Also on today’s menu at the News Café:
Lawsuit Over Implications of Tax Cap Question in November
House Passes Funding Bill To Avoid Government Shutdown
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has announced an exploratory study by Eversource Energy on the viability of connecting a 350-megawatt data center to the New England energy grid. “The Viability Assessment Agreement proposes the terms and conditions under which PSNH will perform an interconnection viability study to study possible adverse impacts to PSNH’s system and the supporting infrastructure needed to mitigate such possible impacts for Customer’s potential interconnection to PSNH’s transmission system,” the document states, with the acronym referring to Public Service Company of New Hampshire. Eversource Energy Service Company is a subsidiary of Eversource Energy, as is PSNH.
Granite Shore Power, LLC, owner of the now-closed coal-fired power plant known as Merrimack Station, requested the study in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in April. The location of the proposed data center is not provided in the documents, but Granite Shore Power’s physical address in Bow is the site of Merrimack Station, and Kip McDaniel, chair of the Bow Select Board, said, “Bow has spent the last 15 years trying to court appropriate development, and I think we’ve become a town that people want to work with. … I’d also say that people who know about data centers know that they can be valued very highly, and in a town where, we are obviously [in] a property tax-based state, that can be hugely beneficial.”
New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Donald Kreis said there had been a meeting between staff from his office, the New Hampshire Department of Energy, and Eversource Energy in which an Eversource executive mentioned that a developer was considering a data center project of “up to 200 MW” for Bow. Governor Kelly Ayotte, however, who has spoken out against data centers, reiterated on September 1, “I will always advocate for our towns to decide what’s best for them, but with too many unknowns surrounding these facilities, I think it is best for us to institute a moratorium [on data centers] for the time being.”
Discussion: William Hinkle, speaking for Eversource, said the utility is required to provide information about its transmission system to potential developers, regardless of the nature of the project in question, but the company is “concerned” about the possible effects of large-load developments on the grid.
Lawsuit Over Implications of Tax Cap Question in November
Governor Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 1300 into law in July, requiring a local school tax cap question to appear on the November ballot. Kelly Wieser of Campton and David Bates of Warner have filed a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court to prevent that from happening, arguing that its phrasing is confusing and misleading. The lawsuit asks for an emergency hearing because the state will begin printing the November ballots shortly after the September 8 state primary election.
The question states: “If adopted for a two-year period: (1) the local property tax levy may not grow beyond the prior year’s amount, adjusted for inflation and new construction; (2) SAU central office spending may not exceed 6 percent of total school district appropriations.” It goes on to say that the tax cap would apply only to district administrative costs and “not affect classroom instruction, school-based services, or other municipal expenditures.” The lawsuit alleges that voters will be confused about whether they are being asked to limit school taxes, cap administrative costs, or both.
Terri Donovan, attorney with AFT-NH, warned that the law leaves voters with no discretion to do anything if they change their minds about implementing the provisions, which she called “devastating” to some communities. “If that goes into effect, there isn’t a rescission … the only thing you can do is override it at the school district meeting. There is no provision to rescind this in your community … and the way people are feeling now, if they see the words tax cap, it [will not be overridden].”
Discussion: Donovan said that, when the John Stark Regional School District discussed what would happen if House Bill 1300 passed, “they actually basically had a meltdown at the public meeting because no district lawyers can tell anybody what this means if this passes. The DRA is giving no guidance.” She went on to note that budget committees begin their work in the fall and asked, “Are they preparing parallel budgets? Are they just going to be happy-go-lucky, like this doesn’t pass, or are they going to be preparing a budget in advance to tell people the implications if this does pass, to warn the voters [before the November elections]?”
House Passes Funding Bill To Avoid Government Shutdown
The US Congress again took the easy way out, with the House of Representatives voting, 370-48, to extend federal spending at current levels, with a few exceptions, through December 11, postponing actual debate until after the midterm elections. The Senate had previously passed the continuing resolution, and President Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation.
Federal funding was set to run out on September 30, and Congress wanted to avoid another government shutdown after two record-long government shutdowns in the last year over subsidies for health insurance premiums and attempts to rein in the abuses by federal immigration officers.
Only 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats opposed the compromise which most Democrats originally rejected because it continued to support immigration enforcement agencies without restricting illegal conduct by its agents.
Discussion: Democratic candidates appear to be in a position to retake the majority in the House of Representatives, and those in Congress may have caved on their democratic ideals in the belief that they will be more effective after the mid-terms. Such bets on achieving change have lost in the past, but perhaps the anticipated “blue wave” will put enough of them in power to overcome the inertia in Washington DC.
Café Chatter
On Overstated Concern: During Trump 1.0 we still had our mail in votes. However, many of us took those ballots and physically brought them to designated drop offs here. We obviously were not the only ones concerned. The line of cars was very long. Now, we always vote in person. We are fortunate that we don’t live in a more ethnically diverse area where our state is closing, or moving polling places where no public transportation is available. Well. It is DeSantis.
On BASIC Threat: AI intrigues me and scares me at the same time. Maybe the longer essay goes into this. My fear is that AI can fool a certain number of people to believe something that is not true. The upcoming elections, with the acrimony that we have today, is a perfect storm. In my opinion. In past elections, even with just a photoshop, people have been fooled by campaigns that prey on feelings over ideas. With AI technology campaigns can make photos, videos and speeches look real when they are not. Let’s face it, I can be initially fooled, because I want to believe something. Then I go research to see what is actually true. How many people will do this? I have warned people before on social media. It’s easier to believe the knee jerk reaction. On another note. I was very disappointed when I learned that Bill Gates isn’t a God. That with all the good that the foundation has done over the years with his wife, I learned that he is in fact a flawed individual whose personal behavior is distressing. It didn’t help that he showed up in the Epstein files. Some of the jobs that will most likely remain will be jobs like plumbers, electricians, etc. in medicine I can see what a positive outcome where physicians could more easily research difficult conditions that otherwise might not be diagnosed correctly. For those of us who love having a liberal arts education. I am concerned that the positive aspects of liberal arts where you further develop your critical thinking and research skills will be hampered by AI. I hope not. As usual. I ramble on. I hope that I will see you soon.
— Candace Skurnik
