The New Hampshire Senate Thursday put an end to one effort to expand energy efficiency funding in the state.
They voted down a bill regarding how the state spends money from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.
The proposal, which had passed the House, would have gotten rid of the RGGI rebate for residential ratepayers.
It would have put all those proceeds instead toward the state's chronically under-funded efficiency programs, especially for low-income homes and schools.
Melissa Birchard of the Conservation Law Foundation says the Senate’s defeat of the bill goes against Gov. Chris Sununu's new energy policy, which says efficiency should be a priority to help lower people's bills.
"We do need to see Gov. Sununu standing behind those statements, and urging lawmakers to put their money where their mouth is on energy efficiency,” she says.
Without more funding for efficiency upgrades, she says, New Hampshire risks increasing its share of the region's per-person power load – which would drive up the state's energy bills in the long run.
Read the Conservation Law Foundation's comments on Sununu's 10-year energy strategy:
