Bill Text: NH HB1602 | 2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relative to the divestiture of PSNH assets and relative to the siting of wind turbines.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-2)
Status: (Passed) 2014-08-04 - Signed by the Governor on 8/01/2014; Chapter 0310; Section 5 Effective Date 8/1/2014. Remainder Effective 9/30/2014. [HB1602 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2014-HB1602-Amended.html
HB 1602 – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
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2014 SESSION
06/10
HOUSE BILL 1602
AN ACT relative to the divestiture of PSNH assets and relative to the siting of wind turbines.
SPONSORS: Rep. Borden, Rock 24; Rep. Kaen, Straf 5; Rep. Rappaport, Coos 1; Rep. Backus, Hills 19; Rep. Devine, Rock 4; Rep. Cali-Pitts, Rock 30; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
This bill:
I. Authorizes the public utilities commission to determine whether PSNH generation assets should be divested.
II. Permits the public utilities commission to order PSNH to divest all or some of its generation assets.
III. Adds certain costs associated with the divestiture of PSNH generation assets to stranded costs.
IV. Provides certain employee protections in the event PSNH generation assets are divested.
V. Establishes guidelines for the site evaluation committee in adopting rules to govern the siting
of large wind energy systems in New Hampshire.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25Mar2014… 0781h
05/15/14 1767s
05/15/14 1824s
05/15/14 1881s
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06/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to the divestiture of PSNH assets and relative to the siting of wind turbines.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Purpose. The purpose of allowing the public utilities commission to determine if divestiture of Public Service Company of New Hampshire’s (PSNH) remaining generation assets is in the economic interests of PSNH’s retail customers should be to maximize economic value for PSNH’s retail customers, minimize risk to PSNH’s retail customers, reduce stranded costs for PSNH’s retail customers, promote the settlement of outstanding issues involving stranded costs, and provide for continued operation or possible repowering of PSNH’s generation assets.
2 Divestiture of PSNH Generation Assets. Amend RSA 369-B:3-a to read as follows:
369-B:3-a Divestiture of PSNH Generation Assets. [The sale of PSNH fossil and hydro generation assets shall not take place before April 30, 2006.]
I. Before January 1, 2015, the commission shall commence and expedite a proceeding to determine whether all or some of PSNH’s generation assets should be divested. On or before March 31, 2015, the commission shall submit a progress report to the legislative oversight committee on electric utility restructuring established under RSA 374-F:5. Notwithstanding RSA 374:30, [subsequent to April 30, 2006,] the commission may order PSNH [may] to divest all or some of its generation assets if the commission finds that it is in the economic interest of retail customers of PSNH to do so, and provides for the cost recovery of such divestiture.
II. Prior to any divestiture of its generation assets, PSNH may modify or retire such generation assets if the commission finds that it is in the [public] economic interest of retail customers of PSNH to do so, and provides for the cost recovery of such modification or retirement.
3 New Section; Divestiture of PSNH Generation Assets; Employee Protections. Amend RSA 369-B by inserting after section 3-a the following new section:
369-B:3-b Employee Protections. In the event of divestiture or retirement of any or all of PSNH’s generation assets, the employee protections set forth in Section X of the original proposed settlement defined in RSA 369-B:2, VIII, shall be provided to affected employees.
4 Definitions; Stranded Costs. Amend RSA 374-F:2, IV to read as follows:
IV. “Stranded costs” means costs, liabilities, and investments, such as uneconomic assets, that electric utilities would reasonably expect to recover if the existing regulatory structure with retail rates for the bundled provision of electric service continued and that will not be recovered as a result of restructured industry regulation that allows retail choice of electricity suppliers, unless a specific mechanism for such cost recovery is provided. Stranded costs may only include costs of:
(a) Existing commitments or obligations incurred prior to the effective date of this chapter;
(b) Renegotiated commitments approved by the commission; [and]
(c) New mandated commitments approved by the commission, including any specific expenditures authorized for stranded cost recovery pursuant to any commission-approved plan to implement electric utility restructuring in the territory previously serviced by Connecticut Valley Electric Company, Inc.;
(d) Costs approved for recovery by the commission in connection with the divestiture or retirement of Public Service Company of New Hampshire generation assets pursuant to RSA 369-B:3-a; and
(e) All costs incurred as a result of fulfilling employee protection obligations pursuant to RSA 369-B:3-b.
5 New Section; Siting of Large Wind Energy Systems. Amend RSA 162-H by inserting after section 4 the following new section:
162-H:4-a Siting of Large Wind Energy Systems.
I. In this section:
(a) “Large wind energy system” means an electricity generating facility with a generating capacity of over 100 kilowatts, consisting of one or more wind turbines, including any substations, meteorological towers, cables, wires, and other buildings accessory to such facility.
(b) “Shadow flicker” means alternating changes in light intensity caused by the moving blade of a wind energy system casting shadows on the ground and stationary objects.
II. In creating rules to govern the siting of large wind energy systems, the site evaluation committee shall address, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Visual impacts within a range of 10 miles from any part of the facility, and in its discretion, impacts beyond 10 miles.
(b) Cumulative impacts to natural, scenic, recreational, and cultural resources from multiple towers or projects, or both.
(c) Set-back requirements to protect property owners from undue health and safety impacts such as noise, shadow flicker, and ice throw.
(d) The establishment of scientifically-based standards for project-related sound pressure levels, both in the audible and low frequency ranges, and provisions for independent monitoring to ensure on-going compliance.
(e) Impacts including, but not limited to, rare plants and natural communities; exemplary examples of natural communities; threatened, endangered, or special concern wildlife species and the primary habitat of these species; migrating and resident birds and bats; and high elevation spruce-fir forests.
(f) A fire protection plan approved by the state fire marshal, after consultation with local public safety authorities, as a condition for a certificate.
(g) A site decommissioning and restoration plan as a condition for a certificate, the costs of which are independently assessed annually, requiring the applicant to provide that a secure financial instrument is in place prior to the initiation of project construction that is sufficient to fund the removal of all structures and site restoration. No secure financial instrument shall include the projected salvage value of any structure to be decommissioned.
(h) The use of best available mitigation measures to avoid or minimize aesthetic, ecological, health, and property value impacts as a condition for a certificate, and the establishment of a methodology to evaluate and mitigate negative impacts on property values.
(i) The best available science and technology. The site evaluation committee may update regulations and standards adopted by the committee as frequently as is appropriate based on changes in science and technology.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
