AVARD: If We’re Serious About Affordability, NH Needs More Nuclear Power

For most of us, our monthly electric bills have become a constant source of heartburn when we open them each month. Did I leave the lights on too much? How much is this going to set me back this time? It seems like the cost — especially transmission costs — just keeps going up with every bill.

In the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which I chair, we hear this from our constituents every day, and we are fighting for lower costs. But how do we do it? This is a complicated issue with many factors that affect energy prices, but at its core, I believe the best way to lower costs for consumers is to generate more energy — and to do it as locally as possible.

We’ve all heard the phrase “all-of-the-above” energy policy. That means utilizing not only traditional sources, such as fossil fuels and renewables like solar, but also paving the way for the next generation of advanced technologies that can help address our energy supply shortfalls.

Generating more energy locally also provides the added benefit of allowing large companies to expand into New Hampshire. Companies such as Amazon need stable, reliable, and affordable energy to operate. With a company like Amazon moving in, our state would see more jobs and a large new property taxpayer — meaning higher wages and lower property taxes for regular Granite Staters.

With this in mind, I am sponsoring legislationthis session to allow Advanced Nuclear Resources (ANR). Many people have not heard of ANR, but it is an exciting new technology that allows for small, safe, and efficient energy production. I would encourage anyone interested to learn more about this technology, as it offers tremendous potential. My bill, SB 477, is not a silver bullet for lowering costs, but it is one of the answers for increasing energy production and bringing electric bills down over the long run.

Last week, the bill received a public hearing, and there is significant support for it. The Seabrook Station, for example — the only full-scale nuclear power plant in the state — supports this legislation. However, energy wholesalers showed up in force to oppose it. You might ask why the companies that generate electricity for consumers would oppose a new option for producing more of their product. The answer is simple: They want to limit competition in the energy market and keep prices high.

That is unfortunate, but as legislators, our job is to work for our constituents — not to pad the bottom lines of industry insiders.

My hope is that we can come together as a state and support bipartisan legislation such as SB 477. “Affordability” has become one of the most popular words in politics lately. President Trump was elected in 2024 in large part because voters were reacting to inflation driven by previous administrations’ policies. Democrats, for their part, appear to have learned something from their 2024 defeat and are beginning to acknowledge that prices are too high for regular Granite Staters.

SB 477 presents a real opportunity for bipartisan action to support more locally produced energy. Let’s truly fight for lower energy costs — not just pay lip service to the idea.