Granite Reliable Power LLC, the company that plans to build a 33-turbine wind farm in Coos County, asked the state last week to deny two motions for a rehearing. The motions were frilled Aug. 14 by the state attorney general's office, which serves as counsel for the public, and the Industrial Wind Action Group, which opposes the project. In his motion, Senior Assistant Attorney General Peter Roth argued for a rehearing, stating that GRP does not have the financial capability to carry out the project and there is no "assurance the project will be constructed and operated in continuing compliance with the certificate."

The state renewable energy law that made it feasible for controversial new "wind parks'' will also cost New Hampshire consumers in higher electricity bills. They may pay $2 billion by the year 2025 under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) -- an extra $5 a month, a University of New Hampshire study concludes. But these are just estimates. The state's consumer advocate and utility companies say there really is no way at this point to figure the actual cost.

The state has signed a $4 million contract with ConEdison Solutions of Burlington, Mass,. to supply it with wind-generated power through May 2010. The contract was signed after a bidding process that involved traditional and renewable energy suppliers, according to Gov. John Lynch's office. Lynch in a statement said the contract helps the state move toward its eventual "25/25" goal "" that renewable energy sources provide 25 percent of all power consumed in New Hampshire by 2025.

Once upon a time, the primary questions to ask about upgrading the electrical transmission line in Coos County were how much it would cost and who would pay for it. After all, without such a line, projects for power generation from renewable resources like wind and wood, seen as key contributors to economic development in the hard-hit region, would come to a standstill. But lately, other questions have been raised: How much of an upgrade will be needed? And will it be needed at all?

The Coos County commissioners voted last month to slash $48,000 from the Coos Economic Development Corp.'s $109,000 budget because the CEDC didn't advocate that an upgrade of the electric transmission lines that connect to the New England electric grid be included in a regional stimulus wish list. ...County Commissioner Paul Grenier of Berlin blasted CEDC leadership for failing to promote an issue that he said is vital to the region. He equated the stand to a "crime against the residents of Coos County."

Gov. John Lynch signed into law House Bill 310, which sets maximum restrictions on what a community can do when someone proposes to erect a wind tower to generate electricity. ...The new law, explained Murphy, is different from other state land-use regulations "which allow towns to enact restrictions greater than those the state imposes; this one was framed in such a way to be the most restrictive. I believe the intent was so that towns, for whatever reason, could not totally outlaw wind tower use within their boundaries."

Public Service Company of New Hampshire has filed for almost a 10 percent hike in electric rates for next year. ...Part of the increase has to do with both the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, designed to curb carbon emissions, and the Renewable Portfolio Standards, set up to move the state toward getting 25 percent of its power from renewables by 2025. Murray estimated that amount 20-30 percent of the increase can be attributed to those two programs, but indicated those costs haven't been completely determined yet. "In terms of RGGI, this is all quite new to us," he said.

Rep. Fred King, a Colebrook Republican and a member of the county planning board, which oversees land use in the unincorporated areas, said the county delegation and commissioners have endorsed the wind project. But, he said, he has made it his "mission in life" to see the transmission line upgraded so biomass plants, which would create more long-term jobs and sustain the region's history of logging, can be built, too. "It's safe to say, if we did get to vote on it and we had the two to pick from (biomass and wind), my guess is we'd probably vote for the biomass plant," he said.

Boisvert said future projects only will result in more spending as the utility carries out needed improvements. She also said one of the most expensive projects on the horizon could be the proposed Coos County Loop. She said this project requires the transmission lines in Coos County to be upgraded so new biomass, wind and solar power generated there can be transported to Southern New Hampshire and other states as needed. Boisvert said PSNH has to carry out that project to meet the state's Renewable Portfolio Standards approved by state lawmakers. ... It has yet to be determined if the costs will be borne by PSNH ratepayers, New Hampshire state taxpayers or shouldered by customers of member utility companies that make up ISO-New England throughout the Northeast. "There's no definitive answer," Boisvert said.

This extended news piece addresses efforts to bring renewable generation to northern New England.

State and regional regulators acknowledge the hurdles - especially in northern New Hampshire - but don't have ready solutions. A bill before the New Hampshire Senate would have the state be ready to act if no regional solution is forthcoming. ISO New England, which manages power for the region, is considering changing rules so more of the costs of transmission upgrades could be shared regionally. But as things stand now, backers of projects generally must pay for upgrades needed to connect them to the system. "None of this is a real speedy process," acknowledges Michael Harrington, senior regional policy adviser for the state Public Utilities Commission.

