NH Business: Fewer NH homes & businesses use solar to generate electricity than ME, VT, MA. Why ?
On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Dan Weeks, the Vice President, business developer and employee owner of Revision Energy, to discuss solar energy in New Hampshire
Updated: 9:59 AM EST Jan 28, 2024
BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE LAW MANDATES THAT 25.2% OF THE STATE’S ELECTRICITY COMES FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES. BY 2025, ONE YEAR AWAY. ELECTRIC PROVIDERS HAVE WAYS TO COMPLY WITH THAT LAW, AND SOLAR IS ONE OF THEM. BUT SOLAR ISN’T YET A MAJOR WAY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND HERE ARE SOME NUMBERS THAT SHOW THE PERCENT OF ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR BEING USED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND OUR SURROUNDING STATES. AND ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR BY STATE MASSACHUSETTS. YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBERS VERMONT, MAINE, MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. AND LOOK AT THAT NUMBER. AND NOW A GRAPH. A HOME IS POWERED BY SOLAR BY THE STATE. MASSACHUSETTS. AND THAT INCLUDES ROOFTOPS AND SOLAR FARMS, SOLAR FARMS, MAINE, VERMONT, AND THERE’S NEW HAMPSHIRE. YOU CAN SEE THE NUMBERS. SOLAR PANEL COSTS IN 2024. THE AVERAGE COST IS 16,000 OR BETWEEN 4600 TO 34,000, DEPENDING ON THE TYPE AND MODEL AND THE BALANCE OF THE SYSTEM REQUIRED TO OPERATE. SO WITH ME TO EXPLAIN WHY NEW HAMPSHIRE IS BEHIND MAINE, VERMONT AND MASSACHUSETTS IN THE USE OF SOLAR, IS DAN WEEKS, VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYEE OWNER OF REVISION ENERGY, LOCATED IN BRENTWOOD, THE UPPER VALLEY, SOUTH PORTLAND AND NORTH ANDOVER, MASS. WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE IN THE STUDIO. THANK YOU, FRED. GREAT TO BE BACK. LISTEN, IS THE THE PRICE OF SOLAR OR NEW HAMPSHIRE’S PUBLIC POLICIES OR PERMITTING THAT STANDS IN THE WAY OF MORE SOLAR USE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE? YEAH, IT’S A GOOD QUESTION. FIRST OF ALL, AS A PROUD GRANITE STATER, I LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS. NEW HAMPSHIRE IS A LITTLE OVER 1% OF OUR ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR NEIGHBORING STATES OVER 20%. IT’S A LITTLE BIT SURPRISING, A LITTLE BIT DISAPPOINTING, TO BE HONEST. I THINK OF US THE LIVE FREE OR DIE STATE AS LIVE FREE AND GENERATE AS WELL. WANTING TO BE SELF-RELIANT. BUT IN TERMS OF OUR POWER, THE REASON IT IS NOT IS INTEREST FROM ACTUAL GRANITE STATERS. MY TEAM AND I GET TO SPEND TIME EVERY DAY TALKING TO FAMILIES, TO BUSINESSES, TO MUNICIPALITIES, AND THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF INTEREST IN REDUCING THEIR ENERGY COSTS AND BEING MORE SUSTAINABLE AND SELF-RELIANT. WHAT’S STANDING IN THE WAY AND I HAVE THE BENEFIT OF WORKING ACROSS THE REGION AS OUR AS A COMPANY AND WE SEE THE DIFFERENCES IN HOW STATES AND LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES CHOOSE THE POLICIES THEY HAVE IN PLACE, THE RESTRICTIONS THEY PUT IN PLACE. AND NEW HAMPSHIRE IS UNFORTUNATELY A BIT OF AN OUTLIER. OUR NET METERING POLICY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS THIS ARBITRARY CAP. MOST SYSTEMS CAN’T GO ABOVE ONE MEGAWATT IN ALL OF OUR NEIGHBORING STATES. THEY CAN GO UP TO FIVE MEGAWATTS. THAT MEANS FOR RENTERS OR BUSINESSES THAT CAN’T NECESSARILY DO SOLAR ON THEIR OWN ROOF, BUT WANT TO BE PART OF A LARGER PROJECT, THEY CAN’T GET THOSE ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND ONE OF THOSE POLICIES THAT MAKES SOLAR ATTRACTIVE IS NET METERING. AND LET ME PUT UP A DEFINITION OF THAT ON THE SCREEN SPECIAL METER THAT YOU HAVE REGISTERS THE FLOW OF ELECTRICITY AND THE RETAIL COSTS, THE CREDITS CUSTOMERS, THEIR RETAIL COSTS FOR ANY UNUSED SOLAR GENERATION, THE UNUSED SOLAR GENERATION GOES BACK TO THE GRID. NOW, DAN, AS YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE MAJOR UTILITIES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, JUSTRILLIONECENTLY