By KRIS PASTORIZA
A July 6, 2026 article in InDepthNH states
“…Governor Kelly Ayotte called for the return [ordered by FERC] of more than $1.5 billion to ratepayers across New England, including $150 million to New Hampshire, after more than a decade of transmission utilities overcharging consumers on their electric bills.”
Governor Ayotte stated that New Hampshire would “continue working to lower electric bills and hold utilities accountable when they try to boost their bottom lines instead of focusing on keeping rates as low as possible.”
Despite this claim Governor Ayotte had been silent about Eversource and other transmission utilities’ unscrutinized and unregulated spending on so-called “Asset Condition” projects in New England which, as her own Consumer Advocate has noted, have amounted to nearly $.5 billion charged to New Hampshire ratepayers.
Why hasn’t Governor Ayotte written to FERC, as did Senator Richard Blumenthal, requesting that FERC remedy the lack of meaningful review or oversight of “Asset Condition” projects?
Governor Ayotte has also been silent about the Complaint recently filed with FERC by ratepayer advocates from five New England states including New Hampshire, claiming that Eversource misclassified its proposed $360 million X-178 rebuild project as an “Asset Condition” project to avoid regulatory scrutiny.
Why isn’t Governor Ayotte publicly calling for a rigorous review of Eversource’s planned X-178 project by FERC?
Through the efforts of two towns on the route, Easton and Bethlehem, Eversource’s planned 49 mile X-178 line “Asset Condition” rebuild project is now before the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee. The Site Evaluation Committee has denied the New Hampshire Consumer Advocate’s petition to intervene on behalf of New Hampshire’s residential utility customers.
Why hasn’t Governor Ayotte publicly requested the SEC to place the X-178 docket on hold until FERC rules on the Consumer Advocates’ Complaint?
Why isn’t Governor Ayotte urging the Legislature to re-establish ‘need’ and ‘prudence’ as SEC criteria, to force the SEC to “hold utilities accountable when they try to boost their bottom lines instead of keeping rates as low as possible”?
Kris Pastoriza
Easton, NH
(Kris Pastoriza owns property encumbered by an X-178 easement and is an intervenor in the SEC docket (25-072) for Eversource’s proposed X-178 rebuild.)