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New Hampshire’s energy department is preparing to road-test a grant program meant to help disadvantaged cities and towns access the environmental and financial benefits of solar power.
The state plans to use $1.4 million from the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to help fund the installation of solar projects up to 60 kilowatts on municipal buildings or land. The grant will cover up to 95% of the costs of a qualifying solar project for lower-income cities and towns and 60% for other municipalities.
In addition to cutting carbon emissions, solar can also make a community more resilient in case of power outages. And using it to power municipal facilities can save money that can be reinvested in public projects or used to hold down property tax rates in the long-term.
The funding application has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy, and New Hampshire is now in “wait-and-see mode,” said Joshua Elliott, director of policy and programs in the state energy department.
The state is also looking at the program as something of a trial run, to see if it makes sense to continue and expand the grant offering in the future.
“We’re looking at this program as almost the guinea pig to see what demand is out there, what can we do, what we can improve,” Elliott said. “Then we’ll use this process to inform what potentially a [larger] municipal program could look like.”
As a whole, New Hampshire lags the region in solar adoption. The state ranks 41st in the country for installed solar capacity, behind even lower-population New England states like Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association. State policies to encourage solar are limited, with incentives for residential solar maxing out at $1,000 per project and rebates for commercial solar limited to $10,000.
On the municipal level, though, many New Hampshire cities and towns are very interested in solar power. For example, in Hanover, a more affluent town and the home of Dartmouth College, solar arrays provide nearly all the power used by municipal facilities. Smaller towns and those with lower average incomes, however, often have a harder time realizing their solar goals.
New Hampshire property owners already have one of the highest property tax burdens in the country, so proposing that the residents of small, disadvantaged towns pay more to install solar is a big ask, even if there could be financial benefits down the line. Beyond the issue of funding, there are the logistics: researching options, hiring consultants, assessing different grant options.
“If you have the idea that you want solar on the town hall, you have to go from the idea to the implementation,” said Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association. “For municipalities that don’t have that internal staff, it’s a significant lift.”
The grant program aims to lighten that burden. And to maximize the benefits these towns can achieve, the grant guidelines encourage municipalities to skip entering into leasing arrangements and instead buy their solar arrays outright, so they retain the rights to sell renewable energy credits.
“We want all of those benefits flowing to the community itself,” Elliott said.
Colebrook, a town of roughly 2,000 people just 10 miles south of the Canadian border, is looking at the grant program as a potential way to fund a solar array on the roof of its town hall. Tourism is the main economic driver in the remote and scenic town, and there is little industry and few high-paying jobs. The median household income in town is just over $48,000, well below the state median of $91,000.
“We can’t just go out and ask for $150,000 from the town to foot the bill” for a solar project, said Colebrook town manager Tim Stevens. “Any time you have to go back to the town and ask for more money than you did before, that has a negative impact on them.”
Hinsdale, a small town near the state’s southern border, has plans to open its transfer station full-time and hopes to build a solar array on the site to help power the operation. A recent report, however, found that most residents’ property taxes had increased between 25% and 48% between 2018 and 2022, making it challenging to ask for yet more money. And there’s a bridge in town that needs to be rebuilt and other pressing infrastructure issues.
“Unfortunately, solar is not on that priority list,” said Josh Green, Hinsdale’s community development coordinator.
He estimates that a 60-kilowatt array at the transfer station would cost about $260,000. With the grant, the town would only have to pay about $13,000 of that total tab.
“The solar grant would definitely help the town out tremendously,” Green said.
Though the planned grant program is modest in size — the total budget will likely be able to fund only a handful of projects — it is well-tailored to the needs of the state, said Melissa Elander of Clean Energy New Hampshire, a nonprofit advocacy group that has been working with municipalities in the northern part of the state to prepare for the launch of the grants.
“It’s a good fit to focus on smaller towns that often get forgotten in some of the larger grant programs,” she said. “I am thrilled that it’s going to be available at all.”
The cold spell that swept the U.S. last week brought surprise snow and cold to states that don’t usually see it, but it wasn’t exactly a winter wonderland for many electric vehicle drivers.
Freezing temperatures decreased EV battery ranges and reduced charger speeds, leading to long waits at some public chargers — and a whole bunch of headlines. The problem came to a head in Chicago, where temperatures well below zero led to hours-long waits at Tesla Supercharger stations.
I live in Buffalo, New York, and took my Subaru Solterra out in some chilly temperatures over the past few weeks, including to a nearby ski hill and a snow-buried Buffalo Bills game. I got everywhere I needed to be without trouble, though I did turn off my car’s heat at times to conserve my battery range and took some slower but shorter-mileage routes. And while there wasn’t a line at my closest Level 3 charger, I only got a few miles of range while charging as I grocery shopped.
