Market led to shortages, not lower prices

Energy use in New England is increasing steadily, nowhere faster than in New Hampshire. Yet no major power plants are under construction in the region.

The region’s wholesale electric energy pool manager, ISO-New England, projects that shortages could occur by next year. It predicts that energy demand by 2015 will require 4,300 megawatts of new generation capacity, the equivalent of about nine large new power plants.


Because it takes three to five years to build a gas-fired power plant, it may already be too late to avert summer shortages during peak load periods in the next few years. If we wish to avoid a far more severe energy crisis in the next decade, the time to act is now.

Historically, the region’s power plants were owned and operated by integrated, state-regulated utilities that sold electricity to consumers within given service territories. All utilities operated under common rules as part of the New England Power Pool to ensure electric reliability and the efficient operation of power plants.

Concord Monitor