Hopes for a renewable energy park to be developed appear to be dashed, at least for now. The partnership hoping to open the park, which had three options on land in town including a 50-acre parcel owned by the school district, has pulled the plug on those options this week. The reason, Levine said, is the transmission lines in the North Country are not able to accept the level of power that would be generated from the venture, which had already been given the name Groveton Renewable Energy Park. Levine said the project is in line behind two wind generation projects in the approval process as well as for connecting to the power grid transmission system in the region.

Aternative energy, much-talked about on local, county, state and national levels in recent years, has become an issue in the Souhegan Valley in recent months, with different communities taking vastly different roads on the issue. Amherst, which actively opposed wind turbines last year, has changed its tune and now is proposing a zoning ordinance allowing some, if not all, alternative energy systems. Milford planners are considering regulatory measures regarding wind power, while in Hollis, building and planning officials have embraced the idea. Brookline officials have not had to deal with wind towers.

A way to open up the state's logjam in building renewable energy projects could come out of a proposed 10-state regional greenhouse initiative. According to the Public Utilities Commission, the North Country needs a power line upgrade in the $200-million range to help developers build hundreds of megawatts of future wind farms and biomass electricity plants. Those could meet most of the state's goal of producing 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Until they win approval or drop out, those projects at the head of the line are blocking plans for a 600-megawatt gas-fired plant somewhere in Rockingham County. The would-be developer is unidentified on the Web site of the ISO-New England electric grid. The federal approval process accepts applicants on a first-come, first served basis.

A newly released state Public Utilties Commission report says that, under current federal regulations, New Hampshire can expect no fiscal help from the rest of New England to upgrade power lines in Coos County. The power lines would required to fulfill the supply created by several proposed renewable energy power plants in the region. According to the report, it would take a change in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules to make Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and the rest of the ISO-New England power grid share the cost to beef up the closed transmission loop that runs through Littleton, Berlin and Whitefield. Any change in policy at that level would take years to effect, if it is even possible

George Gantz, a Unitil vice president, unveiled some company dreams this past week to reinvent the big regulated utility. He told Rep. Naida Kaen, D-Lee, and other stakeholders for "distributed energy" that Unitil would like to work itself out of business as a traditional energy retailer. Distributed energy, a new buzz word, is made by small generators scattered across the electric grid, often remote from the big power plants. ...Under existing law, that would be like McDonald's buying burgers from its patrons. But everybody would win if Unitil could claim the renewable energy credits a business or homeowner can earn under a new state law also sponsored by Fuller Clark. It rewards sustainable energy sources.

While paper mills close and Cabletron spins off its remnants out of state, power plants from the Seacoast to Whitefield enjoy the perks of a poorly understood, $100-million subsidy program just for energy producers. It has a bureaucratic name: the forward capacity market. ...An unidentified 600-megawatt, gas-fired power plant project somewhere in Rockingham County is blocked behind half a dozen North Country renewable energy projects in the ISO-New England regulatory queue. The waiting list policy is first-come, first-served. A plant like that would typically pay its host community $4 million or more in property taxes, with few smokestack emissions. But those wind- and wood-fired projects at the front of the line are all in limbo. The Public Service power lines in the region are too small. Most of the players can't even bid into the upcoming ISO auction, because yet-to-be-built plants have to ante millions of dollars as a sort of performance bond. And the ISO doesn't make forward capacity payments for transmission line upgrades.

Several new North Country energy projects are in the works, but questions remain on how to transmit to homes and businesses the power they would generate. Experts at an ad hoc energy stakeholders meeting held Oct. 16 at the State House in Concord generally agreed that construction on several proposed wind farms and wood-fired power plants in Coos County will take three to four years - and perhaps longer if New Hampshire hopes to convince other New England states to cover 90 percent of the costs. ...Donna Gamache of PSNH said the hard part is guessing which players are serious and have the stamina to wait out the regulatory approval process. She said what she called "the California model" would may be "the easiest way to absorb the risk." In California, a regional electric grid underwrote the cost to transmit new solar and geothermal power to the populated coast in the hopes that future developers would pay their share as they hooked into the lines. If PSNH tackles a project like that without state help, experts fear ratepayers would eat the stranded costs if too few plants came on line.

The lack of necessary infrastructure means that Coos County won't see ground-breaking anytime soon on hundreds of megawatts generated by proposed wind farms and wood-fired power plants. According to Public Service of New Hampshire officials, the utility's big loop of transmission lines from Littleton to Berlin and back can handle only 100 megawatts more of production before somebody has to pay big bucks to boost the capacity. Nobody knows who will fund that infrastructure, and the uncertainty has thrown off the financing for some of the dozen New Hampshire power plants lined up for future review by the state Public Utilities Commission.