Experts say small trip modifications like those, plus a little patience and prior planning, can keep EV drivers out of cold-weather potholes.
🌨️ Keeping the lights on: A top federal energy regulator says the recent wave of winter storms highlights the need for “equitable and forward-thinking transmission solutions” that ensure power plants and lines keep working in bad weather. (Utility Dive)
🌞 The Pentagon goes solar: The U.S. military will install rooftop solar panels on the Pentagon as part of a $250 million package to reduce emissions from federal buildings. (Associated Press)
🚛 Eastbound and electric: While few medium- and heavy-duty truck drivers are piloting electric models, many who do love their smooth handling and a lack of noise and fumes. (Washington Post)
☢️ Nuclear options: Despite growing public and governmental support for nuclear power, industry experts say it’s unclear when the next U.S. reactor may come online. (Canary Media)
🤫 Greenhushing: After rising greenwashing allegations, many companies are now keeping their climate work quiet, potentially decreasing pressure on big emitters to change their ways. (Grist)
🏗️ Cleaning up cement: Cement and concrete decarbonization startups partner to push for policies promoting low-carbon construction practices and products. (Canary Media)
🚢 Methane contradictions: Climate advocates say planned liquefied natural gas export terminals contradict the Biden administration’s promised efforts to crack down on methane emissions. (Canary Media)
TRANSMISSION: Indigenous tribal nations and advocates file a federal lawsuit seeking to block a southern Arizona section of the SunZia transmission project, saying it imperils cultural resources. (Associated Press)
ALSO: U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat, says the relatively burdensome federal permitting process for new transmission lines is holding back the clean energy transition. (news release)
OIL & GAS:
UTILITIES:
ELECTRIFICATION: Washington state lawmakers revive an effort to ban large utilities from connecting natural gas lines to new residential or commercial buildings, with some exceptions. (KIRO)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A Colorado city uses a state grant to purchase a second electric fire engine. (Daily Camera)
CLEAN ENERGY: Republican Utah lawmakers push back on federal moves to replace fossil fuel power plants with clean energy, saying it could harm reliability and increase electricity rates. (Utah News Dispatch)
COAL: A Wyoming county rezones portions of a Powder River Basin coal mine to facilitate repurposing infrastructure for other uses after the operation closes. (WyoFile)
CLIMATE: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green revives a proposal to enact a $25 climate impact fee on visiting tourists, estimating it would generate more than $68 million annually. (Honolulu Civil Beat)
WIND: California agencies publish a draft offshore wind strategic plan identifying suitable development sites and potential impacts. (Riviera)
BATTERIES: An energy storage firm plans to launch programs incentivizing residential solar-plus-battery system deployment in Los Angeles County. (PV Magazine)
Editor’s note: Menlo Park, California, has stopped enforcing its ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings. Friday’s digest mistakenly said Palo Alto was halting enforcement of the rules.
OIL & GAS: Climate advocates say planned export liquefied natural gas export terminals could negate the Biden administration’s promised efforts to crack down on methane emissions. (Canary Media)
ALSO:
CLIMATE: The Biden administration touts $1 trillion in climate achievements over the last three years — a number with unclear sourcing that far exceeds the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act. (E&E News)
GEOTHERMAL: Colleges across the northern U.S. are building geothermal systems equipped with ground-source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings without emissions. (New York Times)
ELECTRIFICATION: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to introduce an ordinance this week that would ban natural gas hookups in new buildings and homes, a climate strategy facing pushback from a powerful local union. (Sun-Times)
MINING: An Arkansas town that was once dotted with oil wells sees familiarity in Exxon Mobil and other companies’ plans to explore lithium production in the area. (Grist)
GRID:
PIPELINES: A forthcoming U.S. Justice Department brief will show the Biden administration’s view on how a 1977 energy treaty with Canada affects efforts to shut down the Line 5 pipeline in Michigan. (Canadian Press)
EFFICIENCY:
SOLAR: Solar installations for houses of worship became more appealing under the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which allows them to directly claim tax credits. (Interlochen Public Radio)
POLICY: Connecticut lawmakers were unable to pass most of the provisions outlined in major climate bills in 2023, despite extreme weather and regional policy progress. (CT Mirror)
ELECTRIFICATION: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to introduce an ordinance this week that would ban natural gas hookups in new buildings and homes, a climate strategy facing pushback from a powerful local union. (Sun-Times)
OIL & GAS: Ohio environmental groups are challenging a state commission’s claims that its decisions to allow oil and gas drilling in state parks and wildlife areas can’t be appealed in court. (Energy News Network)
SOLAR:
