Does New Hampshire's Energy Future Run on Nuclear?

Today, the New Hampshire Department of Energy opens a multi-day stakeholder event on nuclear generation, launched in response to Governor Kelly Ayotte's Executive Order 2026-01, signed March 26, 2026, which directs the Department to facilitate the integration of advanced nuclear electric generation into New Hampshire's energy mix. It is an important and timely step, and the business and policy community should be paying close attention.

New Hampshire has always prided itself on independence from outsized federal mandates, from high energy costs that strangle small businesses, and from the energy volatility that leaves families and manufacturers exposed to price spikes they cannot control. That independent spirit is exactly why the Granite State should be leading the nation's embrace of advanced nuclear generation, and specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

SMRs are factory-built, modular reactors that can be deployed faster, financed more predictably, and sited more flexibly than conventional nuclear plants. Companies like NuScale, TerraPower, and Kairos Power are not working on theoretical designs. They are building them now. Because SMRs produce power continuously at predictable costs over decades-long operating lives, they insulate ratepayers from the natural gas price swings that routinely spike New England electricity bills, driven by the region's constrained pipeline infrastructure and a renewable buildout that has not solved its baseload problem. A single SMR facility could deliver stable, long-term power that meaningfully lowers costs for families, manufacturers, and businesses across the state.

New Hampshire already has nuclear expertise embedded in its workforce. Seabrook Station has operated safely for decades, and that knowledge base is a genuine competitive asset as other states move aggressively to engage SMR developers. This proceeding is an opportunity. New Hampshire's policymakers and business community should use it.

Dennehy & Bouley advises clients on energy, infrastructure, and economic development policy.