NH Business: Supply and demand for electricity in New England Fred Kocher talks with San Evans Brown, the Executive Director of Clean Energy New Hampshire about a projected increase of 11% in New England’s demand for electricity.

LOOKS PLEASANTLY WARM THROUGH THE FOURTH. WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE’S. BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. AFTER COOLER AND WETTER THAN NORMAL SPRING THAT PUSHED NEW ENGLAND’S ELECTRICITY GRID DEMAND TO NEW LOWS, WE FELT THE HEAT OF SUMMER THIS PAST WEEK AND WE HAVE A LITTLE NEWS IN A MINUTE, BUT NOW THERE’S A NEW FORECAST THAT DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY IN NEW ENGLAND IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE 11% BETWEEN 2025 AND 2034. THAT FORECAST IS FROM ISO NEW ENGLAND, WHICH OVERSEES THE OPERATION OF NEW ENGLAND’S ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM. WE’LL LOOK AT THAT IN A MOMENT. BUT FIRST, CAN NEW ENGLAND’S ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM HANDLE THE DEMAND FOR POWER THIS SUMMER? ISO NEW ENGLAND SAYS YES, THE GRID IS PREPARED FOR SUMMER DEMAND, PREPARED TO MANAGE UNEXPECTED, UNEXPECTED AND ABNORMAL CONDITIONS. THE MIX OF WIND, SOLAR AND GAS, NUCLEAR, HYDRO, BIOMASS IMPORTS FROM NEW YORK AND CANADA. REALLY? THAT’S INTERESTING. REDUCTION OF USE, IF NECESSARY. HERE’S THE INCREASE IN DEMAND FOR ELECTRICITY. I SPOKE OF. BY STATE. HERE’S THE GRAPH. DEMAND GROWTH BY STATE. IT SHOWS ANNUAL GROWTH RATES FOR PEAK DEMAND AND OVERALL ELECTRICITY USE, NET OF EFFICIENCY AND SOLAR FOR THE SIX NEW ENGLAND STATES. NOW TO 2033. BUT NOTE THE MOST DEMAND GROWTH IS MASSACHUSETTS. THE LEAST IS NEW HAMPSHIRE. THEN LOOK AT THIS STATE RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS THAT ARE RISING. THIS IS A POLICY THAT MANDATES A MINIMUM PERCENTAGE OF ELECTRICITY SOLD BY UTILITIES MUST COME FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES. NOTE THOSE STANDARDS ARE RISING IN FIVE OF THOSE SIX NEW ENGLAND STATES THAT YOU SEE, BUT NOT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, SHOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GRAPH. WITH ME TO DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND NOT HAPPENING WITH ENERGY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CLEAN ENERGY NEW HAMPSHIRE, SAM EVANS-BROWN, WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. AND YOU BRING NEWS. I DO BRING NEWS. AND THE NEWS IS THAT PEAK DEMAND ON TUESDAY IN NEW ENGLAND WAS AT THE HIGHEST IN, WHAT, TEN YEARS? AT LEAST TEN YEARS. I LOOKED BACK TEN YEARS. AND THIS THIS 26GW, NEARLY 26GW THAT WE SAW ON TUESDAY WHEN EVERYONE’S AIR CONDITIONING WAS RUNNING AT FULL BLAST, WAS THE HIGHEST WE’VE SEEN IN A VERY LONG TIME. AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT PRICES ARE GOING TO RISE, INCREASING DEMAND WITHOUT INCREASING SUPPLIES CAN RESULT IN HIGHER, HIGHER RATES. AND I THINK ON AUGUST 1ST, WHEN YOU GET YOUR ELECTRIC BILL FOR THAT MONTH, YOU’LL BE SURPRISED THAT RATES ARE GOING TO GO UP. BUT THE DEMAND FOR THE NEXT NINE YEARS IS 11% INCREASE