HYDROGEN: At a mini-village project site in Ohio, Dominion Energy is testing the potential of blending hydrogen and natural gas for appliances. (Spectrum News)
GRID: Federal regulators reject a proposed cap on MISO’s interconnection queue, saying it could hurt the grid operator’s ability to cover potential short-term supply shortfalls. (Utility Dive)
PIPELINES:
OIL & GAS: North Dakota officials estimate that as much as 700,000 barrels of oil production per day was lost over last week during historically low temperatures. (KFYR)
NUCLEAR: The University of Illinois hopes to secure funding and approval to build an on-campus nuclear reactor that would be allowed under a new state law lifting the state’s moratorium on nuclear construction. (Crain’s Chicago Business, subscription)
RENEWABLES: An Illinois Republican proposes a bill allowing counties to reinstate local wind and solar restrictions that were nullified under a 2023 law establishing statewide siting standards. (Ford County Chronicle)
BIOFUELS: The South Dakota Senate unanimously passes a bill allowing gas stations to claim a fuel tax refund of up to 5 cents per gallon of ethanol sold. (South Dakota Searchlight)
OIL & GAS: Tennessee Valley Authority, Duke Energy and Georgia Power — three of the Southeast’s biggest utilities — want to build more natural gas-fired power into their long range plans, despite the Biden administration’s hopes for more carbon-free energy. (E&E News)
ALSO:
OVERSIGHT:
UTILITIES:
SOLAR:
EFFICIENCY: A Democratic West Virginia lawmaker spotlights job creation in an effort to win more support for legislation to spur energy efficiency programs in the state. (Mountain State Spotlight)
WIND: A Virginia judge dismisses lawsuits trying to block a planned 13-turbine wind farm atop a mountain. (Roanoke Times)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
CLEAN ENERGY: A Virginia commission to promote economic growth in former tobacco-producing areas announces a matching grant program that could deliver up to $12 million for “high-impact” energy projects. (Cardinal News)
An Ohio commission is arguing its decisions last fall to allow oil and gas drilling under a state park and two wildlife areas are final and cannot be appealed.
Environmental groups challenging the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission say it failed to follow state law when it approved land parcels for leasing of drilling rights at Salt Fork State Park, Zepernick Wildlife Area and Valley Run Wildlife Area. Among other things, state law says the commission must consider nine factors in reaching its decisions, including environmental impacts, consequences for visitors or users of state lands, public comments or objections, economic issues, and others.
State lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss, claiming the court can’t review the decisions because the statute doesn’t expressly provide for judicial review.
The plaintiffs seeking to overturn the decisions, though, say the commission’s actions affect their rights and amounted to licensing, which can be appealed under the Ohio Revised Code.
“Our courts play a critical role in overseeing agency decisions to make sure agencies do not abuse the discretion and power the law gives them. Our lawsuit asks that the court provide that critical oversight here,” said Megan Hunter, an attorney with Earthjustice, on behalf of the plaintiffs. Those environmental groups are Save Ohio Parks, the Ohio Environmental Council, the Buckeye Environmental Network and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.
“Ohio statute has set up a system where an oil and gas company can hand-select those public lands it wants to lease and ask the commission for permission to move forward with the process for it to do so,” Hunter added. “The law places the commission in a gatekeeping role, making them the ones to determine whether an oil and gas company should be able to lease a particular state park or wildlife area.”
And while a winning bidder has to apply for permits to drill, Ohioans generally have no right to appeal permitting decisions, she said. “Therefore, the appeal from the nominations is when there is an opportunity for judicial review of the decision to drill under these state lands.”
Commission chair Ryan Richardson admitted that the commission would need to consider the nine statutory criteria in a Nov. 2 affidavit filed in a related case. Yet the commissioners did not discuss all nine factors at the public meeting where they voted to grant the proposals. Nor did they provide any written opinion explaining how they weighed the nine criteria.
“This is not the way justice is supposed to happen in Ohio or anywhere else in a democracy,” said Melinda Zemper, a member of Save Ohio Parks.
The case is further complicated by the commission’s insistence on moving ahead before the Ohio Attorney General’s office resolves an investigation into claims about allegedly falsified comments that favored fracking under state parks and wildlife areas.
“The [commission’s] decision to approve fracking in Ohio parks undermines core principles of good governance, for it occurred despite an ongoing investigation and enormous public pushback,” said Chris Tavenor, associate general counsel and managing director of democracy policy for the Ohio Environmental Council. The decisions also mean Ohio will be a less healthy place to live and have more greenhouse gas emissions, he said. As of 2021, the Energy Information Administration ranked Ohio fifth among states for total carbon dioxide emissions, he noted.
