We thank Mayor Kendall Lane for joining other mayors in asking for an override of Governor Sununu's veto of SB446. We also hope that he will publicly oppose Liberty Utilities' plans for horizontal directional drilling under the Ashuelot River for a fracked gas pipeline.
Keene's planner has continued to tout natural gas as a #bridgefuel, despite knowing it will increase #climatechange impacts.
"Keene Mayor Kendall W. Lane is one of 13 New Hampshire mayors who have signed on to a letter urging state legislators to override Gov. Chris Sununu’s recent vetoes of two Senate energy bills.
One of those bills, SB 446, would have expanded the state’s net-metering program. The other, SB 365, would have required utility companies to purchase power from New Hampshire’s independent biomass power plants.
“We believe strongly that clean and local renewable energy and greater efficiency in how we use all energy will be vitally important to our cities’ future economic vitality and environmental quality,” the letter reads. “As such, we favor policies enacted at the state level that reinforce existing renewable electric generation, foster expansion of new renewable energy technologies through net metering, and greater investments in efficiency.”
"In Lane’s telling, SB 446 would allow the city to pursue large-scale solar projects that save taxpayers money and cut back on the city’s emissions.
Citing the City Council’s recent approval for a 662-kilowatt solar arrayset to be built on the rooftop of the city’s police and public works departments, Lane said raising the net-metering cap would allow officials to pursue even larger projects. He referenced past discussions about potential arrays at the city-owned Dillant-Hopkins Airport in North Swanzey and the transfer station on Old Summit Road, among other locations.
“Expanding the limits on net metering is critical for those projects to go forward,” he said."
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