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With March 2024 federal deadline, NH will soon embark on climate plan outreach
New Hampshire was awarded $3 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding to update its climate change plan for the first time since 2009. Now, the state could be eligible for a share of $4.6 billion in additional competitive grants if it files a plan by next March. The money, coming via the Climate Pollution Reduction […]
The state wants to test your fish for mercury
The state’s Department of Environmental Services is seeking fishermen willing to donate fish for the analysis of a highly toxic heavy metal that has “serious health risks if consumed in excessive amounts.” Mercury doesn’t break down in the environment, and nearly all fish and shellfish have traces of it, DES says. Small amounts of mercury […]
3 takeaways from the 2023 NH Energy Summit
The New Hampshire Energy Summit convened industry stakeholders in Concord this week to hash out policy issues of the moment and set the stage for the upcoming legislative session. It was the 11th annual event hosted by the Dupont Group, a consulting firm specializing in government affairs and public relations. Players from across the state’s […]
How long-term procurement could help ratepayers and get clean energy projects built
A new long-term energy procurement law in the state is slated to create a market of power purchase agreements between utilities and energy generators for as long as 20 years. Proponents this past legislative session viewed Senate Bill 54, signed into law by Gov. Chris Sununu in August, as a financial mechanism to benefit ratepayers […]
NH energy officials slam ISO New England’s proposed budget
Targeting “significant cost increases attributed to the clean energy transition and environmental justice policies legislated by other states,” New Hampshire energy officials knocked ISO New England in a letter last week over the regional grid operator’s proposed budget for 2024-2025. Signed by Department of Energy Commissioner Jared Chicoine, Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis, and all three […]
Scott Brown’s BBQ series had ‘never had a crowd like this,’ until RFK Jr.
RYE – It wasn’t yet 6 p.m., the event’s start time, and Scott Brown could be heard warning arrivals, “You’re not going to be able to get in the building.” Hundreds of people had sloshed through a waterlogged field for Wednesday’s installment of the “No BS Backyard BBQ” series hosted by the former Massachusetts Republican […]
Atop Brady Sullivan Tower, a peregrine falcon success story
It’s an average morning at the high-rise Brady Sullivan Tower in downtown Manchester. The 12-story office building is filled with employees starting their workday. Suddenly, outside the windows, plunging from the top floor is a blur of feathers and talons: a descent close to 200 mph. The carnivorous bird pierces the plump body of a […]
Road salt in drinking water? How Merrimack’s water utility is targeting sodium chloride pollution
New Hampshire applies more salt to its roads in the winter than the majority of the country, as do most New England states. And it doesn’t just disappear. Some people end up drinking it. A public water supply well owned by the Merrimack Village District had to be officially taken offline earlier this year because […]
NH extends support funding for Ukrainians, Afghans through 2025
With federal dollars provided to the state’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Executive Council this week voted to extend and increase contracts through fiscal year 2025 to continue supporting displaced populations from Ukraine and Afghanistan now residing in New Hampshire. The state will contract with Ascentria Care Alliance for $251,910 to continue with resettlement support […]
DES assistant commissioner resigns, leaving for private sector
The second-highest ranking environmental regulator in the state has resigned and will leave for the private sector. Mark Sanborn, assistant commissioner at the state’s Department of Environmental Services, notified the Executive Council of his resignation Wednesday. His last day with the state will be Oct. 5. Sanborn was confirmed as assistant commissioner at DES in […]
At NH’s first recovery church, a bridge between addiction and faith
When Pastor Junior Saint Val took to the microphone at the Wednesday evening service, he said the bright lights on stage made him feel like he was getting arrested again. Laughs and nods came from the 200 or so attendees seated at long communal tables, interspersed with fresh cut flowers in glass jars and paper […]
Dartmouth Hitchcock gets nearly $1.5 million for opioid response in rural communities
Rural communities in New Hampshire are slated to benefit from nearly $1.5 million addressing behavioral health needs of young people and neonatal exposure to drugs, by way of federal funding earmarked for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health […]