New Hampshire raids clean energy fund, jeopardizing solar program

“We had over 50 towns in our active project pipeline that would want to go after this funding,” Brock said. ​“We know the demand is there.”

The plan was to follow up with a permanent program paid for by the renewable energy fund. In the spring, the state energy department asked for comments on the proposed program and ideas about how to modify the approach used in the pilot.

The annexation of the renewable energy fund, however, could put an end to these plans, advocates said. With only $1 million available each year, there would not be enough money available to continue existing offerings like its nonresidential competitive grant program and rebates for wood pellet stoves at current levels. Adding an entirely new initiative may be a nonstarter.

“No one is telling us the program is dead, but it is possible that it will be impossible to run if there isn’t funding for it,” Brock said.

Neither the office of Gov. Kelly Ayotte nor the state energy department responded to requests for comment about the future of the program.

The first project completed under the pilot was a 26-kilowatt solar array atop the town hall in Kensington, New Hampshire, in the southeastern corner of the state and home to about 2,000 people. Kensington has an annual budget of just $2.6 million, so voters were unlikely to approve a nearly $100,000 investment, even if it promised savings in the long run, said Zeke Schmois, chair of the town’s energy committee. So the local solar boosters turned to the state.

The town received about $92,000 for the project. The final panels went up in early July, making Kensington the first place to complete an installation as part of the grant program. 

“This isn’t a solar farm, but it’s huge for a town like ours with such a small budget and such a small population,” Schmois said.

Kensington expects the installation to offset about 70% of the town hall’s annual electricity use, Schmois said. But those savings are just the beginning of the impact: The town historical commission was involved with the approval process and realized that modern solar panels can blend inconspicuously with roofing. The group is now eager to collaborate on future solar projects, Schmois said.

Other towns hope for similar benefits. Dublin, New Hampshire, received a grant of about $43,000 for a solar array that should meet all the town fire station’s power needs once it is installed later this summer, said Susan Peters, the chair of Dublin’s select board and founding member of its energy committee. She hopes the installation’s location along a major state highway will help normalize the idea of solar, and help build support for another project under consideration: a ground-mounted array near a capped landfill.

“The fact that we’re doing this project strengthens people’s interest,” she said.