As the Year Closes, Some Good News!
Despite the continuing terrible environmental as well as social justice news nationally, we have some positive developments from the past year to share when it comes to our region of the country. Whether it involves our region’s most promising future power source, better options for the power grid or an end to the toxic legacy of coal in New England, this year saw some significant developments that presage a safer and sustainable energy future for our region. And if you’d like to help us on these fronts – and this is the only time we ask all year – we need your support as this year comes to a close and a challenging new one begins. So please scroll down for some good news and how you can contribute!
Offshore Wind Gains Despite Trump Trickery
BREAKING – President Trump’s obsession with killing off the wind power industry while putting “King CONG” (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas) on steriods got a major setback last week when a federal judge in Massachusetts struck down his whole executive order on wind, declaring it “arbitrary and capricious.”
Since that first-day-of-office order, all permitting of wind farms nationwide – including several off New England – had been stopped and existing projects were to be reviewed, putting the already supply-chain-challenged industry into turmoil. Dozens of projects had been put on hold while 18 state attorneys general – excepting NH’s – put together the lawsuit challenging the order. Even with this welcome judgement, it’s unclear as yet when permitting will resume and an appeal is still possible, but it looks like offshore wind development could be back on track nationwide.
Despite that setback, offshore wind power continues to be a key opportunity for achieving a safe and sustainable energy future in the US, especially off the northeast and west coasts. During the Biden administration, ongoing planning for offshore wind farms led to a commitment for 30 gigawatts (GW) nationwide by 2030 – equivalent in capacity to 25 nuclear plants like Seabrook – with an additional 15 GW to be floated in deeper waters by 2035.
Over the past decade, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) went to work identifying and auctioning lease areas in federal waters off both the east and west coasts as well as the Gulf of Mexico. In total, about three dozen lease areas covering almost 3.5 million acres have been leased, with the potential to generate 19 GW and netting over $5 billion to the federal treasury. Then of course Trump 2.0 happened, and much of this promise got blown off the map – literally, in the case of the previously designated wind energy areas in the Gulf of Maine.
Currently, there are at least 57 turbines generating almost 600 MW of power off the southern New England coast, and by the end of next year there will be over 300 turbines and about 7 times that MW capacity operating off the entire east coast, with more to come online in following years. So despite Trump’s efforts to kill it, to paraphrase Mark Twain, “news of offshore wind’s demise has been greatly exaggerated!”
Previously, two of Trump’s efforts to derail development of already permitted offshore wind farms – Empire Wind in NY and Revolution Wind in RI – were stopped by courts and/or their state’s governors. And there’s little mention in the mainstream media of the 4,000 MW of wind farms off the East Coast that are moving forward, with the biggest off Virginia, right under Trump’s nose. So it appears despite opponents’ ongoing legal efforts, offshore wind has momentum now that the naysayers can’t stop.
Closer to home, despite the leasing of four commercial wind farm areas in the Gulf of Maine last year (see map below), totaling about 1/2 million acres and 6 GW potential (about FIVE Seabrooks!), Trump directed BOEM in July to “erase” the as yet unleased wind energy area in the Gulf along with a dozen others around the country. That appeared to put everything back to square one regarding any new leases. But since not all the Gulf leases offered last year actually sold, it may not matter in the near future since the floating technology needed in the deeper Gulf waters has not been standardized or employed in great numbers yet. So actual construction is still many years off at this point.
Relatedly, we recently witnessed the demise of New Hampshire leadership on offshore wind development, thanks to the NH House leadership’s retrograde thinking and abdication of regional reality by Governor Kelly Ayotte, following on President Trump’s head-in-the-sandtrap attitude. Back in 2020 the state, under prior governor Chris Sununu – as a result of extensive grassroots lobbying efforts by SAPL and allies – had taken the lead in northern New England by initiating a BOEM-required intergovernmental and multi-state task force for the Gulf of Maine. The legislature created an offshore wind economic development office and commission to move things along, creating a detailed study of the benefits of offshore wind development and infrastructure needed to facilitate its utilization. That study concluded that offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine has the potential to produce enough power to fully meet the needs of New England states for nearly 40% of the year and that 3,600 jobs could be created in New Hampshire alone.
