This bill amends New Hampshire's laws regarding nuclear energy and net metering, specifically modifying the responsibilities of the coordinator of nuclear development and regulatory activities. It allows for the management of funding and oversight of nuclear incentive programs and public outreach on safety. The bill introduces a definition for "advanced nuclear reactor" and extends the deadline for electric distribution utilities to issue requests for proposals for multi-year energy agreements from 2025 to 2040. Additionally, it establishes new net metering rules, increasing the peak generating capacity threshold for certain metering requirements from 100 kilowatts to 250 kilowatts, and ensures long-term eligibility for specific customer-generators to receive net energy metering compensation.

Furthermore, the bill permits investor-owned electric distribution utilities to enter into multi-year agreements for energy procurement, with a cap of 3 million megawatt hours annually, contingent on the inclusion of advanced nuclear reactors. It clarifies that all megawatt hours procured must come from existing, new, or incremental electric energy sources. The act also increases the threshold for small customer generators from 100 kW to 500 kW and raises the annual cap for community solar projects from 6 megawatts to 12 megawatts. While the bill does not provide funding for the anticipated hiring of a Utility Analyst IV position, it is expected to have minimal fiscal impact overall. However, the Department of Energy warns that changes to net metering may lead to increased costs for electric utilities, which could be passed on to ratepayers.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 374-F:3
As Amended by the Senate: 362-A:9, 374-F:2, 362-F:2, 374-F:11
Version adopted by both bodies: 162-B:4, 362-A:9, 374-F:2, 374-F:11