We recently joined community leaders, residents and project partners at the groundbreaking for the Poverty Plains Solar Project in Warner. The site was once a gravel pit, but soon it will be home to the largest solar installation in our state, lowering electricity costs for all New Hampshire ratepayers and helping develop our state and local economies.
This project is a great example of how, when the right partners work together, we can all achieve meaningful results. It started with a compelling location but was then made possible by individuals, businesses and organizations willing to collaborate, including the Town of Warner, the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, Encore Renewable Energy and Eversource.
The Poverty Plains project will produce nearly five megawatts of power on roughly 20 acres of already disturbed land. In its first year, it is expected to generate enough electricity to serve about 1,000 homes. It does this without clearing forests or competing with farmland. It is a smart use of land that has already been worked over for decades.
Just as important as the site itself is the model behind it. Through the Community Power Coalition’s use of group net metering, towns, school districts and public entities will share in the benefits without needing to build their own individual arrays. This approach stabilizes energy costs, provides savings for their members and keeps more control in the hands of local communities.
Poverty Plains offers three clear lessons. First, New Hampshire can build meaningful solar projects. Second, cooperation among local officials, developers, utilities and community-
focused organizations can move good ideas from concept to reality without needing to turn them into political battles. Third, when communities take the lead on their own energy solutions, they gain stability and independence.
What stands out most is how deeply rooted this project is in local values. It is community-scale clean energy done right. We are re-developing local land that was formerly degraded, building local generation that does not depend on out-of-state fuels, and creating direct value for the people who live here. The Town of Warner is already benefiting, as evidenced by Encore’s recent contribution to the Beautification Committee. This funding is helping to improve the Town Hall walkway and step lighting, thereby enhancing the safety and accessibility of important civic events such as elections and Town Meeting. These improvements show what thoughtful development can bring to a host community.
The partnership behind this project is also a model for how our state can move forward. Developers, municipal leaders, and a statewide coalition worked side by side to bring this idea to life. The Community Power Coalition is helping municipalities lower their energy costs, choose cleaner energy and reinvest savings where they matter most. These are the kinds of practical, community-driven solutions that give residents choices and create long-term value.
We hope people across the state see this project not as a unique case but as a demonstration of what is possible. There are many more gravel pits, closed landfills and underused parcels that could be put to productive use with the same level of teamwork and foresight. If we keep building on this collaboration, we can create an energy future that is affordable, reliable and rooted right here at home. Poverty Plains is a reminder that when New Hampshire communities work together, we can make big ideas achievable.
Rep. Tony Caplan and Rep. Eileen Kelly represent Warner, Bradford, and Henniker.