Senators Watters and Perkins Kwoka: Building New Hampshire's new energy economy

When we think about the future of our state’s economy, we have a real opportunity to invest in a bright, sustainable future.

As sea levels and temperatures rise, we must commit to building a new energy economy that addresses climate change through new business and job development.  Expanding offshore wind, net metering, and electric vehicle use are three ways we can spur this transition, and we are proud to work on these in 2022. This session, Senate Democrats have filed a package of bills centered around this very idea so that New Hampshire does more than survive in this changing landscape: we become leaders.

Offshore wind is a developing resource along the Atlantic coast, with some 10GW of power potential in Gulf of Maine projects in the coming years. New Hampshire is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. Developing offshore wind in this area could lead to economic development, job growth, and lower-cost energy. There could be $20-30 billion dollars of investment in construction, supply chain, maintenance, manufacturing, and services accounting for 25,000 new jobs – not only in our districts, but across the state.

This massive job growth creates an additional opportunity to train and hire local workers, boosting New Hampshire’s skilled workforce and developing the high-paying jobs that keep younger families living and working here in the Granite State. That job growth on the local level creates the added benefit of putting money right back into our local economy. In other states like Massachusetts and Connecticut, where local labor agreements, and job training, have been implemented, there is millions in increased local economic activity.  That is why this session we have filed legislation that specifically focuses on promoting industry investment in workforce training and other investments to enable workers to gain the necessary technical skills to participate in building this industry.

Not only will the increase in renewable energy sources act as a boon for high paying jobs, thereby attracting the new workforce New Hampshire so desperately needs, it also creates a renewable energy source that over time will reduce New Hampshire energy costs. The most recent contract that has gone out for Vineyard Wind was roughly five cents per kilowatt (kW). This price is competitive, and every time installed capacity doubles, there is a 17% decrease in cost. Offshore wind energy, combined with energy storage and solar, will greatly reduce reliance on gas and other fossil fuels, and the huge peak demand cost spikes that drives up electricity bills.

In addition to the enormous benefits of wind, we are working to expand the municipal net metering program. Our bill this year would include the University of New Hampshire, community college systems, and Pease Development Authority in the program. By allowing these groups to act as municipal host electric customer generators, we open up the possibilities for increasing state revenues and decreasing the state’s expenditures on electricity.

Another element will be expanding our current electric vehicle program as we look at anticipated changes to automotive manufacturing, increased fuel costs, and take steps to reduce our carbon footprint as a state. This includes piloting a program for electric school buses, adjusting current statutes around state vehicles to move us to lower emission forms of transportation, and creating an Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure Fund for the Department of Transportation in order to make these necessary investments.

Two centuries ago, New Hampshire leapt forward economically in the industrial revolution, and now the state can do so again through our capacity to generate, distribute, and utilize renewable energy sources. By keeping our focus on developing a modern and sustainable economy, we can preserve our precious environment, increase local job growth, and pour money right back into our local economies. We look forward to working with our colleagues this session on bringing this legislation to life so that our state will continue to thrive for generations to come.

Senator David Watters represents Senate District 4 (Barrington, Dover, Rollinsford, and Somersworth) and Senator Rebecca Perkins Kwoka represents Senate District 21 (Portsmouth, Durham, Newmarket, Lee, Newfields, Madbury, and Newington)