Net metering – paying rooftop solar for electricity that gets exported to the grid – has been a political punching bag in New Hampshire for years. And it still is, reports New Hampshire Bulleting (full story is here).
At a May 4 open house at a nearly complete, 5 megawatt solar array in Warner, developer Chad Farrell, president and founder of Encore Renewable Energy, echoed the idea that the uncertainty surrounding New Hampshire’s net metering policy future was a barrier to companies like his own.
A typical 5 megawatt project requires about $10 million in capital investment, though that number varies widely, Farrell said that day. To secure financing, developers rely on a fixed-price contract: In the case of the array on Warner’s Poverty Plains Road, that takes the form of a 20-year contract with the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire, which has agreed to buy power from the array for that term. “We do need that for financing. There’s no way we can finance a project that’s got a floating rate unless we establish some form of a floor,” Farrell said.
The uncertain future of net metering past 2040, therefore, leaves the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire facing some risk, Director of Projects and Programs Mark Bolinger said.
