{"id":610,"date":"2011-02-17T14:10:57","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T19:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=610"},"modified":"2013-07-19T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-19T17:15:00","slug":"new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/","title":{"rendered":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

By Danielle Sugarman<\/p>\n

Fellow<\/p>\n

On February 23, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives took another step forward in its efforts to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (\u201cRGGI\u201d).\u00a0 \u00a0Originating in the Science, Technology and Energy Committee (the \u201cCommittee\u201d), House Bill 519[1]<\/a> passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 246 -104.\u00a0 In 2008, New Hampshire became the last of ten New-England and Mid-Atlantic states (including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) to join the mandatory, market-based carbon dioxide emissions reduction program.<\/p>\n

If the legislation is ultimately enacted, House Bill 519 would lift the requirement that New Hampshire cap carbon dioxide emissions – giving the state until the end of the year to exit RGGI.\u00a0 Amendments would keep the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board, created in 2008 to run the state\u2019s green energy programs, from disbanding.\u00a0 Any money left over in the state\u2019s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Fund that was set up to dispense RGGI revenues would be shifted to a more general energy efficiency programs fund.<\/p>\n

Republican proponents of House Bill 519 argue that the state\u2019s participation in the cap and trade program has \u201cincreased the cost of doing business, pushed companies to do business with other states or nations, and increased consumer costs for electricity, fuel, and food.\u201d Additionally, they argue that RGGI has done little to affect global concentrations of GHGs.\u00a0 At the same time, however, the text of the bill acknowledges that, \u201c[t]here has been no credible economic analysis of the costs associated with carbon dioxide emissions reduction mandates and the consequential effect of the increased costs of doing business in New Hampshire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opponents of the bill argue that RGGI has minimal economic impact.\u00a0 According to Public Service of New Hampshire, the state\u2019s largest utility, individual homeowners and small businesses consumers pay on average $0.36 and $1.20 per month, respectively.\u00a0 They also argue that RGGI provides benefits to the state\u2019s energy consumers by funding energy efficiency and renewable projects. Proponents on the other hand, broadly assert that large industry can be impacted anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars a month.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The next step for House Bill 519 is a hearing scheduled for the House Finance Committee on March 16.\u00a0 The state financial office has said, however, that it has not had time to prepare a key “fiscal note” which would have illustrated the economic impact of withdrawing New Hampshire from RGGI (specifically, the loss of funding the state would incur by not participating in RGGI emissions auctions).\u00a0 Following the hearing, the bill will head back to the House floor on March 24. Business leaders, environmental groups and politicians who oppose repealing RGGI are not confident the bill can be stopped in the Senate.<\/p>\n

As Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the New Hampshire Legislature, the bill is expected to be sent to Governor John Lynch (D) for signature.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Gov. Lynch, who has been a strong RGGI supporter, sent a letter to the Committee saying he would veto the bill if passed.\u00a0 In his letter, Gov. Lynch stated that “[w]ithdrawing from RGGI would be a blow to our economy and to our state\u2019s efforts to become more energy efficient and energy independent.” According to an independent economic assessment of the program conducted by the University of New Hampshire, the cumulative impact of RGGI through the end of 2010 has been a cost of $11.7 million, and a benefit of $28.2 million in allowance revenue.[3]<\/a> \u00a0The Governor contends that these funds that have been invested directly in helping New Hampshire families, businesses and governments reduce their electric use and costs as well as to create jobs.<\/p>\n

Gov. Lynch has also emphasized that withdrawing from RGGI will result in New Hampshire consumers paying higher electric costs without receiving any coordinating benefits. \u00a0Since New Hampshire is part of a regional electricity system, unilateral withdrawal would not result in electric rates falling to prior levels. Rather, \u201cratepayers would continue to pay as much as $6 million in additional electricity rates while losing more than $12 million in allowance auction revenues annually.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 In spite of this evidence, opponents of the bill are concerned that legislators with have enough votes to override Gov. Lynch\u2019s veto.<\/p>\n

While there have been nine auctions held by RGGI since 2009, in which electric utilities and some investment firms have bought emissions allowances raising roughly $729 million for a range of emissions-reduction and energy-efficiency programs, House Bill 519 has undoubtedly emerged as a byproduct of the growing opposition to the concept of a carbon cap and trade program among Republicans.\u00a0 It represents a tendency among newly elected Republican officials to question their states\u2019 renewable energy standards and to enact policies that give voice to more ardent climate skepticism.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> For text of House Bill 519 see: https:\/\/e-lobbyist.com\/gaits\/text\/135274<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.nhpr.org\/lawmakers-look-repealing-rggi<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>Http:\/\/www.puc.nh.gov\/Sustainable%20Energy\/GHGERF\/Evaulations\/GHGERF_Year1_Report_11Feb2009.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Governor Lynch\u2019s Press Release: https:\/\/www.governor.nh.gov\/media\/news\/2011\/021011-rggi.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> In a similarly sweeping move, Maine\u2019s Governor Paul LePage recently proposed a set of 63 clean energy and environmental reversals that Maine environmentalists contend will threaten the State\u2019s climate change efforts and its nature based economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danielle Sugarman Fellow On February 23, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives took another step forward in its efforts to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (\u201cRGGI\u201d).\u00a0 \u00a0Originating in the Science, Technology and Energy Committee (the \u201cCommittee\u201d), House Bill 519[1] passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":703,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5680],"tags":[9434,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-clean-energy","7":"tag-energy-efficiency","8":"tag-state-activity","9":"czr-hentry"},"yoast_head":"\nNew Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Danielle Sugarman Fellow On February 23, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives took another step forward in its efforts to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (\u201cRGGI\u201d).\u00a0 \u00a0Originating in the Science, Technology and Energy Committee (the \u201cCommittee\u201d), House Bill 519[1] passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Danielle Sugarman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Danielle Sugarman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Danielle Sugarman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ee4e6a642a8274931a1a7c59851e0e\"},\"headline\":\"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\"},\"wordCount\":882,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Energy Efficiency\",\"State Activity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Clean Energy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\",\"name\":\"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Law Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png\",\"width\":2752,\"height\":260,\"caption\":\"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/sabincenter\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ee4e6a642a8274931a1a7c59851e0e\",\"name\":\"Danielle Sugarman\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/author\/dsugar1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog","og_description":"By Danielle Sugarman Fellow On February 23, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives took another step forward in its efforts to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (\u201cRGGI\u201d).\u00a0 \u00a0Originating in the Science, Technology and Energy Committee (the \u201cCommittee\u201d), House Bill 519[1] passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/","og_site_name":"Climate Law Blog","article_published_time":"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00","author":"Danielle Sugarman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sabincenter","twitter_site":"@sabincenter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Danielle Sugarman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/"},"author":{"name":"Danielle Sugarman","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ee4e6a642a8274931a1a7c59851e0e"},"headline":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI","datePublished":"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/"},"wordCount":882,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization"},"keywords":["Energy Efficiency","State Activity"],"articleSection":["Clean Energy"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/","name":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI - Climate Law Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-17T19:10:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-19T17:15:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2011\/02\/17\/new-hampshire-holds-hearing-on-bill-to-withdraw-the-state-from-rggi\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Hampshire House Votes in Favor of Bill to Withdraw the State from RGGI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/","name":"Climate Law Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#organization","name":"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/files\/2023\/02\/21-SabinBlog_Banner-1.png","width":2752,"height":260,"caption":"Sabin Center for Climate Change Law"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/sabincenter"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ee4e6a642a8274931a1a7c59851e0e","name":"Danielle Sugarman","url":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/author\/dsugar1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}