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Committee advances bill ordering state study of transformer vulnerability to geomagnetic storms and EMPs
Summary
A House bill directing the New Hampshire Department of Energy to survey high‑voltage transformers for vulnerabilities to geomagnetic storms, solar flares and high‑altitude EMPs passed the committee as amended; the department said it would need a consultant (cap $350,000) and asked to extend the statutorily required 90‑day start to 120 days to allow procurement.
House Bill 1723, which directs the New Hampshire Department of Energy to work with utilities to survey the state’s high‑voltage transmission transformers for vulnerabilities to geomagnetic storms and electromagnetic pulses, was advanced out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a voice vote after the panel adopted a drafting amendment. Representative JD Bernardi, speaking for absent prime sponsor Rep. Rita Matson, told the committee the bill ‘‘simply directs the New Hampshire Department of Energy to work with our utilities to survey New Hampshire's high voltage transmission transformers to find their vulnerabilities to coronal mass ejections… and high altitude electromagnetic pulses’’ to identify risks…
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