Bill Text - SB591 (2026)

Allowing utility companies to own or build generation facilities.


Revision: May 29, 2026, 3:33 p.m.

CHAPTER 108

SB 591-FN - FINAL VERSION

 

03/05/2026   0779s

2026 SESSION

26-2169

06/09

 

SENATE BILL 591-FN

 

AN ACT relative to electric utility investment in distributed energy resources.

 

SPONSORS: Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Lang, Dist 2; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Rep. Notter, Hills. 12

 

COMMITTEE: Energy and Natural Resources

 

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AMENDED ANALYSIS

 

This bill amends certain standards governing electric utility investment in distributed energy resources.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/05/2026   0779s 26-2169

06/09

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

 

AN ACT relative to electric utility investment in distributed energy resources.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

108:1  Electric Utility Investment in Distributed Energy Resources.  Amend RSA 374-G:4, II-III to read as follows:  

II.  Distributed electric generation owned by or receiving investments from an electric utility under this section shall be limited to a cumulative maximum in megawatts of [6] 10 percent of the utility's total distribution peak load in megawatts.  This limitation shall not apply to [front-of-meter] energy storage[, the energy storage pilot approved by commission order number 26,209,] or demand response.  

[III.  In addition, once the cumulative generation authorized under this chapter for a given public utility reaches 3 percent of the utility's total distribution peak load in megawatts, then that utility shall not be allowed to add any additional non-renewable generation under this chapter, until the cumulative renewable generation installed pursuant to this chapter, as a percentage of total generation installed pursuant to this chapter, shall equal or exceed twice the sum of the then-applicable percentage requirements for class I and class II under RSA 362-F:3.]

108:2  Electric Utility Investment in Distributed Energy Resources; Authorization.  Amend RSA 374-G:5, II(h) to read as follows:  

(h)  Whether the expected value of the economic benefits, direct and indirect, of the investment to the utility's ratepayers over the life of the investment outweigh the economic costs to the utility's ratepayers.

108:3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.   108:  

 

Approved: May 28, 2026

Effective Date: July 27, 2026