TITLE XXXIV
PUBLIC UTILITIES

Chapter 362-H
THE PRESERVATION AND USE OF RENEWABLE GENERATION TO PROVIDE FUEL DIVERSITY

Section 362-H:1

362-H:1 Definitions. –
In this chapter:
I. "Adjusted energy rate" means 80 percent of the rate, expressed in dollars per megawatt-hour, resulting from the default energy rate minus, if applicable, the rate component for compliance with the renewable energy portfolio standards law, RSA 362-F, if that rate component is included in the approved default energy rate.
II. "Biomass" means plant-derived fuel including clean and untreated wood such as brush stumps, lumber ends and trimmings, wood pallets, bark, wood chips or pellets, shavings, sawdust and slash, agricultural crops, biogas, or liquid biofuels, but shall exclude any materials derived in whole or in part from construction and demolition debris.
III. "Commission" means the public utilities commission.
IV. "Default energy rate" means the default service energy rate applicable to residential class customers, expressed in dollars per megawatt-hour, as approved by the commission from time to time, and which is available to retail electric customers who are otherwise without an electricity supplier.
V. (a) "Eligible facility" means any facility which produces electricity for sale by the use, as a primary energy source, of biomass, or municipal solid waste; provided that: (1) the facility's power production capacity is not greater than 25 megawatts excluding station service needs; (2) the facility is interconnected with an electric distribution or transmission system located in New Hampshire; and (3) the facility began operation prior to January 1, 2006, or if the facility ceased operation and then later returned to service after that date then prior to January 1, 2006 the facility operated for at least 5 years regardless of the current operational status of the facility.
(b) "Eligible facility" shall not include: (1) any facility, while selling its electrical output at long-term rates established before January 1, 2007 by orders of the commission under RSA 362-A:4; and, (2) any municipal solid waste facility less than 10 megawatts in size and which was not in operation on January 1, 2018.
VI. "Primary energy source" means a fuel or fuels, or energy resource either singly or in combination, that comprises at least 90 percent of the total energy input into a generating unit. A fuel or energy source other than the primary fuel or energy source may be used only for start-up, maintenance, or other required internal needs of the facility.

Source. 2018, 379:2, eff. Sept. 13, 2018.

Section 362-H:2

362-H:2 Purchased Power Agreements. –
To retain and provide for generator fuel diversity, each electric distribution company that is subject to the commission's approval regarding procurement of default service shall offer to purchase the net energy output of any eligible facility located in its service territory in accordance with the following:
I. (a) Prior to each of its next 6 sequential solicitations of its default service supply after the effective date of this chapter, each such electric distribution company shall solicit proposals, in one solicitation or multiple solicitations, from eligible facilities. The electric distribution company's solicitation to eligible facilities shall inform eligible facilities of the opportunity to submit a proposal to enter into a power purchase agreement with the electric distribution company under which the electric distribution company would purchase an amount of energy from the eligible facility for a period that is coterminous with the time period used in the default service supply solicitation. The solicitation shall provide that the electric distribution company's purchases of energy from the eligible facility shall be priced at the adjusted energy rate derived from the default service rates approved by the commission in each applicable default service supply solicitation and resulting rates proceeding.
(b) The solicitation shall also inform the eligible facility that: (1) the electric distribution company's purchase from the eligible facility shall be at the eligible facility's interconnection point with the electric distribution company; (2) the purchase shall be from the eligible facility's net electrical output and not from the output of another unit; and (3) the electric distribution company's purchase would be for 100 percent of the eligible facility's net electrical output.
II. Each eligible facility's proposal in response to such solicitation shall provide a nonbinding proposed schedule of hourly net output amounts during the term stated over a mutually agreeable period, whether daily, monthly, or over the term used in the default service supply solicitation for the applicable default energy rate and such other information as needed for the eligible facility to submit and the electric distribution company to evaluate the proposal.
III. With each eligible facility solicitation, the electric distribution company shall select all proposals from eligible facilities that conform to the requirements of this section. The electric distribution company shall submit all eligible facility agreements to the commission as part of its submission for periodic approval of its residential electric customer default service supply solicitation.
IV. All such eligible facility agreements shall be subject to review by the commission for conformity with this chapter in the same proceeding in which it undertakes the review of the electric distribution company's periodic default service solicitation and resulting rates.
V. The electric distribution company shall recover the difference between its energy purchase costs and the market energy clearing price through a nonbypassable delivery services charge applicable to all customers in the utility's service territory. The nonbypassable charge may include recovery of reasonable costs incurred by electric distribution companies pursuant to this section. The recovery of the nonbypassable charge shall be allocated among Eversource's customer classes using the allocation percentages approved by the commission in its docket DE 14-238 order 25,920 approving the 2015 Public Service Company of New Hampshire Restructuring and Rate Stabilization Agreement. In the first filing proceeding at the commission under this chapter applicable to each other electric distribution company, the commission shall determine and apply an allocation based on the foregoing allocations for any other electric distribution company subject to this chapter, but reasonably adjusted to account for differing customer classes if any from those of Eversource.
VI. The public utilities commission shall ensure the provisions of RSA 485-I:5 and RSA 485-I:6, to the extent those provisions are completed, prior to approving power purchase agreements for offshore wind energy resources from the Gulf of Maine. The applicant shall fund the studies required in RSA 485-I:5 and RSA 485-I:6 and such expenses shall be a recoverable expense.

