In reference to Dave Brooks’ recent column “Concord has a chance to make a big climate move” it’s important to point out that banning gas hookups on new developments is not currently allowed under state law. The passage of SB 86 in 2021 holds that towns cannot stop “a person or entity from installing a safe and commercially available heating or other energy system of their choice” and specifically enumerated that this ban-on-bans protects anyone who is “a qualified and licensed distributor of oil, propane, natural gas, or other company or entity that supplies energy.”

This bill was championed by Democratic Senator Jay Kahn, now the Mayor of Keene. Practically speaking, if Concord residents or politicians want to champion electrification of new construction, their options are to 1) incentivize such projects or 2) show up to the statehouse and demand that state lawmakers not infringe upon their local control.

Sam Evans-Brown

Concord