New Hampshire Business review has an enlightening–though not surprising–article today about how a PUC-approved contract from 2011 requires Eversource customers to prop up the NH timber industry and the Berlin Biomass Plant.
It is “probable” that sometime in 2019 customers who buy their electricity from Eversource will have paid $100 million more than necessary since 2014 because the energy came from the Berlin biomass plant instead of the open market.
Yes, there appears to be some high-profile backscratching. Yes, forcing electricity providers to meet pointless political green energy targets set by the Democrat-passed renewable energy portfolio are at fault. Yes, north country politicians itching to keep jobs up north (and their water-carriers) applied pressure. And in the end, Eversource, then PSNH, went with the contract which the PUC approved, putting New Hampshire ratepayers on the hook for tens of millions, probably hundreds of millions, for overpriced electricity.
Must be time to dig up all those old Jeanne Shaheen quotes about what a great idea biomass is for our energy future.