IN DEMAND. WHAT IS DRIVING THAT? WHAT’S DRIVING THAT IS OVERWHELMINGLY ADOPTION OF HEAT PUMPS, WHICH PEOPLE ARE GETTING BECAUSE THEY ARE A GREAT WAY TO HEAT YOUR YOUR HOME SUPPLEMENTALLY OR OR AS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF HEAT. BUT THEY ALSO PROVIDE AIR CONDITIONING, WHICH MEANS THAT THE SUMMER PEAK GOES UP AS WELL. ALSO, INCREASINGLY, FOLKS ARE SWITCHING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES AS THOSE ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE AFFORDABLE. AND SO THOSE ARE THE TWO MAIN SOURCES OF RISING DEMAND IN NEW ENGLAND. AND WHAT THAT THAT THEN FOR POLICYMAKERS MEANS THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON HOW WE’RE GOING TO BRING NEW GENERATION ONLINE. SO THAT’S THE NEXT QUESTION. DO WE HAVE THE SUPPLY TO MEET THAT DEMAND? THERE IS SUPPLY NOW. BUT THE QUESTION IS, IN THE COMING YEARS, WHAT WILL WE BUILD TO MEET THAT RISING DEMAND? WHAT YOU CAN BUILD RIGHT NOW IS WIND, SOLAR AND BATTERIES. THOSE ARE THE THREE SOURCES THAT OVERWHELMINGLY ARE READY TO GO AT THIS MOMENT. AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES SIMPLY ARE NOT ARE NOT IN THE PIPELINE. AND SO THAT’S WHAT POLICYMAKERS SHOULD BE FOCUSING THEIR ATTENTION ON, IS HOW TO GET THOSE PROJECTS TO THE FINISH LINE SO WE CAN MEET THAT GROWING DEMAND. THE PROBABILITY THAT DEMAND INCREASE WILL ALSO CARRY A PRICE WITH IT. THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT. IF WE IF WE HAVE INCREASING DEMAND WITHOUT INCREASING SUPPLY, THE ONLY THING THAT CAN HAPPEN IS PRICES WILL GO UP. WHERE DOES NEW HAMPSHIRE FIT INTO THIS WHOLE PICTURE? BECAUSE IT’S A NEW ENGLAND PICTURE. HOW DO WE FIT IN? NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS SPACE. WE HAVE LAND THAT WE CAN BUILD TERRESTRIAL RENEWABLES. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT SOME OF THE LARGER ARRAYS, SOLAR ARRAYS IN OUR STATE. IN FACT, YOU’RE GOING TO SEE A GROUNDBREAKING JUST THIS SPRING FOR THE LARGEST SOLAR ARRAY IN THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 20MW IS GOING TO GET BUILT IN FARMINGTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, FARMINGTON. AND THAT’S THAT’S A PERFECT PLACE. THE TOWN IS BOUGHT IN AND ON BOARD, AND THAT’S THAT’S THE TYPE OF THING WE NEED TO SEE MORE OF. IF WE DON’T WANT TO SEE RATES INCREASE. RIGHT. THERE WAS A HEADLINE ALSO DURING HOUSE, WHICH YOU FOLLOWED VERY CLOSELY, THAT NEW HAMPSHIRE BUDGET BILL. AND WE HAVE THE GRAPHIC HERE, NEW HAMPSHIRE BUDGET BILL, HB TWO WOULD DEFUND STATE RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANT PROGRAM. WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT IN THE FINAL BUDGET? THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF SENATOR HOWARD PEARL, WE DID PRESERVE $1 MILLION PER YEAR FOR THE BIENNIUM. SO $2 MILLION OVER THE COURSE OF THE TWO YEAR BUDGET, AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE IT THERE. THAT’S THE ANSWER. SAM EVANS-BROWN DIRECTOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CLEAN ENERGY NEW HAMPSHIRE. THANK YOU. AND IF YOU MISSED PART OF IT, YOU CAN G