SOURCE: fosters.com

It isn't easy being green: Bills seek to boost alternative energy use

New Hampshire lawmakers are considering several alternative energy bills this year.

One bill, HB 873, would require power companies to get alternative energy "certificates" starting next year in an effort to encourage the production of such energy.

Gov. John Lynch favors the bill and informed the Legislature of his support this month, said his spokesman, Colin Manning.

The governor also has joined a national effort to ensure 25 percent of state energy supplies come from renewable sources by 2025. The new standards would help reach that goal, Manning said.

The bill, along with several other environmental measures, is sponsored by Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, who chairs the Senate Energy, Environment and Economic Development committee.

She said New Hampshire would be the last state in New England to pass such legislation, and lawmakers have been able to learn from the policies enacted in other states.

The bill is expected to come to the floor this week, Fuller Clark said. It then will go before the Senate if passed.

"It's going to be one of the most important energy bills coming out of the Senate this year," she said.

Fuller Clark said it's important to end dependency on foreign oil for both security and economic reasons. New Hampshire can make renewable energy, she added, particularly biomass, wind and solar power.

The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association supports the bill. Jasen Stock, the association's executive director, said the legislation would provide economic opportunities for landowners with natural resources.

New Hampshire is the second-most forested state in the nation after Maine, Stock said. He called wood one of the state's most abundant sources of renewable power. There are six electricity-generating facilities in the state using wood chips.

About 20 other states have adopted similar laws, he said.

House Bill 880 calls for more study of the feasibility of making alternative energy using the state's natural resources. It specifically would look at the possibility of a bio-refinery.

The study, to be conducted by the Department of Resources and Economic Development, has an estimated $90,000 cost.

House Bill 855 would establish incentive payments for renewable energy generation facilities. The Public Utilities Commission would pay the facilities $2 per watt of energy generated annually, up to $4,000.

HB 689 would set up a commission to study the production and distribution of biodiesel fuel in New Hampshire. It would look into how much of the alternative fuel can be made in the state and how to encourage it.

Other bills would encourage solar, geothermal or wind power.

Rep. David Knox, R-Wolfeboro, is co-sponsoring HB 310, which would let municipalities regulate small wind energy systems. It also would let landowners use personal wind turbines for energy.

"This state and the people representing it are more pro-environment," he said. "They realize it's important for our survival."

One resolution, House Resolution 9, supports the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Several cities, including Dover and Portsmouth, have signed onto the effort, designed to reduce global warming through programs that include promoting new energy technologies.