Governor refused to reappoint the Office of Consumer Advocate litigator, Susan W. Chamberlin, who opposed the pipeline projects being built at ratepayer expense. It is obvious that they are trying to silence any opposition to this massive give away to the gas utilities.

New Hampshire ranked 20th in efficiency

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