Utilities

10 Bunker Hill Ave.
Stratham, NH 03885
603-772-4741

Electric Services

Four electric companies serve Rockingham County, two serving the Town of Stratham . The largest is Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), which serves much of Rockingham County. PSNH owns two electric supply generation plants in Rockingham County.

Exeter & Hampton Electric Co. is a subsidiary of Unitil Corporation. The company has no generating facilities of its own, but purchases its electricity from other companies. Its service area is concentrated in southern and eastern portions of the county.

The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative provides service in various pockets in the northwestern part of Rockingham County, as well as central and northern portions of New Hampshire. It has no generating facilities, and purchases the bulk of its electricity from PSNH.

There are currently three electric supply generating plants in the County. The largest is the Seabrook Station, now owned by North Atlantic Energy Company, which is a nuclear power plant with a generating capacity of 1150 megawatts. The two others, owned by PSNH, are the Schiller Station (in Portsmouth), which burns coal and oil and has a generating capacity of 202 megawatts, and the Newington Station, which burns oil or gas and has a generating capacity of 422 megawatts. In addition, two gas- powered generation plants have been approved in New Hampshire, both in Rockingham County. One will be constructed in Newington by ConEdison, and a second in Londonderry by AES Inc.

Natural Gas Services

The distribution of natural gas in Rockingham County is provided by two utilities regulated by the NH Public Utilities Commission: Northern Utilities lnc. (Division of Baystate Gas/Northern Indiana Public Service Company) and Energy North Natural Gas Inc. Northern Utilities serves 11 communties in Rockingham County, mostly in the Seacoast area and along the Massachusetts border.

Gas supply for local residential, commercial and industrial customers is provided by two gas transmission pipelines (one 6 inch, one eight inch) which run from Dracut, Mass. to Salem, through Plaistow, Newton, East Kingston, Exeter, Stratham, Greenland, Portsmouth and Newington. This six inch line is owned by Northern Utilities (formerly the Granite State Gas Transmission Company), which also provides service to several large customers in the Allied Gas Division area. The line is linked to the major nationwide natural gas distribution system. The eight-inch line runs parallel to the other line from Plaistow to Exeter.

A rnajor high-pressure interstate gas transmission pipeline was completed through Rockingham County in 1999. This 30 inch diameter line, which is jointly owned by the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System and Maritimes Northeast Pipeline L.I .C., is part of a major transmission facility providing access to gas production facilities in western Canada and off Nova Scotia. It was constructed parallel to the existing 6” and 8” lines to minimize additional utility corridor impacts.

It is anticipated that this facility will significantly improve the availability and reliability of natural gas supply in New England and will likely spur significant growth in the use of natural gas as an energy source. It is also widely anticipated that the next generation of electric power supply generation plants built in the Northeast will be gas powered. Two such plants have been approved in New Hampshire, both in Rockingham County. One will be constructed in Newington by ConEdison, and a second in Londonderry by AES Inc. The first will use a new gas pipeline lateral to be built off the PTNGS/Maritimes interstate pipeline to serve the waterfront industrial areas of Newington and Portsmouth.

As a result of the improved supply and the additional development density in southern New Hampshire, it is believed natural gas service areas will significantty expand over the next several years. This is a positive development in that natural gas is a far cleaner burning fuel which can be distributed more efficiently than what it replaces (oil and coal).