(CONCORD) A compromise amendment to maintain New Hampshire’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would repeal the program entirely if and only if Massachusetts chose to pull out of the carbon dioxide cap and trade system. Senator Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) would prefer to repeal RGGI entirely, but the Senate is two votes short of overriding a veto from Governor John Lynch, so Bradley has crafted an amendment that would keep New Hampshire in RGGI while changing the way revenues are handed out.

Bradley’s bill contains a repeal trigger if other states pull out of the ten-state compact, but the current wording would only apply if Massachusetts leaves RGGI. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced last week that he is pulling his state out of the program, but that would not trigger New Hampshire’s withdrawal. The Bradley contingency language in HB 519 is as follows:

Contingency. If a New England state which has at least 10 percent of the total load of the 10 states participating in the regional greenhouse gas initiative ends its participation in the initiative sections 11-15 of this act shall take effect upon the date that the commissioner of the department of environmental services certifies to the secretary of state and the director of the office of legislative services that such state has terminated its participation in the initiative.

One of the strongest arguments RGGI supporters have to keep New Hampshire in the program is that since New Hampshire is part of a six-state electric grid, pulling out of the program would have little effect on New Hampshire’s electric rates, but it would cut off a steady revenue stream for energy efficiency projects. Massachusetts is the only New England state with at least 10% of the RGGI program’s total load, and the only state that would trigger New Hampshire’s repeal of the program. Each state’s participation in the program is based on historic carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel power plants covered under RGGI. New Hampshire’s five covered plants account for just 4.6% of the overall program. Massachusetts makes up 14.2% of RGGI, while the remaining four New England states total 11%. New Jersey, carrying 12.2% of the RGGI load, would be large enough to meet the contingency language, but does not feed into the New England electric grid. The four states outside of New England, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Delaware, make up 70.5% of RGGI’s overall covered carbon dioxide emissions.

The Bradley Amendment would remove the Public Utilities Commission’s authority to distribute revenues from the quarterly RGGI auctions. The PUC has handed out over $31 million under the program, some in the form of loans to fund energy efficiency upgrades and some as grants to private groups such as Stonyfield Farms Yogurt and Dartmouth College. The largest single grant, at over $7.6 million, went to CORE energy efficiency program administrated by Public Service Company of New Hampshire. Bradley’s amendment dictates that any future RGGI revenues would also go to CORE, which PSNH uses to subsidize energy efficiency improvements for business and residential ratepayers.

The New Hampshire House has already passed a full repeal of RGGI. The Senate has already backed Bradley’s compromise, and will vote on the amended version of HB 519 again this week.