Recent comments in /f/newhampshire

redeggplant01 t1_j847oe9 wrote

Reply to comment by magellanNH in It's increasingly economical to install large solar facilities in states that don't get as much sun, like NH; DoE says it's competitive with "the cost of burning fuel in existing gas-fired generators." Use the $ you'd spend on a nat-gas plant's fuel to install a solar farm instead! by TurretLauncher

> wind and solar are the lowest cost sources of power generation we have right now.

no they are not .. not without stealing from the taxpayer to subsidize them

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redeggplant01 t1_j847npu wrote

Reply to comment by magellanNH in It's increasingly economical to install large solar facilities in states that don't get as much sun, like NH; DoE says it's competitive with "the cost of burning fuel in existing gas-fired generators." Use the $ you'd spend on a nat-gas plant's fuel to install a solar farm instead! by TurretLauncher

> wind and solar are the lowest cost sources of power generation we have right now.

no they are not .. not without stealing from the taxpayer to subsidize them

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magellanNH t1_j847895 wrote

Reply to comment by redeggplant01 in It's increasingly economical to install large solar facilities in states that don't get as much sun, like NH; DoE says it's competitive with "the cost of burning fuel in existing gas-fired generators." Use the $ you'd spend on a nat-gas plant's fuel to install a solar farm instead! by TurretLauncher

I have mixed feelings about this. IMO, it's complicated.

There's no doubt extra pipeline capacity would have greatly reduced or even prevented much of the electricity price shock we saw this past winter.

OTOH, New England has excess pipeline capacity for all but the 30-40 coldest days of the year. In the past, power generators have done a decent a job of covering the relatively few days of shortfall with oil and LNG imports. (More gas storage and also more hydro from Canada would have greatly strengthened this backup capacity).

So if we had built more pipelines, we'd basically have paid several billion dollars for pipeline capacity that gets utilized about 10% of the time. That's going to result in a permanently higher cost structure for ratepayers that's unlikely to produce enough benefit to offset its cost, especially over the long term.

In the next decade or two, much of New England's heating load is going to move from natural gas to heat pumps and this will result in significantly lower natural gas usage (even once the extra electric demand is considered). This coupled with the crazy amount of offshore wind and battery storage in the connection queue right now makes me think building more pipeline capacity would have provided just a short-term limited benefit. After that, it would have just saddled us with a seriously underutilized and very expensive capital asset to write down.

See page 11 of this report. It documents a dramatic shift away from natural gas for New England over the next decade. IMO, this shift is already well underway and will be very noticeable in the resource mix within the next 3-5 years.

https://www.iso-ne.com/static-assets/documents/2022/06/iso_ne_overview_and_regional_update_cbia_6_2_2022.pdf

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cwalton505 t1_j844g2v wrote

Reply to comment by TheToneKing in Bakery Owner Sues [Conway] New Hampshire Town After Officials Demand He Paint Over Donut Mural Made by High Schoolers by ArbitraryOrder

The citizens are the government and are the officials. If they want to change it they can. A business sign isn't exactly protected under the first amendment, unless you really really loved the citizens united Supreme Court ruling and want corporations to be further unfettered.

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movdqa t1_j843m8b wrote

Reply to Moving from SL, UT to MMK, NH in May for work. Looking for affordable 2 bed house and things to do there. Flexible housing location. Would love recommendations. :) by clearedtopush

There are new apartments at Merrimack Premium Outlets and in the southern part of town opposite Harris Pond. There are new apartments behind the 360 Mall near exit 11 - I'm not sure if they are renting yet. I do not know what these are renting, or will be renting for, but you could give them a try.

Housing is very tight as Merrimack is a very convenient location.

On things to do: Merrimack is convenient to Boston, Metrowest, Hampton (for beaches), Southern Maine seacoast, and mountains. If you provide a list of things that you like to do, then people can reply specifically. It's not the best of places for singles - the Boston area is a lot better for that.

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magellanNH t1_j842mn4 wrote

Reply to comment by redeggplant01 in It's increasingly economical to install large solar facilities in states that don't get as much sun, like NH; DoE says it's competitive with "the cost of burning fuel in existing gas-fired generators." Use the $ you'd spend on a nat-gas plant's fuel to install a solar farm instead! by TurretLauncher

The subsidies make them even cheaper, but even without subsidies, wind and solar are the lowest cost sources of power generation we have right now.

A well-respected investment banking firm tracks the unsubsidized costs of various power generation approaches for institutional investors:

https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-levelized-cost-of-storage-and-levelized-cost-of-hydrogen/

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