House bill to prevent towns from promoting solar
A house committee has introduced a bill (HB 1002) that would no longer allow towns to promote residents to install solar arrays on their property. Approximately 135 towns and cities in New Hampshire have chosen to allow its residents to install solar in a property tax neutral manor that this bill would no longer allow. Our state has been a strong proponent of state rights against federal government mandates, but now this bill is trying to dictate to towns what they can and cannot do. This seems hypocritical.
We currently send millions of dollars of New Hampshire residents’ money out of state to purchase electricity or to purchase the natural gas, coal and petroleum needed for electric production within the state. Home grown solar is a way to keep the money in our state similarly to buying food produced by local farms. Why would our legislature want to not allow towns to incentivize this?