At UNH Forum, Shaheen Shifts Left On Energy, Hits DiLorenzo Over Natural Gas

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

Stefany Shaheen’s transformation from establishment Democrat to progressive activist continued at a University of New Hampshire forum Monday evening as she moved left on energy policy. Her position puts Shaheen, daughter of establishment icon U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, to the left of many in her party who are moving toward an “all-of-the-above” energy policy as consumer costs rise.

Asked about energy policy by Kevin Sullivan, a UNH alumnus and associate editor of The Washington Post, Shaheen threw her support behind green energy technology and the billions in subsidies the Biden administration poured into it.

“We’ve got to restore the tax incentives that were cut from the disastrous budget bill that was passed last year that cut incentives for wind and solar,” Shaheen said. “Not only did they cut the incentives, but they are now taxing wind and solar.”

(A proposed excise tax on wind and solar was removed from the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” There is no specific federal tax on wind or solar energy.)

Shaheen also went out of her way to hit her GOP opponent, Anthony DiLorenzo, over his support for expanding natural gas pipelines into New England.

“He’s talking about building a gas pipeline. I’ve heard him talk about fracking,” Shaheen said. “None of that’s going to help the man I talked to on Saturday help his parents afford their heating oil.”

That’s a shift for Shaheen, who was on WMUR during the early days of the NH-01 campaign supporting pipelines and other fossil fuel options.

When WMUR’s Adam Sexton asked whether she would support a new pipeline bringing natural gas to New Hampshire, Shaheen said she supported “keeping all options on the table,” including the pipeline.

“Ultimately, I think electricity costs and energy costs are way too high in New Hampshire, and we have to keep all options on the table,” Shaheen said. “I’d need to better understand where the pipeline was coming from and what kind of disruption it would cause, but I think we need to be open to all options that would address climate challenges and energy costs.”

During the same forum, DiLorenzo reiterated his support for cheap natural gas from Pennsylvania to lower costs for Granite Staters.

“Pennsylvania is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. It’s the cleanest-burning fossil fuel there is,” DiLorenzo said. One of his first priorities in Congress would be to build support for lowering the barriers blue states like Massachusetts and New York have put up to block pipelines to northern New England.

“I’ve already talked to Secretary of Energy (Chris) Wright about it. I’ve talked to two congresspeople from Pennsylvania about it, and I’m starting to build a coalition of people that will help me with that initiative of bringing a pipeline in.”

Wright was in New Hampshire in August, when he made the point that the lack of access to energy is putting New England at risk of blackouts during harsh winter weather.

At peak demand during a storm in January 2026, Wright said that only 2% of the state’s electricity supply came from wind, solar, and batteries combined. Another 3% came from burning trash and wood, with 9% being hydropower imported from Canada.

“The biggest source of electrical generation at that time was burning oil because there’s not enough gas pipelines in New England,” Wright said. “When it gets cold, gas gets diverted to heat homes, and there’s not enough for the power plants.”

Wright’s remarks were echoed by DiLorenzo, who also reiterated his support for a natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire.

“We don’t have access to natural gas via a pipeline because our neighboring states, Massachusetts and New York, won’t let us have that,” DiLorenzo said. “That would significantly reduce our energy costs and bring a significant supply of energy.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.