Sam Evans-Brown

Most New Hampshire residents are likely to see their electric bills go up from 7.11 cents a kilowatt hour to 9.54 cents starting in January. The average PSNH customer could be paying somewhere between $6 and $8 more per month come January 1st making PSNH bills around 25 percent higher than their competitors.

PSNH Spokesman Mike Skelton says environmental obligations increase the cost of electricity, but one has hit PSNH particularly hard.

Skelton: The biggest portion of that 1.44 cents per kilowatt hour is the scrubber.

Opponents of proposed wind farms in the Newfound Lake region are getting organized. They hope that they’re forming the foundation of a state-wide anti-wind effort. Newfound Lake Wind Watch has changed its name to New Hampshire Wind Watch: it has a new website, work committees, petitions and letter writing campaigns.

A new report out Friday finds that the Great Bay Estuary is still struggling. Every 3 years the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, or PREP releases its State Of Our Estuaries report. The report’s data plays into an ongoing battle over the cost of new wastewater treatment plants on the seacoast.

If you’ve been following the efforts of conservation groups on the Seacoast, PREP’s data from the last three years are no big surprise.

A new study out from the US Geological Survey finds that low levels of Arsenic are present in 40 percent of New Hampshire’s groundwater. 

USGS scientist Joe Ayotte says it’s been known for some time that 1 in 5 wells in New Hampshire has more than 10 parts per billion of Arsenic, which is above the EPA standards for safety. These high concentrations were found mostly on the seacoast.

But this report looked at low levels of Arsenic, and found they are much more widespread.

New Hampshire Fish and Game is working to catch Moose poachers in Northern New Hampshire. But earlier this fall, the department worked to catch two Canadians poaching over the US – Canadian Border.

Fish and Game officials are seeking tips from the public about who shot a moose last week off of Kilkenny Loop Road in Berlin. Conservation officer Geoff Youngblood says the moose sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and tracks in the snow show the shooter finished the job at point black range, and then walked away, taking no meat.

There’s a third wind farm in the works in the Newfound Lake Region. Portuguese Wind company EDP renewables is studying wind potential in the towns of Groton and Alexandria. The zoning board and selectmen in Groton have voted to allow EDP to install a meteorological tower, which is one of many steps on the road toward proposing a wind farm.

Bob Piehler – part of a group of activists from around Newfound lake opposes any new wind project in the region – says EDP showed a mockup of where the potential turbines could be placed.

Portsmouth has always been especially proud of its Memorial Bridge, and many residents are excited about the replacement. One group is so excited, they’re working to light the bridge up at night, just like many other iconic bridges around the country. But they’re hoping to do so in a way that’s got advocates for a dark night sky nodding in approval.

If you drive a little bit south on I-93, you know when you’ve hit Boston. Passing between cables of the Zakim Bridge – especially at night when they are lit in a ghostly blue – it’s how you know you’ve hit Beantown.

Higher Education officials and Business leaders gathered for a forum today on how to increase the number of New Hampshire STEM graduates – that’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. But while it was Community Colleges and Universities talking about the issue today, the lack of interest in STEM is a problem at every level of the American education system.

The University System of New Hampshire is asking lawmakers for $100 million dollars in annual state funding.

That’s more than twice what they were given in the previous budget.

Heads of the various state departments, and the presidents of the state’s universities went before budget writers today to present their initial requests for state funds.

Chancellor of the University System, Ed McKay, says he is cautiously optimistic that governor elect Maggie Hassan will make restoring the cuts from the last budget a priority.

Thanksgiving is all about the food and the traditional feast that includes turkey, potatoes, cranberries and of course, pie.  We traveled around the state to hear from some New Hampshire producers of those traditional holiday fixings. 

Small Time Bird Farming

The towns of Alexandria, Danbury, and Grafton are weighing if they want a 36 turbine wind farm along their ridgelines.

It’s a contentious decision the town of Lempster approved in 2007. That project has been operating for four years, and it's the closest thing New Hampshire has to an analog for the decision these three towns are now facing.

When representatives from the Spanish energy company Iberdrola Renewables  meet with people in Alexandria, Grafton and Danbury, it gets pretty heated.

With E-book sales outpacing print books, the days of the heavyweight backpack are numbered. In New Hampshire, thirty-three public schools banded together to purchase E-books instead of textbooks. Producer Sam Evans-Brown finds out why public schools are making the switch now, and why the long wait.

Advocates and opponents to the latest proposed wind-farm got to ask questions of Spanish renewable developer Iberdrola last night at a town-hall meeting in Grafton. Though opponents were by far the most vocal in attendance.

This was the first of three meetings this week that Iberdrola has scheduled presenting a proposal to build 36 wind turbines a ridge between the towns of Grafton, Alexandria, and Danbury.

E-books are now selling more copies than hardbound, print books, and the average public library e-book collection has expanded by 55 percent in 2010 and 75 percent in 2011.

For the past few months a number of proposed charter schools in New Hampshire have been in a sort of limbo, unable to formally apply to the state because of funding concerns in the Board of Education. Today the legislative fiscal committee took a step that might move the issue forward.

Brady Carlson: So Sam, for folks who haven’t been paying attention, bring us up to speed on the charter school situation.