The commission’s failure to let citizens testify at its meetings also undermined the trust of Ohio citizens and denied them their rights to participate in the process, said Loraine McCosker, a co-founder and member of Save Ohio Parks. A separate lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of House Bill 507, which jump-started the challenged decisions, but where citizen groups had no chance to testify against its natural gas provisions after they were added through last-minute amendments in late 2022.
The appeal doesn’t automatically stay the public bidding period for the drilling rights, which began Jan. 3 and runs through Feb. 4. Spokesperson Andy Chow said the commission does not comment on pending litigation. However, he noted, the commission is currently working to schedule its next meeting to decide on the winning bids.
Once companies have secured drilling rights, they would be free to apply for permits to drill wells. Ohio law generally provides up to 21 days for review of those applications, except for urban areas, where a 30-day review period applies. The average review time generally has been running 15 to 18 days, Chow said. So, barring any stay from a court, well construction could start as early as this spring.
Briefing on the question wrapped up last week in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, and the state’s motion to dismiss is now ready for review by Judge Jaiza Page.
GRID: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Willie Phillips says recent winter storms highlight the need for “equitable and forward-thinking transmission solutions” to ensure long-term reliability. (Utility Dive)
ALSO: Texas’ power grid broke records for winter demand but withstood last week’s polar vortex, while a largely partisan debate continues over whether added renewables or natural gas facilities deserve more credit for avoiding outages. (Utility Dive, Inside Climate News)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES:
CLIMATE:
WIND:
OIL & GAS:
SOLAR: Tribal nations say Washington state’s solar permitting and siting process threatens cultural resources and Indigenous foodways by relying on often-inadequate developer-sponsored archaeological surveys. (High Country News)
UTILITIES: Xcel Energy wants time-of-use rates to be the default billing system for its Minnesota residential customers, proposing to double prices for power during peak late afternoon and early evening hours. (Energy News Network)
MINING: Advocates worry that a flurry of lithium, copper and other critical material mining proposals will further strain drought-stressed Southwestern water supplies. (Inside Climate News)
CLEAN ENERGY: A Michigan lawmaker says the timing of the federal Inflation Reduction Act was a significant reason why the state passed sweeping clean energy reforms last year. (Volts)
GAS: In Maine, a proposal to curtail future gas line expansions has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers, gas utilities and trade groups over consumer affordability and investment concerns. (Portland Press Herald)
ALSO: New York lawmakers want to end a law that requires utilities to connect new homes, businesses and industrial facilities to gas lines if they’re within 100 feet of an existing line. (Newsday)
BUILDINGS: In New York City, the final rules for building emission reduction policies at the state and local level continue to allow for wood-burning fireplaces and stoves, despite their emissions intensity. (Gothamist)
GRID: Grid tech startup NineDot Energy has raised $225 million in equity capital to develop community-scale battery storage projects in small, difficult to develop spaces in New York City. (Canary Media)
CLEAN ENERGY: A year after his swearing-in, Pennsylvania’s governor has yet to announce how the state will achieve his campaign goal of having 30% of all energy sales stem from renewable sources by 2030. (Capital & Main)
REGULATION:
NUCLEAR: The developers of a proposed data center want to build on the same site as the Millstone nuclear power plant in Connecticut and use electricity from it, but some critics have environmental, safety and flooding concerns. (CT Mirror)
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: A University of Delaware research team is working on new standards to help vehicle manufacturers adopt Tesla’s charging standard and make it easier to integrate vehicle-to-grid technologies. (Delaware News Journal)
SOLAR:
CLIMATE:
OFFSHORE WIND:
GRID: Texas’ power grid broke records for winter demand but withstood last week’s polar vortex, while a largely partisan debate continues over whether added renewables or natural gas facilities deserve more credit for avoiding outages. (Utility Dive, Inside Climate News)
ALSO:
POLITICS:
PIPELINES:
LITHIUM: ExxonMobil and other oil majors are beginning to return to Arkansas and other rural areas with fossil fuel histories in pursuit of lithium to supply the clean energy transition. (Grist)
SOLAR:
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric vehicle owners in Virginia line up to charge their cars out of worry a cold snap could sap their batteries. (WRIC)
UTILITIES: Kentucky isn’t among the states that restrict electric utility shutoffs during freezing weather, but customers do have avenues to obtain a hardship reconnection or set up payment plans. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
COMMENTARY:
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