Source. 2018, 379:2, eff. Sept. 13, 2018. 2022, 130:1, eff. July 26, 2022.

Section 362-H:3

[RSA 362-H:3 repealed by 2023, 148:4, I, effective November 1, 2030.] 362-H:3 Hydrogen Advisory Committee Established. –
There is a hydrogen advisory committee established in the department of energy.
I. The advisory committee shall consist of:
(a) The commissioner of the department of energy, or designee.
(b) The commissioner of the department of business and economic affairs, or designee.
(c) The commissioner of the department of environmental services, or designee.
(d) The chair of the site evaluation committee, or designee.
(e) The commissioner of the department of transportation, or designee.
(f) The chair of the Pease development authority board of directors, or designee.
II. The advisory committee shall have the following duties:
(a) Examine the production of hydrogen from any renewable energy source.
(b) Investigate and evaluate existing state and federal laws, regulations and funding sources and recommend legislation related to the production, use, distribution and storage of hydrogen.
(c) Identify opportunities to integrate hydrogen in the transportation, energy, industrial, and other sectors.
(d) Identify barriers to the widespread development of hydrogen and recommend government policies to catalyze the deployment of hydrogen in the state economy.
(e) Consider a plan to create, support, develop, or partner with a Hydrogen Hub in this state, under federal funding provisions, and determine, how to maximize federal financial incentives to support Hub development.
(f) Consider the construction of a dedicated hydrogen pipeline or network of pipelines to serve users of hydrogen in this state, including power generation, transportation, manufacturing, and energy storage facilities.
(g) Consider facilities that result in the blending of hydrogen into existing natural gas transmission and distribution systems that serve residential, commercial, transportation, and industrial uses, and consider policy recommendations for inclusion of hydrogen production from fossil fuel feedstock.
(h) Streamline the permitting processes for hydrogen facilities and infrastructure, including other carbon use applications and any other issues that the committee deems necessary.
(i) Examine cost-effective industrial rates for hydrogen production and flexible energy generation configurations to maximize federal funding for hydrogen facilities, and serves the long-term interests of ratepayers, and cost-effectively avoids or defers distribution system costs.
(j) Review the safety standards regarding the production, use, distribution and storage of hydrogen by state agencies.
(k) Consider regenerative fuel cell generation by utilities or private entities that provides distribution system benefits, including, but not limited to, avoiding or deferring distribution capacity upgrades, and enhancing distribution system reliability, including, but not limited to, voltage or frequency improvements.
(l) Determine whether hydrogen energy and infrastructure projects with a capacity to generate over 20 MW of energy should be evaluated and approved by the site evaluation committee under RSA 162-H.
III. The advisory committee shall report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the chair of senate energy and natural resources committee, the chair of house science, technology, and energy committee on October 1 of each year on its activities, findings, and recommendations.

Source. 2023, 148:2, eff. July 1, 2023.

Section 362-H:4

[RSA 362-H:4 repealed by 2023, 148:4, I, effective November 1, 2030.] 362-H:4 Definitions; Hydrogen Electricity Generation. –
For purposes of RSA 362-H:3:
I. "Hydrogen" means hydrogen derived from a clean energy resource that uses water as the source of the hydrogen. For purposes of hydrogen electricity generation and hydrogen transmission, a hydrogen project may include associated clean energy generation, including regenerative fuel cells, transmission, and other infrastructure. Hydrogen electricity generation means a power plant technology in which an electrical generating unit creates electric power exclusively from electrolytic hydrogen, in a manner that produces zero carbon and co-pollutant emissions, using hydrogen fuel that is electrolyzed using a 100 percent zero carbon emission energy source. The term does not include hydrogen produced using steam reforming or any other conversion technology that produces hydrogen from fossil fuel feedstock.
II. "Hydrogen facility" means any combination of a physically connected generator or generators, associated prime movers, and other associated property, including appurtenant land and improvements and personal property, that are normally operated together to produce 20 average megawatts or more of electric power, in order to:
(a) Produce hydrogen through electrolysis technology;
(b) Store or transport hydrogen by means of a hydrogen pipeline for the transport or storage of hydrogen or a hydrogen storage system for the temporary storage of hydrogen in a vessel, pipeline, or geologic formation; or
(c) Convert hydrogen back to electricity through a hydrogen-capable power generation source.
III. "Regenerative fuel cell" means a device that produces hydrogen and oxygen from electricity and water and alternately produces electrical energy and water from stored hydrogen and oxygen.