On July 19, 2022, the New Hampshire Department of Energy, the State Energy Office, announced that it had released the 2022 update to its State Energy Strategy. The State Energy Strategy is a comprehensive state energy plan that provides policy and program recommendations to the state legislature to achieve the state’s energy goals. The Energy Office updates this plan every three years to adjust state goals based on prevailing energy conditions and trends.
The 2022 State Energy Strategy, developed using State Energy Program funding, primarily focuses on the increasing cost of energy in New Hampshire, as well as establishing a reliable and resilient energy system, increasing energy innovation, and improving on energy economic development initiatives. The plan provides an overview of the state’s current energy situation and assets, then discusses energy priorities for the state, including ensuring fuel diversity, increasing demand-side resources, and improving siting processes to build out additional energy capacity in the state. The plan then focuses on policies and programs in each of these areas that the Department of Energy feels are cost-effective ways to meet the goals stated in the plan. In particular, the plan aims to harness market forces to deploy cost-effective energy resources and focus on energy efficiency and other low-cost methods to help keep energy prices reasonable. The plan also focuses on ensuring that the state’s energy resources are reliable and secure through grid modernization and cybersecurity investments.
The New Hampshire Department of Energy hopes that this update to the State Energy Strategy will give legislators and regulators a framework for how to evaluate energy policy decisions that will help lead to business and consumer cost savings, job creation, economic growth, industry competitiveness, environmental protection, and a reliable and resilient energy system. For more information on the plan, please contact Josh Elliott, Director, Division of Policy and Programs at joshua.w.elliott@energy.nh.gov.