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Lawmakers Weighing Wind Permit Changes

Donna Hiltz
/
NHPR

  The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee kicked off a summer’s worth of work to reform the way the state evaluates proposals for new power plants Tuesday. They heard a whole day’s worth of testimony about wind energy. 

Speakers at the wind forum talked about wind farms’ impacts on wildlife, the grid, and the health of people who live near them. The discussion closed with a presentation on possible changes to the process by which wind projects get a permit.

Republican Representative Skip Reilly, who this session sponsored a bill to impose a moratorium on wind farms thought the days forum had good information on both sides of the issue. "The towns themselves should play a good role in this," he said after the forum, "And the townspeople who are going to be impacted this."

Some of the ideas discussed included  giving towns control over energy projects smaller than 50 megawatts, or adding a local representative to the state committee that considers energy permits. Several bills that could include these or other changes have been held by lawmakers in the House of Representatives for more work over the summer.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.

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