Senate committee hears bill to create reliability-indexing credit pilot for large battery storage

Sen. David Waters (District 4) told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he was introducing Senate Bill 111 to create a reliability-indexing credit pilot to help account for the growing number of large battery-storage projects entering New Hampshire.

Waters said the pilot is designed to encourage construction of 100–200 megawatt battery projects and to capture benefits from storage that improve grid reliability and peak shaving as the region integrates more intermittent resources.

James Andrews, chief executive officer of Granite Shore Power, told the committee the pilot would give developers a framework to contract with New Hampshire electric distribution companies while participating in ISO New England markets. "We believe SB 111 is part of that solution set, not the only solution," Andrews said, adding that the proposed structure would offset wholesale market revenues against a strike price and share upside or deficiency with ratepayers.

Deputy Commissioner Chris Elms of the New Hampshire Department of Energy, joined by regional policy director Dan Phelan, said the department is neutral on the bill but raised cost and administrative concerns. Elms told the committee the bill’s design could decouple payments from the specific peak‑shaving behavior the state wants to encourage and urged more time for analysis. Phelan warned the timeframes in the bill may not give the department enough time to do the investigation and hire outside consultants if necessary.

Sen. Waters and others on the committee discussed the bill’s pilot nature and the tradeoff between moving quickly to address near‑term reliability risks and ensuring program design avoids costly unintended consequences. Phelan and Elms cited recent examples in the region where out‑of‑market procurements led to substantial costs and market distortions, and referenced court and federal preemption risks raised by similar programs elsewhere in New England.

After the hearing the committee moved the bill to executive session and voted to re‑refer SB 111 for further study and processing. The committee recorded no final policy decision at the hearing; the re‑referral and move to executive session are procedural actions to continue deliberation.

What’s next: The Public Utilities Commission would be the implementing authority if the legislature ultimately approves a pilot. Department of Energy staff said they want more time to refine program rules and to ensure any agreement structure will incentivize discharge at times that produce consumer savings rather than simply generating megawatt‑hours.