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Committee hears bill allowing utilities to seek long-term contracts for advanced nuclear resources
Summary
House Bill 710 would allow utilities to enter long-term purchase power agreements with advanced nuclear suppliers, proponents said the change would signal the state is open to new nuclear technologies; Department of Energy and Site Evaluation Committee staff briefed senators on process and limits.
Senators heard from the bill sponsor and state energy staff on House Bill 710, legislation that would permit electric utilities to enter long-term purchase power agreements (PPAs) for advanced nuclear resources and signal state openness to new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors.
Representative Doug Thomas introduced HB 710 on behalf of the House sponsor. He said the amended bill removes a prior provision that would have allowed utilities to own or invest directly in advanced nuclear resources and instead authorizes utilities to sign PPAs for up to a stated share of their supply (the sponsor and other speakers referenced a 20% cap in their remarks) and to seek contracts of up to 20 years. The sponsor said utilities would have until 2035 to solicit bids from nuclear suppliers.
Josh Elliott of the Department of Energy summarized how HB 710 fits within the existing PPA framework created under prior legislation (Senate Bill 54) and related statutory limits such as an existing 2,000,000 megawatt-hour cap referenced in the hearing context. He listed statutory criteria the Public Utilities Commission would review under the existing framework when evaluating whether a PPA is in the public interest, including cost-effectiveness to ratepayers, availability during long-duration weather events, price stability, diversification of supplies, ratepayer protections (performance incentives or penalties), and any other relevant factors for a just-and-reasonable determination.
Site Evaluation Committee staff noted that larger generation projects would still be subject to SEC review and certificate of site and facility requirements where applicable. Proponents said HB 710 would help New Hampshire attract advanced nuclear development and provide a route for utilities to acquire dependable, low-carbon generation without direct ownership by utilities.
No final committee action on HB 710 was recorded in the transcript. Senators asked technical questions about where numeric limits appear in the bill text and about interactions with other statute; staff said they would follow up with specific statutory citations as requested.
