An open letter on NH’s pressing energy needs

We must do something now to reduce costs, increase availability

To: Government officials and citizens of New Hampshire

New Hampshire is facing a crisis that is growing bigger every day!

The crisis is the availability and cost of energy. New Hampshire is the most expensive state in the nation for energy. This huge energy cost and availability issue will soon have a very serious impact on the state of New Hampshire in maintaining the manufacturing base of its economy.

Manufacturing contributes significant amounts of tax dollars to support the state. It also pays high (if not the very highest) wages to its employees. To do either of these, manufacturing is going to need to reduce its energy costs, or we will gradually find these companies moving to other states that can and will supply manufacturers with the required energy for as low as 25 percent of what it now costs in New Hampshire.

The unwillingness or the inability of our elected officials at all levels to stand up and get something done really upsets me.

We have heard a lot about Northern Pass. In order to satisfy a small minority of the people in this state, we have more than doubled the cost of Northern Pass construction, reduced the amount of power it will transmit, and will likely increase the cost of electricity, not reduce it as it was promised to do.

So that solution now does not help manufacturing, and we may very well see the same thing for those who could use less expensive natural gas with a pipeline. Both of these solutions should have been done many years ago.

Our elected officials had better look at what is good for the state and jump on the bandwagon that will benefit the state. Representing the wishes of a very small minority and ignoring the needs of the working people is not a good political approach.

The working people in manufacturing need energy to keep their jobs, or we will see a rapid reduction in manufacturers in the state. Manufacturers supply a large majority of the tax dollars. That tax revenue will disappear, and New Hampshire will be faced with having only a sales and income tax, and that benefit will soon disappear.

Please put the pressure on the elected officials to get something going that will drastically contribute to reducing energy costs and increase its availability.

John F. Olson

Executive Vice President

Whelen Engineering

Charlestown