The New Hampshire state Senate on Thursday advanced a plan to require utility investment in large offshore wind energy projects and other renewable sources. The proposal for what's known as a "procurement program" passed on a bipartisan 23 to 1 vote.

The amended bill would have a new state committee solicit proposals from New Hampshire utilities for connecting the regional grid to at least 600 megawatts of new offshore wind on the East Coast, and up to 800 megawatts of renewables total - two-thirds the output of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant.