They still might be a little New England weird, but the state of New Hampshire hasn't completely lost that 'live free or die' feeling of old.

Their legislature was well on the way to proving it again yesterday when the House approved a bill updating the state's energy policy. 

While it warmed the cockles of my heart reading it, I know chills ran down the spine of ardent climate cultists all through the region, and the offshore wind industry felt the cold touch of fate's finger as the inevitability of their demise gets telegraphed for all to see.

The House approved a bill updating the state’s energy policy to emphasize market driven, affordable and efficient sources such as fossil fuels over renewable sources.

The House also eliminated several offshore wind energy related offices from the Department of Energy in its session Thursday.

 OH, NOES! THAR SHE BLOWS AWAY!

...House Bill 682 would remove the Office of Wind Energy from the Department of Energy, repeals the offshore wind industry workforce training center committee and the offshore and port development commission, and moves the grid modernization advisory council and the hydrogen advisory council to the office of energy innovation.

The changes are designed to align with President Trump’s recent executive order to eliminate offshore wind and turbine development, according to Rep. James Summers, R-Newton, to avoid the destruction of nearby fisheries, lobster, shellfish, and whales.

“Offshore wind is more expensive and destructive than any other renewable energy source,” he told the House.

Predictably, the cult members wailed in protest that wind was 'eventually' going to be affordable, and darn it - this action would knock NH out of the running for chunks of the Gulf of Maine to destroy in Gaia's name. One enthusiastic climate change believer asserted there was no evidence to prove turbines killed whales, citing a study not named in the article, and she insisted that offshore wind would always be better than 'burning fossil fuels.'

'This bill,' she warned, 'Hobbles us.'

There's nothing worse than whiny hobbits.

'Besides - why would NH do anything to appease an unconstitutional fascist?'

That was not a winning message.

...Thomas also noted many of Trump’s executive orders have been challenged as unconstitutional, exceed presidential authority and infringe on constitutional rights, which brought a point of order that House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, dismissed.

The bill passed on a 206-163 vote.

A second bill focused the state energy policy on essential factors that never really come into consideration during any pro-renewable energy argument and never could because they really aren't applicable.

...House Bill 504 updates the state energy policy with a more detailed plan promoting an all-of-the-above technology solutions approach with emphasis on affordability, reliability and security.

Not a single one of those three requirements are met by wind or solar.

Again, the cult lobby squawked, but to no avail.

...“This policy is narrow-minded and largely backward looking,” Reynolds told the House.

The bill was approved on a 204-165 vote.

New Hampshire has been independent as the rest of New England marches towards becoming little Germanys. 

In fact, their stubborn insistence on remaining focused on reliability and security has actually saved their New England neighbors in these connected mega electrical management organizations plenty, simply because they have the reliable backup power ready for the grid when, say, Massachusetts wind and or Maine solar poops out.

They also have not contributed to the explosion in electrical demand on the grid by mandating transitions to all-electric households and businesses.

...“Compliance with the New England Decarbonization Plans would cost $815 billion through 2050,” the report concludes. “New England families would see their electric bills increase by an average of $99 per year. Commercial businesses would see their costs increase by $489 per year. Industrial (manufacturing) customers would see their electric bills increase by an average of almost $5,280 per year.” 

The report shows that on a per-capita basis, the cumulative cost of the plans increases expenses for each person in New England by an additional $2,061 in 2030, $15,552 in 2040, and an additional $51,914 in 2050. All these increases will make New England less affordable.

As the only New England state that doesn’t impose unrealistic electrification mandates for transportation and home heating, New Hampshire offers the only bright spot in the study.

“New Hampshire’s energy policies produce substantial benefits for the entire ISO-NE region,” the study concludes. “The Granite State’s lack of electrification mandates for transportation and home heating reduces the projected peak system demand from 57 GW to 52.5 GW, and the continued use of natural gas provides critical dispatchable capacity for the system, allowing it to perform better during periods of low wind and solar output.”

“New Hampshire’s current energy policies would save all New Englanders $56.5 billion during the time period studied,” the report finds.

It's nice to see a little of that spirit alive, well, and warm where you least expect it.

Then again, they did vote...orange this [Beege fixes: PRIMARY] election.

I hope it spreads like a virus.

Beege Adds: Interesting information ALWAYS in our comments (which is a GREAT reason to be a VIP member, too, if you're not already) pointing out that New Hampshire gets most of their electrical generation from nuclear. Now, as that wasn't a focus of the two bills or the complaints about them from the opposition, I hadn't heard about it. But since I have now, let me drop some really neat US Energy Information Administration factoids about NH's energy profile.

• About three-fifths (59%) of New Hampshire households use petroleum products as their primary heating fuel, the second-largest share among the states.
• Seabrook, one of only two nuclear power plants in New England and the largest power plant in New Hampshire, provided 56% of New Hampshire’s 2023 total in-state electricity net generation.
• In 2023, 18% of New Hampshire's electricity generation came from renewable resources, including small-scale solar installations. Most of the state's renewable generation comes from hydroelectric power, biomass, and wind.
• New Hampshire has the two remaining coal-fired power plants in New England: Schiller at Portsmouth and Merrimack at Bow. However, Schiller is scheduled to be retired by 2025 and Merrimack by 2028.
• Wood is used as a primary heating source for 1 in 16 New Hampshire households, almost 5 times the national average.

So that one nuclear plant provides over half of the state's electricity and exports to the NE grid as well. And that many folks still use wood was different. I'm curious if they're primarily traditional woodstove-type set-ups or if they're more the German/European radiating chimneys like Ebola had in his house there. Five logs when he got home from work in the evening would get the entire downstairs toasty, and it stayed that way well into the dead of night. It was an amazingly efficient design.