CHAPTER 481 STATE DAMS, RESERVOIRS AND OTHER WATER CONSERVATION PROJECTS
General Provisions
Section 481:8
481:8 Contracts. –
I. The department, in order to make the project so far as possible self-liquidating and self-supporting, shall make contracts in the name of the department with persons or corporations as may be specially benefited by the project, including users of water in and outside the state for power or other purposes, covering the terms under which the persons or corporations shall pay for the benefits. No contract shall extend for more than 50 years from the completion of the project. The compensation for the use of stored water or other benefits created by the projects shall be made equitable as among different users. All contracts shall benefit and bind the contracting users and their successors in title to the dams, water and flowage rights, generating plants, mills, or other real estate constituting the property on account of whose benefit the compensation is payable. All contracts entered into by the department for the construction of a project or for the use of stored water must be approved by the governor and council.
II. If the department undertakes a project in which the electricity is to be generated at the dam or reservoir site, the department, for the purpose of making the project so far as possible self-liquidating and self-supporting, shall make contracts with developers or operators of the hydro-energy production facility as the department may determine to be best qualified or with such users or distributors of the mechanical or electrical power generated by the facility as the department may determine to best serve the interests of the state. The contracts shall include terms under which the persons shall make full and proper restitution to the state. No contract with an operator, user, or distributor of electrical or mechanical power shall extend for more than 50 years from the completion of the project. All contracts with an operator, user, or distributor of mechanical or electrical power shall benefit and bind their successors in interest. All contracts entered into by the department under this paragraph shall be subject to the approval of the governor and council.
III. Notwithstanding paragraphs I and II, all contracts shall provide that in the event of a shortage crisis, as determined by the governor and council, in either the water resources of the state or the capacity to fulfill the electrical requirements of the state, the governor and council may suspend the terms of contracts which provide services outside of the state to fulfill the needs and requirements of the citizens of New Hampshire.