05/02/2023 EC Minutes

Bethlehem Energy Commission

MINUTES from Tuesday May 2^nd, 2023

 

Attending: Chuck Phillips, Scott Caisse, David Van Houten, Bruce Caplain (remote); Melissa Elander and Gabe Chilius of Clean Energy NH.

 

Agenda

Mission: The Bethlehem Energy Commission encourages and supports economically and environmentally sensible energy practices in Bethlehem, NH.

Minutes from April meeting David made motion to accept, Chuck seconded motion. 3-0 yes.

 

Public Input: Energy committee member from Franconia in attendance. Tiffany and Alexander Graziano of Bethlehem were in attendance and discussed plans to start a new Solarize campaign for Bethlehem and surrounding communities. Plans were made for a new Solarize group to be formed, and have their first meeting June 6^th, directly after the BEC meeting. Barry Z. asked about the group looking into legislation that allows for towns to give property tax incentives to property owners for installing L2 + L3 chargers.

 

Town Solar Project: Eversource installed the transformer since the last meeting and the BES array is now live.

 

Village District: The town of Bethlehem decided that the $50k in Grafton County funds that could have been used for this effort should be spent on a fire truck for the town. The Village District is looking to apply for a separate $50k of funds from Grafton County for the solar project. Also looking into a Northern Borders grant for possibly $100k.

 

Potential solar contractors looking to bid on the project are having walkthroughs the week of May 2^nd. So far two parties are interested in bidding.

 

Solarize Main Street: REAP grants were discussed. There would have to be a separate application for each business, and the plan would be to do 2 to 4 application per quarter. Each business wilil need a SAM (System for Award Management) number for the application, which is something that can be done ahead of time. Also waiting on Senator Shaheen’s office for more information on Congressionally Directed Spending that could be used for this project.

 

Solar Tax Exemption: Goal is still to have a draft wording by fall. There was discussion about sizing by dollar value, or by kWh for the new wording, and where the cutoff point might be between a residential and commercial installation.

 

EV Chargers: At the May 1^st selectboard meeting, the proposed plan of signing a letter of intent with Revision Energy for research into the EV charges was voted down.

 

Next Meeting Date: Tuesday June 6^th, 6PM at the Bethlehem Library. David to Chair.

 

Adjourn at 7:30PM

 

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BEC ADMINISTRATIVE Information

 

Bethlehem Energy Commission (BEC) is appointed by the Select Board. All meetings are open to the public.  Clerical Assistant Nicole McGrath ensures that BEC meeting notices, agendas, and minutes are posted as they become available.

 

To find BEC info go to: www.bethlehemnh.org

-go to government tab

-our committee is listed under the: boards and committees tab

-our meetings are posted through Nicole on: agendas and minutes tab

 

LIVE solar tracking

Profile High School Solar Generation

https://solarlog-web.net/32960/

 

Bethlehem Elementary School Solar Generation

Coming soon

 

Bethlehem Library Solar Generation

Coming soon

 

Bethlehem Highway Garage Solar Generation

Coming soon