I read with disappointment the governor’s letter vetoing two bills that would have boosted local renewable energy generation in New Hampshire — biomass and small commercial solar projects under 5 MW. Here are a few reasons why his reasoning was flawed, and the Legislature should overturn his veto.
Under the guise of stable energy supply, there are efforts afoot to force utility ratepayers to pay for new gas infrastructure, justified by the now-familiar “too cheap to meter” argument. But new gas pipelines face fierce local opposition, steeply increasing construction costs due to steel tariffs and the likelihood of carbon restrictions including carbon taxes.
A week ago, the conservative group Americans for Carbon Dividends announced a campaign to enact a $40 per ton cost for carbon, $40! Not to get off track, but this is truly amazing. Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke are among the many heavy-hitting backers of this market solution. The money raised goes back to households, thus the dividend, rather than a tax slush fund.
The dollars spent on biomass, commercial solar under 5 MW, and other local distributed energy resources go into local pockets: New Hampshire workers, taxpayers, homeowners, business owners — not to political campaigns, to fuel costs for out-of-state, dirty, fracked gas or for profits to Connecticut shareholders.
Call your representatives and demand local clean distributed energy solutions like biomass and solar projects under 5 MW. And then call a solar contractor to see if you can generate your own electricity or join a solarize campaign.
Sincerely,
Emily Manns
Peterborough
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