Should NH do more to address energy costs?

New England, and New Hampshire in particular, has some of the highest energy costs in the nation. These costs are one of the major arguments in favor of energy projects like Northern Pass, new natural gas pipelines, or expanded residential solar.

According to a recent Foster’s article an estimated 10 percent of New England power generation capacity will be retired by 2017-2018 and if additional energy infrastructure isn’t added, energy costs will continue to rise. In the case of the Northern Pass and the Kinder Morgan pipeline (a natural gas pipeline project which was recently scrapped), many businesses have voiced support for projects citing concern that high energy costs give New Hampshire a competitive disadvantage.

However, opponents argue that the disadvantages of these projects outweigh the reduced energy costs. While acknowledging that energy rates may become lower, they point out that other states would derive a greater “energy benefit” while New Hampshire would suffer environmental degradation and lower property values.

According to the Energy Information Administration, New Hampshire’s electricity consumption breaks down as follows: nuclear at 51%, natural gas at 18%, coal 15%, biomass 8%, hydro 6%, and other at 2%.