COMMENTARY

Energy Efforts Can Revive North Country

June 2007

By Donald J. Pfundstein*
for New Hampshire Business Review

Global warming is threatening the tourist economy of the great North Woods. Hickory trees are forecasted to replace maples.  Cold water fisheries are threatened. Maple syrup will gradually disappear. The Yankee monsoons will threaten life and property. The snow-based winter economy will be shattered and replaced by a season long mud bath.

Global warming may forever change the North Country economy for the worse. Global warming may ravage the country's seacoast population centers. These are issues of paramount concern. Concord can play a small part in addressing the problem at the same time it plays a major role in boosting the North Country's economy.

Here's what Concord can do to help the North Country's economy. There is a reported One Billion Dollars of potential investment in renewable energy projects jostling for North Country siting. My economic and personal preference/conflict of interest favors the Groveton biomass-based renewable energy park. North Country Renewable Energy LLC proposes to develop an innovative renewable energy park in Groveton. The project has overwhelming local support and will be located in a part of town that will not prohibit other development activities from occurring at the same time. Plans include constructing a wood-fired power generating facility along with a biofuels product facility. The Groveton renewable energy park is the only renewable project proposed in the state which will create 150-250 permanent, direct employment opportunities for the region, in addition to 350 temporary, construction jobs.

The decision-makers and opinion leaders in Concord have started the process of helping the North Country with the likely passage of SB 140. This hotly contested legislation provides an opportunity for the North Country to realize a potentially enormous investment. When was the last time we had several players in an industry willing to invest One Billion Dollars north of the Notch? Concord must lead on the transmission issues. No meaningful investment will materialize if this renewable energy cannot make it to markets south of its site of generation.

The Public Utilities Commission is focused and moving forward with its counterparts in the statehouse to lead on the transmission issue. It is imperative that this activity continue in a concerted, consistent and committed manner. The "cost socialization and allocation issues" need to be resolved in order to make the North Country a Renewable Energy Destination. This will require the efforts of all stakeholders — the PUC, the renewable energy developers, the Governor, legislators, North Country leaders and the electric transmission companies.

Besides providing critical investment in the region, unleashing the North Country's substantial renewable energy resources will also help in the battle to reverse global warming. If we really prefer maple trees to hickory trees and maple syrup to corn syrup, there is something Concord can do. If we really like a snow-based winter economy in the Great North Woods, there is something Concord can do. Unleash the region's clean renewable energy resources!

Governor Lynch should task an "energy czar" with the sole responsibility of unleashing the North Country's renewable energy resources. The region is a fabulous Grand Hotel destination. We can also make it a Renewable Energy Destination. This is the best way of meeting the goals of Governor Lynch's "25 by 2025 plan." 

Donald J. Pfundstein is president and managing director of Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell. Don's practice focuses on the regulated industries including insurance, utility and energy companies such as NCRE.  pfundstein@gcglaw.com

* Donald J. Pfundstein is admitted in New Hampshire.

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