Every NH GOP senator voted in January to strip noise limits and power checks from a data center bill. A construction lobby’s political action committee has since sent $24,700 to 12 of them.
All 16 Republicans in the New Hampshire Senate voted on Jan. 29 to strip restrictions out of a bill meant to rein in data centers.
That same day, Nashua Republican State Senator Kevin Avard’s campaign recorded a contribution from a construction industry lobbying group backing the construction of data centers in the state.
Since the day of the vote, the political action committee (PAC) for the New Hampshire Home Builders Association, a construction industry lobbying group on record at the bill’s hearing, has sent $24,700 to 12 Republican state senators, according to campaign finance reports.
One of the group’s lobbyists, Republican strategist Periklis Karoutas, received a no-bid public relations contract from New Hampshire’s court system.
Karoutas’s political consulting firm has also collected more than $440,000 since 2020 from the campaigns of four senators who voted for the data center bill.
The PAC’s biggest checks this year were $5,000 each, in July, to Senate President Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) and Sens. Keith Murphy (R-Manchester) and Howard Pearl (R-Loudon)
What did the Senate change?
Senate Bill 439 started as a Democratic bill from Sen. Debra Altschiller of Stratham. As written, it would have:
- Limited data centers to commercial and industrial zones
- Kept their noise within 5% of normal background levels at the nearest residential property line
- Kept mechanical and electrical equipment at least 150 feet from roads and homes
- Blocked approval until the local power company confirmed in writing it had enough electricity for the project
- Let local planning boards add their own standards
At the bill’s Senate hearing in January, the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire was the only group on record against it, according to the committee’s hearing report. Its lobbyist called the proposed limits “completely arbitrary.”
A Senate committee amendment from Sen. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton) removed the noise limit, the setbacks, and the power check. It also required towns to allow data centers in all of their commercial and industrial zones, with local zoning rules still applying.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association, which represents cities and towns, opposed that change because it overrode towns’ freedom to choose where data centers can go.
The Senate adopted Lang’s amendment 16-8 on Jan. 29, with all 16 Republicans voting yes and all eight Democrats voting no. It then passed the bill by the same margin.
Altschiller asked House lawmakers in April to put her original protections back.
How much did the construction lobbyists give?
NH Build PAC, the home builders’ PAC, has given $46,200 to Senate Republicans since June 2024. That’s $34,200 to 14 of the 16 senators who voted for Lang’s amendment, plus $12,000 to the NH Senate Republicans PAC, which raises money for the caucus.
More than half of that money came on or after the day of the data center vote.
Avard’s campaign recorded a $250 contribution from the PAC dated Jan. 29, the day the Senate voted. Sixteen more contributions followed this year, for a total of $24,700 to 12 Republican senators. That includes $1,500 in August to Lang.
Who is Periklis Karoutas?
Karoutas is a longtime Republican strategist and a registered lobbyist for the home builders association, according to the state’s lobbyist registry. He runs a Concord lobbying firm, Legislative Solutions, and a political consulting company, Strategic Alchemy.
In July, New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) reported that the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, which runs the state’s courts, hired Karoutas without letting anyone else compete for the job. The contract pays him $10,000 a month for communications work as the courts have faced a flurry of outside scrutiny for corruption and misconduct during his tenure.
The courts paid him $70,000 in April. Karoutas told NHPR the court deal isn’t a lobbying contract, and he said he didn’t lobby lawmakers on two court-related bills this session. He doesn’t list the Judicial Branch as a client on the state lobbying registry.
NHPR also reported that Karoutas counts several Republican senators as clients, including Sens. Tim Lang, Kevin Avard and David Rochefort. A major Senate Republican fundraising committee has paid him more than $147,000 over two years, making him its largest recipient.
His consulting firm, Strategic Alchemy, has been paid by the campaigns of Avard, Murphy, Sen. Denise Ricciardi and Sen. Dan Innis, according to campaign finance reports. Avard’s campaign alone has paid the firm more than $150,000 as recently as Sept. 12.
What happened to the bill?
In the House, Republicans on the Municipal and County Government Committee went further than the Senate. Their amendment, from Republican Reps. Diane Pauer and Keith Ammon, would have barred towns from passing any rules aimed specifically at data centers. It also would have let data centers go up without special permission in commercial and industrial zones.
The committee backed that version 11-9 along party lines on May 5.
Nine days later, on Ammon’s own motion, the full House voted 304-11 to table the bill, setting it aside. It died when the session ended Aug. 19.
What are state leaders proposing now?
Data centers have turned into a political fight in New Hampshire this year. A proposed project in Nottingham was withdrawn in May after widespread public pushback, and Eversource is studying a large new power hookup in Bow for a possible data center.
Ayotte said in September she would seek a multiyear statewide moratorium in her next budget. It couldn’t take effect before July 2027. House Democrats plan to propose a 24-month moratorium next year.
Altschiller has said she plans to bring back her original bill.
