On June 26, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan signed into law S.B.99, legislation that calls for a review of how the state oversees the siting of energy facilities, including wind farms.
Under the legislation, the Office of Energy and Planning has to contract with an outside vendor to conduct a study of the state Site Evaluation Committee and its processes. According to Hassan, the study will evaluate factors such as ‘the role of the public and municipalities in the siting process, the need for funding and staffing of the Site Evaluation Committee, and the use of transportation rights of way for energy infrastructure.’ In addition, the law requires the committee to adopt new rules by Jan. 1, 2015.
‘To create jobs, reduce energy costs and strengthen our clean energy sector, we must pursue ways to strengthen our system for evaluating energy projects, especially to incorporate the evaluation of relative economic value and impact, while also recognizing and respecting the time, energy and investment that many businesses have already made in submitting proposals for new energy projects in our state," Hassan says.
