Energy Team

 The Energy Team works to reduce energy-related pollution and increase renewable energy and efficiency programs in New Hampshire.

NH Celebrates A Coal-Free Future

New England to be Coal-Free by 2028, Marking Significant Victory for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign

Full March 27, 2024 Press Release

Clean Energy Blog from Holly Bender, Sr Director of Energy Campaigns: Sweet Victory in my Beloved New England

Sierra Magazine: Tireless Activism Made It Possible for New England to Go Coal-Free, By Ben Jealous

NH Sierra Club Opposes Granite Bridge

The Granite Bridge proposal is a fracked gas pipeline proposed by Liberty Utilities which would run from Exeter to Manchester, with a 2 billion cubic foot storage tank and processing center in Epping1. This would expand the fossil fuel infrastructure in our state at a time when carbon free energy is not only capable of replacing fossil fuels, but would be cheaper. The most cost effective way to heat a New Hampshire home is using solar power with a heat pump2. Scientists world-wide have proven that we have only twelve years to prevent the worst of climate change disasters3, and this pipeline would only propel us further into the climate crisis.

The NH Sierra Club opposes the Granite Bridge pipeline, and is committed to delaying and preventing it’s construction. Approval will ultimately be granted or denied by the Public Utilities Commission and the Site Evaluation Committee, and we have developed a plan on how to move forward, but we need YOUR help. There are a number of ways to get involved. For more information please contact Jerry Curran at jerryglc44@gmail.com

Volunteer Opportunities may include:

• Writing letters
• Attending meetings
• Making phone calls
• Social Media
• And more! How would you like to help?

Get involved today!

1. https://www.puc.nh.gov/Regulatory/Docketbk/2017/17-198.html
2. https://www.revisionenergy.com/solar-power-for-your-home/solar-powered-heat-pumps/
3. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

Useful Terms to Know:

PUC - Public Utilities Commission. A group of three commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Executive Council. They have jurisdiction over electric, natural gas, water, and sewer utilities for issues such as rates, quality of service, finance, accounting ,and safety. They will investigate if Granite Bridge is needed to meet demand and if it is the best cost option to meet that demand.
SEC - Site Evaluation Committee. A panel composed of six public members appointed by the governor and executive council along with seven state agency representatives for the review, approval, monitoring, and enforcement of compliance for energy facilities. They will investigate if Liberty Utilities has the financial, technical, and managerial capability for the project, and if it will have a negative effect on aesthetics, historic sites, the natural environment, air and water quality, and public health.
Natural Gas - Composed primarily of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6). In this case it is extracted through fracking. While burning natural gas produces less carbon than burning coal, it has other disastrous consequences. Natural gas leaks into the atmosphere at every stage of its use, and methane in the atmosphere has 80 times the climate warming impact of CO2 over the first 20 years after it was released.
LNG - Liquified Natural Gas. Natural gas that has been cooled to -260°F so that it is now a liquid for the purpose of shipping and storage. Must be stored in expensive cryogenic tanks.

 Further Reading:

• Speak up on the Granite Bridge Pipeline  (Concord Monitor)
• Granite Bridge project would be a nightmare (Concord Monitor)
• What happened in Mass. could happen here (Concord Monitor)
• Natural gas pipeline, with LNG storage tank in Epping, proposed by Liberty Utilities (Concord Monitor)
• Opposing the Granite Bridge Pipeline (Union Leader)
• Granite Bridge and the LNG tank (Union Leader)
• Five reasons to oppose Granite Bridge (Union Leader)

NH Sierra Club Opposes Northern Pass

On October 5, 2015, the New Hampshire Chapter announced its formal opposition to the Northern Pass Project. In order to challenge the current proposal, the Chapter is requesting copies of right-of-way easement documents from landowners along the entire route, from Deerfield to Pittsburg. The hope is to present evidence that the original intent of the easements, granted as much as 80 years ago, was to allow electricity from the Schiller power plant in Newington to be delivered to remote areas of the state, not to create a superhighway from Canada to other states.

In order to determine whether a case can be made against the project it will be necessary to review actual easement documents to see how they are written. If you, your neighbors, friends, etc., are landowners along the proposed route, and you have such an easement, NH Sierra Club asks that you provide a copy for review by the Chapter's legal team. The more documentation that can be gathered the better!

Take Action!

If you stand with the Club in opposition to Northern Pass, and want to help make this case, please send a copy of your easement to Cathy Corkery at NH Sierra Club, 40 N. Main St., Concord NH 03301 or scan it and send to nhsc603@gmail.com. It is NOT necessary to be a Sierra Club member to participate!

Learn More:

• Read our editorial published in the Laconia Citizen
• Read our editorial in the Concord Monitor
• Please see the Union Leader article about this effort.
• To hear all sides of the debate you may also want to listen to a podcast titled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Northern Pass." In the podcast, Roger Wood interviews Martin Murray, communications manager for Eversource, Catherine Corkery, director of the New Hampshire chapter of Sierra Club and Dan Dolan, president of Northeast Power Generators Association.

We don't like the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) Pipeline, Either

The Northeast Energy Direct (NED) Pipeline is a large pipeline expansion project being proposed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. It includes a large new natural gas transmission line that would extend through Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. A revision to the plan in December 2014 extends the planned pipeline through 71 miles of southern New Hampshire.

NH Sierra Club opposes this pipeline.

• The overall plan ignores formalized goals for fuel diversity in New England;
• The pipeline would not fit regional and state energy policies;
• The pipeline would increase demand for fracked gas;
• Our communities, including important conservation land in the Monadnock area, would be at risk.

Ultimately, the NED pipeline proposal ignores the fastest, cheapest and most effective way to address our state’s energy demands: energy efficiency, weatherization and conservation.

Learn More:

• Read our letter opposing the pipeline.
• Watch on YouTube: Sierra Club's own Cathy Corkery visited the program Ward 13 on Manchester's public television station to talk about the pipeline and the impact it will have on our communities. Cathy appears at the 3:54 mark.
• Visit nhpipelineawareness.org for more information and learn how to Take Action! against this pipeline.

Merrimack Station

Help us work to responsibly replace the single largest source of carbon and toxic air pollution in the state. Merrimack Station is a coal-fired power plant in Bow, a community just south of Concord. Owned, by Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), Merrimack Station produces more than 3.5 million tons of carbon, 32,000 tons of acid rain causing sulfur dioxide, almost 5,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, and approximately 130 pounds of the neurotoxin mercury each year.

To work with us on any of the issues listed above, contact Team Chair Jerry Curran, jerryglc44@gmail.com.