What is the future of renewables in New Hampshire, and how can citizens help make it happen?
The future of renewable energy in New Hampshire will depend on community collaboration, smarter energy management and policy changes that support local projects, according to speakers at a Community Conversation on Wednesday hosted by the Monadnock Center for History and Culture and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.
Speakers said residents can support renewable energy by enrolling in demand response programs, using smart thermostats, supporting warrant articles for municipal projects, and advocating for policy changes such as higher net metering caps.
The panel featured Gabe Chelius, a circuit rider for Clean Energy New Hampshire; Jennifer Runyon of Eversource’s Demand Response Team; and Dan Weeks, vice president of business development for ReVision Energy.
Chelius said his organization helps municipalities and small businesses identify, plan and finance energy-saving and renewable-energy projects, and connects them with contractors, grant opportunities and model warrant articles. He said that some recent projects will generate substantial long-term savings for small businesses.
When asked by Monadnock Center for History and Culture Director Michelle Stahl about help specifically for nonprofits, Chelius admitted that there is not a lot of help for that sector in terms of grant funding, calling it the “biggest gap” in the funding opportunities that Clean Energy New Hampshire tracks.
“There simply aren’t enough programs to help them,” Chelius said. “It’s a huge issue; there’s a massive void.”
Runyon spoke about the purpose of the Demand Response Team, which she said was about taking demand off the grid during peak hours. She said that the entire grid is sized to meet its peak demand, even though it does not need that capacity most of the time.
“And so, if the peak demand keeps growing, we have to keep growing the grid,” Runyon explained.
Eversource’s voluntary demand response program allows the utility to make minor adjustments to participating residents’ smart thermostats or home battery systems during peak hours, typically early evenings in the summer.
“One person doing that is not going to save a lot of energy, but when you have 100,000, which demand response does, it makes a difference,” Runyon said.
Runyon said participation at scale reduces stress on the grid and can limit costly upgrades. Residents who enroll get a stipend — $50 for smart thermostats and $3,000 for eligible battery systems. Runyon said the company buys back battery power in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but not yet in New Hampshire, though the stipend is calculated to cover the average price of the electricity generated.
Weeks said New Hampshire trails neighboring states in solar adoption due to state policies.
“So it’s not geography, it’s not climate — it’s policy,” Weeks said.
One way to open up new solar projects is to increase the net metering cap for solar power generation for all systems. Weeks pointed to the state’s 1-megawatt cap on community solar projects for residential and commercial users. Larger systems up to 5 megawatts are allowed only for municipalities and school districts. Legislative efforts to raise those caps are underway.
Weeks also noted that the federal 30 percent solar investment tax credit, which has helped reduce the upfront cost of installations, expires at the end of the year, likely slowing small-scale solar development.
“We’re likely to see a lot less infrastructure built, paired with an increase in energy demand,” Weeks said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.