Yet earlier this year, the legislature approved and the governor signed legislation to do away with the state’s offshore wind development office and commission. This came despite the previous study having identified significant Gulf offshore wind supply chain and port facilities job opportunities in-state, as well as key potential “on-shoring” locations to connect to the regional power grid at either Seabrook or Portsmouth.
Still, the rest of New England is moving forward, aiming to build more offshore power capacity in the next few years than Seabrook, Millstone and several existing fossil-fueled power plants currently provide. Coupled with accelerated development of ever-cheaper solar power and utility-scale battery storage, offshore wind power development off New England’s and other coastal states’ shores still has the potential to put us on the path toward true energy sustainability and climate sanity.
NH UTILITIES STILL NOT BUYING NUCLEAR
For the third year in a row, the “disclosure labels” sent to ratepayers last September show that in 2024 (the most recent data available) our largest power suppliers in NH – Eversource, Electric Co-op, CPCNH – purchased practically ZERO nuclear power from the NE grid. This means that despite being the largest source of electricity generation in NH, almost ALL of that Seabrook power is being sent elsewhere – mainly to power-hungry states south of us – while we just get to hold onto the nuclear waste and routine radioactive emissions.
Unfortunately, the figures also show that NH utilities are also getting much less of their electricity from renewable sources than elsewhere in New England, with Eversource having the worst record – at just one-half of the NE average. This means that NH utilities are relying on natural gas for fully two-thirds of their electricity, which of course means higher emissions of carbon (40% more than the NE average, in the case of Eversource), as well as other dangerous pollutants. It also means NH ratepayers are much more vulnerable to gas price spikes, which means higher electricity costs for ratepayers.
For those whose communities now rely on the non-profit Community Power Coalition (CPC, including most of the NH Seacoast) for their electricity supply, the good news is that CPC is getting 38 percent more renewable power than Eversource does, and they also offer several levels of “opting up” to get even more or all of your electricity from renewable sources.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
If your community has not yet joined Community Power, you can advocate to community leaders that they do. If you are already getting Communty Power at the basic rate, you can “opt up” to a higher renewables rate to get cleaner power. Even by just paying a few dollars more for their “Granite Plus” rate, you get almost DOUBLE the percentage of renewable power – what a deal!
Finally, NH – and All of NE – Goes Coal Free!
Back in September, Merrimack Station coal plant in Bow closed for good – three years ahead of schedule – after operating and polluting areas downwind for 65 years. This is a big relief for the local environment and public health, since for many years it was the single largest NH source of mercury poisoning our wildlife and acid gasses killing our lakes, not to mention carbon emissions disrupting our climate.
The company that owns it, as well as the previously closed Schiller Station coal plant in Portsmouth, has said it wants to put a large bank of batteries at Schiller, and to install a large solar array as well as utility-scale batteries at Merrimack Station, which sits on 343 acres. This conversion would of course pair well with offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, to get more efficient use of that power as it comes ashore. Next up, converting other NH fossil-fueled plants and our decaying old nuclear plant?
Please Help Support SAPL with a Donation
We still have much to do in securing a safe and sustainable energy future for New Hampshire and neighboring states. Please help us to keep promoting alternatives to continued reliance on life-threatening nuclear technology, by being a financial supporter this year. We will continue to press these and related issues with state and local officials – but only with your generous support. As a reminder, SAPL is a 501(c)3 organization, so you can deduct all donations for tax purposes.
NOTE: new tax rules allow for deducting your charitable donations even if you do not plan to itemize in 2026. The non-itemizing taxpayers can deduct monetary donations to qualified charities up to $1,000 or $2,000 for married filing jointly. Because our needs are year-round, January donations are encouraged – no need to wait till next December. We thank you for thinking of us early and often.
DONATE ONLINEOr donate by mail:
Seacoast Anti-Pollution League
PO BOX 1136
Portsmouth, NH 03802