Projects

Accomplishments

• The PEC implemented a project to have electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed in Peterborough's Riverwalk Parking Lot. PEC members researched options and pitched the idea to the town, who provided a site and implemented an RFP for services based on funding the PEC secured through a TIF district proposal. Funds for this effort were approved by town voters in July of 2020.  We worked with Seth MacLean, Peterborough's Public Works Director, as he researched RFP responses for the project.  In July of 2021, the Select Board approved a vendor and plan for the installation.  The project was completed on March 31, 2022.  For details about this project, click here. 

• The PEC joined Michelle Russell, a Hancock resident and a graduate of ConVal who had been advocating for solar panels on the roof of ConVal High School since 2017. Together we persuaded the ConVal School Board to approve a 300 kW solar array on the roof of Conval High School.  This project was approved by voters in Conval's nine towns on March 10, 2020.  The School Board unanimously approved a Power Purchase Agreement with ReVision on June 15, 2021.  For details about this project, click here. We are grateful for the strong community support that helped compel the board to act, including posting lawn signs and showing up and participating in Budget Committee meetings.

• At the covid-delayed July 14, 2020 Town Meeting, voters passed two warrant articles researched and drafted by the PEC.  The first authorized the spending of up to $35,000 from the Greater Downtown Tax Increment Finance District funds to support the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in the new Riverwalk Parking Lot.  The second asked our Select Board to notify our state and federal representatives that Peterborough's citizens want them to enact carbon-pricing legislation that will rebate the collected fees to the citizens on an equal basis.

• In November of 2019, the PEC sponsored a NHSaves Button Up workshop in Peterborough, to inform citizens about ways to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.  

• Members of the PEC helped found the Monadnock Energy Hub in January 2018, which merged with its fiscal sponsor the Monadnock Sustainability Network to form the Monadnock Sustainability Hub. The Hub program manager and Steering Committee gather information and organize events to promote electric vehicle, solarize and other clean energy events.

• PEC members gathered signatures for a May, 2018 offshore wind resolution asking Governor Sununu to make a formal request to the Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to form a Task Force and stakeholder process to plan for regional offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. In January, 2019, Governor Sununu made the request.  As of July 2021, there are 23 GW of wind energy projects proposed in the ISO-NE generator interconnection queue.

• Peterborough’s Community Development Director asked for our input on the drafting of the town’s new solar ordinance, which passed in May, 2018.  

Ongoing Projects

• Our work researching electric vehicles for Police vehicles and municipal vehicles resulted in the purchase of an F150 Lightening for the Peterborough DPW in 2023. Peterborough Police Department is also considering an EV based on our cost and savings analysis. The PEC is also considering other electrification initiatives like other municipal vehicles and electric school buses for ConVal. 

• Our chair is a member of the Peterborough Master Plan Steering Committee, which has completed its 2023 update including an update of the Vision Statement, Land Use chapters, and energy chapter of the town's Master Plan. She adds perspective and expertise on energy and sustainability issues. 

• The PEC supports Peterborough's commitment to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050, and looks forward to assisting the ad hoc Peterborough Renewable Energy Project Team (PREP) charged with implementing the plan to get there. 

• We have been asked to draft a warrant article requesting a property tax exemption for solar panels. Currently, the town has an informal exemption for solar installations but no formal exemption.  We support codifying this exemption. 

• We are in the process of supporting the use of renewable energy in Peterborough's planning of the new Fire Station and the DPW garage renovation.  We are researching how this can be done and how it can be financed.

• We are interested in promoting community solar arrays in Peterborough.

• We strongly support Community Power for Peterborough. Our Chair Emily Manns is a Community Power consultant for the Town's energy broker, Standard Power, and several members of the PEC are members of the Peterborough Community Power Committee. For more information about Community Power, click here.