In This Issue:

Stories & News:
-Power to the People, Don Kreis
-Profile High School Votes 91-6 for Solar
-Community Power Summit Brings Momentum to Opportunity for New Energy Paradigm
Policy Updates:
-SB166, Enables Community Power to Serve Net Metering Customers
-NHSaves Doubles Residential Weatherization Rebate
Events:
-Best of the BESS, 6/18, 1pm-4pm

See our Full Calendar of Events here.
Visit www.nhenergy.org for further resources.

LES is coordinated by

                                        Stories & News
                                    

Power to the People: Justice Alito is Right and Eversource is Wrong
New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Don Kreis' "Power to the People" column cautions that roadblocks from Eversource may impede progress on implementation of Community Power Aggregations.

"It would be ludicrous to interpret its 2019 opt-out aggregation bill as making opt-out aggregation impossible," writes Kreis, "But that’s exactly the position Eversource is taking." Read the full article here.

Profile High School Votes for 91 to 6 for New Solar Array.
Profile High School, which serves the five towns of Bethlehem, Easton, Franconia, Littleton, and Sugar Hill, voted overwhelmingly in favor of a 344 kilowatt solar array. The vote took place on Thursday, June 11th at 9:45pm. Melissa Elander, a member of the Ammonoosuc Regional Energy Team who participated in the effort, recounts the evening:

"The weather cleared and the light was beautiful, and it was actually nice to stand outside with neighbors and friends. The turnout was great and almost everyone stayed until the end to vote on solar (the last article) which was awesome and so encouraging!"

Ammonoosuc Regional Energy Team (ARET) is a group of citizens from Easton, Sugar Hill, Bethlehem, Franconia, and Littleton who encourage and support economically and environmentally sensible energy practices in the Ammonoosuc Region. ARET worked closely with the Profile School Board to develop the proposed solar array to offset nearly 100% of the school’s current electricity use. A competitive RFP was issued by the SAU office, and based on pricing and qualifications, the School Board unanimously approved the bid from Barrington Power to install and maintain the solar array.

The 344 kilowatt array will be financed through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which lets Profile purchase electricity at below-market rates. This enables the school to transition to clean energy at no upfront cost, and without raising taxes. Without this project, Profile's electricity costs would be projected to be roughly $2.5 million over the next 30 years. The solar project is estimated to save about $500,000.

Solar will allow the school to stabilize and predict energy costs, and solar can serve as a tool for education and be an example for students and the community. Profile joins 31 other schools in NH that produce energy from the sun.

Community Power Summit Brings Momentum to Opportunity for New Energy Paradigm
Cheshire County, the City of Lebanon, the City of Nashua, and the Town of Hanover played a leading role in a statewide Community Power Summit held on June 5th. The virtual event brought together over 70 local elected officials, town, city, and county staff, and energy committee members from over two dozen communities to network and learn about efforts to implement Community Power Aggregations. For more information visit www.communitypowernh.org .

Policy Updates

Senate Bill 166 Could Prove Key to Enabling Community Power Aggregations to Launch and Serve Net Metered Customers

Overview: Senate Bill 166, An Act Relative to Competitive Electricity Supplier Requirements Under Net Energy Metering, updates state policy to enable competitive electricity suppliers and community power aggregations to determine their own net energy metering programs for their customers.

Analysis: SB166 requires that electric distribution utilities properly account for electricity exported to the grid by net metered customer-generators (e.g., distributed solar) served by Community Power Aggregations and competitive suppliers. Some utilities account for net metered electricity by adding it to the amount of electricity that must be purchased from centralized power plants. This accounting does not comport with the physical reality of net metering and electricity flows on the grid. In the physical world, net metered electricity flows to the nearest point of demand, and reduces the amount of power a utility must purchase from distant power plants and wholesale markets, thus reducing wholesale costs of energy, capacity, and transmission.

Example of the Current (and Incorrect) Method of Utility Accounting of Net Metered Electricity:
- A competitive electricity supplier has customers with a total consumption load of 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) in a given hour.
- During the same hour, a customer-generator served by that competitive electricity supplier exports 100 kWh of solar to the grid.
- The most cost effective approach is for the supplier to buy 900 kWh at wholesale, and 100 kWh from the customer-generator, to meet the need of 1,000 kWh.
- Eversource requires that the supplier procure 1,000 kWh from the wholesale market which artificially inflates costs.

If community power aggregations and suppliers are forced to buy extra power from the wholesale market, despite net metering systems providing that power in a distributed fashion, costs will be higher, and not because of any actual physical cost, but because of an improper accounting of electricity that invents costs from nothing.

SB 166 makes clear that community power aggregations, along with competitive suppliers, can set their own terms for net metering for energy supply. The bill will add clarity to inform the Public Utilities Commission rule making process for Community Power, and enable more innovative and cost effective programs.

Call to Action: Contact your Senators and let them know SB 166 is key to enabling innovative and cost effective energy policy for New Hampshire. http://gencourt.state.nh.us/Senate/members/senate_roster.aspx

NHSaves Home Performance with ENERGY STAR
Doubles Rebate to $8,000

New Hampshire's residential weatherization (air-sealing and insulation) program, Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HpwES) (pronounced "hip-wiss") is doubling incentives for participants as follows:

Incentives for insulation and health and safety are increasing from 50% of project cost to 90%
Caps on incentives amounts per home increase from $4,000 to $8,000
- Over $8,000 in incentives are allowed with utility supervisor review
- New cap includes incentives for heating systems
Customers must install recommended electric savings measures in order to get weatherization incentives
Increased incentives are initially available for projects that are completed by November 15th, 2020.

Visit www.nhsaves.com

Want exclusive access to weekly policy emails and policy calls with Clean Energy NH experts? Email Brianna Brand <brianna@cleanenergynh.org> and become a member today.

Events

Best of the BESS:
Technology, Safety, & Siting in Energy Storage

Last Chance to Register!!!

When: Thursday, June 18th, 1pm - 4pm
Registration: https://www.universe.com/events/best-of-the-bess-technology-safety-siting-energy-storage-tickets-GY1XN2

Description: This event will provide a forum for education on large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) to ensure community leaders, policymakers, regulators, and developers are on a level playing field of knowledge when considering proposed storage projects in New Hampshire. Featured topics include an overview of common and emerging energy storage technologies, siting considerations and the development process, and safety. Learn why energy storage is such an important aspect of the clean energy future, how communities can approach energy storage proposals, and development challenges and opportunities, including pairing storage with renewable generation.

Featured speakers include:

Kate Epsen, ISO-New England
Jesse Stowell, Encore Renewable Energy
Timothy Stocker, SMA America
Gary Garfield, Garfield Environmental Management
Roger Krannenburg, Eversource
Joe Curtin, Sterling Municipal Light Department

This event is ideal for: energy storage developers, attorneys, representatives of financial institutions, city/town planners & planning board members, local energy committee members, fire chiefs/staff, select board members, town managers, city mayors, regional planning commission staff, regulators, legislators, solar developers, utility staff

Brought to you by: Clean Energy NH

See full events calendar here.

About the LES Work Group

Our mission is to provide collaborative guidance and technical support to Local Energy Committees & Commissions, municipalities, schools, and other political subdivisions seeking to reduce energy use, minimize energy costs, and/or reduce fossil-fuel consumption. Consider joining our efforts: contact Henry Herndon for more information on the LES efforts and opportunities for participation.

About Our E-Newsletter: The monthly Local Energy Solutions E-newsletter is compiled and distributed by Clean Energy NH on behalf of the LES Work Group. Learn more about Clean Energy NH.

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