ENDORSED THE STATE’S NET METERING SYSTEM. HOWEVER, CRITICS. SAY THAT IT SHIFTS THE COST TO CUSTOMERS WHO DON’T USE RENEWABLE ENERGY. WHAT SAY YOU? YEAH, IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT DEBATE. IT CAN GET A LITTLE INTO THE WEEDS. I’LL TRY TO KEEP IT SIMPLE, BUT THIS HAS BEEN DEBATED FOR YEARS IN CONCORD. WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE VALUE OF A UNIT OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED ON MY ROOFTOP THAT GETS SENT ACROSS THE WIRES TO MY NEIGHBORS TO USE WHEN WHEN THEY NEED EXTRA POWER, RIGHT. AND WHILE THERE WAS A LOT OF BACK AND FORTH OVER YEARS, FORTUNATELY WE BIT OVER A YEAR AGO NOW, THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY COMPLETED AN EXPERT STUDY OF THE EMPIRICAL VALUE COST, AND BENEFITS OF DISTRIBUTED SOLAR GENERATION TO THE REST OF THE RATEPAYERS. AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS A BIT SURPRISING FOR FOLKS WHO HAD BEEN OPPOSING THE GROWTH OF RENEWABLES FOR A WHILE. THEY FOUND THAT THE BENEFITS TO RATEPAYERS AT LARGE ARE QUITE SUBSTANTIAL AND ARE WELL ABOVE WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING COMPENSATED BY NET METERING. OKAY, AND THAT IS A KEY DIFFERENCE. WHEN WE GO BACK TO THE ONE 1% OF NEW HAMPSHIRE VERSUS 20% THAT THE VALUE YOU GET IN NEW HAMPSHIRE IS A LOT LESS THAN IN THOSE OTHER STATES. LET ME ASK YOU A FINAL QUESTION BRIEFLY. CAN THE STATE MEET THAT MANDATE IN LAW OF 25.2% OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED BY RENEWABLE ENERGIES BY NEXT YEAR, WE CAN GET THERE AND WE HAVE OTHER RENEWABLE RESOURCES HYDRO, BIOMASS THAT ARE HELPING US GET THERE. THE TRUTH IS, THOUGH, WE CAN GO FAR BEYOND THAT AND THAT’S THE INTEREST WE SEE FROM CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY. THE EXAMPLE OF NEIGHBORING STATES. SO NEW HAMPSHIRE CAN GO WELL TO 50% AND BEYOND. IF WE CHOOSE, IF WE MAKE IT A PUBLIC POLICY AND WE LEAVE IT THERE. DAN WEEKS, VICE PRESIDENT AND AND EMPLOYEE OWNER OF REVISION ENERGY, THANKS A LOT. THANK YOU. AND IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING ON SOLAR ENERGY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND TH
NH Business: Fewer NH homes & businesses use solar to generate electricity than ME, VT, MA. Why ?
On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Dan Weeks, the Vice President, business developer and employee owner of Revision Energy, to discuss solar energy in New Hampshire
Updated: 9:59 AM EST Jan 28, 2024
New Hampshire state law mandates that 25.2 % of the state’s electricity comes from renewable sources by the year 2025.Electric providers have ways to comply with that law and solar is one of them…but solar is not yet a major way in the Granite State.There are over 37,000 homes in New Hampshire powered by solar power, with the cost of solar panels starting at an average cost of $16,000, depending on the type, model and balance of the system required to operate. On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Dan Weeks, the Vice President, business developer and employee owner of Revision Energy, to discuss why New Hampshire is behind other states like Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts in the use of solar energy.
New Hampshire state law mandates that 25.2 % of the state’s electricity comes from renewable sources by the year 2025.
Electric providers have ways to comply with that law and solar is one of them…but solar is not yet a major way in the Granite State.
There are over 37,000 homes in New Hampshire powered by solar power, with the cost of solar panels starting at an average cost of $16,000, depending on the type, model and balance of the system required to operate.
On this segment of New Hampshire’s Business, Fred Kocher sits down with Dan Weeks, the Vice President, business developer and employee owner of Revision Energy, to discuss why New Hampshire is behind other states like Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts in the use of solar energy.