Energy Committee 101

How to Start an Energy Committee - 

• Determine what the structure of your municipal government is

  • Are you a Town, City, Village, etc. ​

  • What does your town government consist of? Do you have a Mayor, Alderman, Select-board? 

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• Familiarize yourself with what an Energy Committee is, and why they exist - Take a look at our fact sheet on SB 189 -

  • NH Energy Commissions and Committees Fact Sheet

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• Your Municipality may adopt or rescind an energy Commission at any appropriately warned meeting

  • According to the RSA, what purpose do Energy Commissions serve and what are their duties?

  • Energy Commissions can be created for the purpose of study, planning, and utilization of energy resources for municipal buildings and built resources. 

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Strategies for Local Energy Action - 

• Come together around a specific project - find examples on our Case Studies Page

• Start and maintain a contact/mailing list

  • We are here to help you connect with nearby towns and organizations that have energy committees, or are interested in helping local energy committees, contact us for more info!​

• Communicate with your select-board or town governing body - they should know who you are and why you want to start an energy committee before it comes up for a vote!

• Partner with clean energy businesses to promote action (negotiate discounts, demo days, informational events)

• Brainstorm possible projects, then use a scorecard to narrow it down to 1 or 2. That’s better than a scattershot approach.

• Talk about different ways of approaching projects, Action-based vs Education-based

• Host an electric vehicle, weatherize, clean energy, environmental fair to get the word out, and get people interested!

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