With increased development, councilors support expanding energy infrastructure

LACONIA — Councilors at their meeting Monday night signaled their support to the planning department to expand infrastructure for natural gas in the city.

Liberty Utilities issued a moratorium on adding new addresses for natural gas service in the City of Laconia and surrounding communities, because of an apparent lack of capacity. At present, it’s just portions of downtown and Lakeport which are serviced by natural gas. Even though a property may abut a natural gas line, the property may not be permitted to connect to the line, due to a lack of pressure and capacity.

“Our planning department has been working with our neighboring planning departments to oppose this,” City Manager Kirk Beattie said Monday night. “Certainly, as the largest community in our area — I don’t know exactly what every other community around us is doing — but I would say probably some of the highest growth of any of our neighboring communities, I think it would be good for us to take a position on this that we would like to see the ability to add more infrastructure for natural gas in this area.

“You’re going to have people who want to build here, they’re going to want to add this. They don’t want to go with propane or oil, they’re going to want to go with natural gas,” he said.

At the Dec. 4 meeting of the Tilton Selectboard, representatives from Liberty, State Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton) and Executive Councilor Joe Kenney met regarding the situation. During the meeting, representatives from Liberty said the original pipeline stretching from Concord to Tilton was constructed in the 1960s and, at the time, did not anticipate the growth seen in the Lakes Region through the 1970s and '80s.

Instead of upgrading the line, Liberty built a plant in Tilton, to support the line with truck deliveries of liquid natural gas to offset energy costs in winter. But the continued growth of the region has resulted in that supplemental plant running continuously in winter, which it wasn’t designed to do. The line and the plant are capable only of servicing the demand experienced in the early 2000s.

Ward 5 Councilor Steven Bogert, who also represents Laconia as a Republican at the Statehouse, told councilors he’s been in contact with the office of Gov. Kelly Ayotte and his state colleagues expressing concerns about the lack of infrastructure.

“The gas line that is being mentioned was taken from Concord up to the grow farm, and then it stopped there. There is bigger pipe on [Route] 106 but it just terminates there,” Bogert said. “I have expressed, along with our fellow cities from the west, with their representatives, that we need to have that pipeline, we need to improve our infrastructure in order for us to grow in a positive direction so that is being addressed from that side.”

Liberty investigated the possibility of replacing the original 6-inch line with a 12-inch line during that period and, in 2016, added an additional 5.5 miles of pipeline to Loudon, which helped to increase capacity. That pipeline is not suitable to meet either current or future demand, according to a city staff report, and Liberty’s position is another 10 miles of pipeline needs to be added, or upgraded, to meet it.

They’ve apparently got funding to begin preliminary engineering over a two-year period, and anticipate it would take another two or three years to construct the expanded pipeline, but don’t believe the current load justifies the cost. They’ve prioritized replacing older lines in southern New Hampshire, and in Massachusetts, instead.

According to a staff report, the state’s position is the issue should be left to the private sector, but did task the New Hampshire Department of Energy with the creation of a 10-Year State Energy Strategy. The strategies created in 2018, 2022, and in 2025, note natural gas is the most plentiful and cost-effective energy resource available, and the state hasn’t developed the infrastructure to effectively supply it.

“The state cannot on one hand assume the responsibility for strategically planning the development and expansion of natural gas infrastructure and then claim no responsibility for its implementation on the other,” a staff report reads. “At the same time, the state has been promoting economic and housing development at record levels without any regard to the infrastructure currently available to support it. Laconia and the Lakes Region have seen record levels of growth in recent years, making it a regional issue that can only be addressed by the affected municipalities working with the state and Liberty Utilities to address it.”

“I think I’d typically be opposed to the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, I think it’s a little short-sighted, but I think the state’s energy strategy is fairly short-sighted,” Ward 3 Councilor Eric Hoffman said. “I don’t think residents of Laconia, or our economic development, should pay the price for the lack of options we have when it comes to energy so I support it.”

The city’s planning department, which is led by director Rob Mora, is in contact with counterparts in Belmont, Franklin, Gilford, Meredith and Tilton to consider that issue.

“As the largest and fastest-growing municipality in the Lakes Region, it is imperative that Laconia supports the efforts to reduce heating costs and lay the groundwork for future economic development in the region,” the report reads.

As of Jan. 12, natural gas was 33% cheaper than electric heat pumps, 62% cheaper than oil, and 156% cheaper than propane.

“What I’m concerned about is the State School property,” Ward 2 Councilor Bob Soucy said. “There’s a big, big, big, big chunk — they’re going to want natural gas.”

The State School property, located along Route 106, is a large, state-owned parcel which Pillsbury Realty Development intends to build more than 2,000 units of housing and a new mixed-use community upon. A purchase of the property is under contract, and the developer is in their due-diligence phase.

“They’re going to want natural gas, and we’ve had this conversation with them,” Beattie said. “They’re aware of this problem.”

“Councilor Bogert, when you talk to the Governor’s Office, they really love to receive our rooms and meals tax,” Soucy said. “We need something in return.”