The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative has announced the completion of its first utility-scale energy storage project, with a new 2.45-megawatt battery unit on the site of the utility’s 2 MW solar array in Moultonborough. The battery unit will charge from NHEC’s distribution system during times of low demand and discharge during periods of peak regional electricity use, providing co-op members with savings on regional market and delivery charges, while reducing demand on the grid.
The project was developed in partnership with ENGIE North America, which will own and operate the battery unit, discharging the battery up to 70 times per year. The discharges will reduce the Co-Op’s transmission charges and regional capacity payments. The battery project also will provide insight and direct experience of how battery storage technologies respond to price signals and interact with the electrical system.
NHEC estimates that the battery discharges will save its members $2.3 million over the next 12 years.
Such projects will become more important as electric cars become more common. The organization that oversees the six-state electric power grid predicts that New England will see one million electric cars and trucks on its roads, and more than one million electric heat pumps in homes and businesses, by the end of the decade.
New Hampshire Benefits From CARES Act
While Governor Chris Sununu is attempting to end the supplemental federal unemployment assistance as a means of enticing more people to return to work, he is boasting that there are millions of dollars in unspent CARES Act funds to help people pay their rent or mortgages. People who lose unemployment benefits and are forced to take low-wage jobs to make up for that loss may need to tap into that CARES Act rent and mortgage money to remain in their homes.
Meanwhile, some $50 million from the Main Street Relief Fund that was part of the CARES Act, intended to keep businesses afloat if they lost money during the COVID-19 pandemic, went to several businesses that did not need the money and, in fact, some of those receiving grants actually gained business during 2020. Sununu said that New Hampshire is the only state in the nation where fewer businesses closed last year than in 2019.
Now the state is trying recoup that $50 million while waiting for the next round of federal money that will send almost $1 billion to the state, as well as another $450 million to municipalities and counties. The new money will help the hotel and lodging industry and live venues, Sununu said — businesses that typically pay low wages and have argued that unemployment benefits are keeping people from applying for those jobs.
It certainly is true that unemployment benefits that are topped by the federal supplement can exceed what working people earn. The state’s renewed requirement that those on unemployment must prove they have been doing job searches is intended to be a powerful incentive to those who could work but are enjoying not having to do so.
Food For Children
Governor Sununu signed House Bill 500 on Monday. The bill aims to reduce food waste in the schools and to address child hunger. “Allowing New Hampshire schools to partner with nonprofits to put leftover school food to good use is a common-sense move that will serve to help reduce child hunger within our communities,” the governor said Governor said.
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day. An effort by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the work does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. Instead of advertising, the project relies on monetary support from donors and subscribers. If you like what we’re doing, please support us by giving what you can. Subscriptions to this newsletter are available for as little as $5 per month. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay, click the Subscribe button and choose a free subscription. You’ll get public posts in your in-box, and will be able to share them with your friends.
Either way, we invite you to fill your cup with your favorite drink, pull up a chair, and join us at The News Café as we build our community. www.libertymedianh.org