Our Turn: Pass SB 129, save 900 New Hampshire jobs – Concord Monitor

The House of Representatives has an opportunity to support New Hampshire jobs. Senate Bill 129 (the New Hampshire Clean Energy Jobs and Opportunity Act of 2017), the product of almost a year of hard work and compromise among numerous stakeholders, will be voted on today.

This much-needed, bipartisan clean energy bill advances biomass jobs, forest products jobs, sawmill jobs, clean energy jobs and solar jobs. These are good jobs and good industries right here in the Granite State.

SB 129 makes an important fix to New Hampshires renewable portfolio standards law (also called the RPS) that will help sustain the biomass power plants. Good paying New Hampshire jobs are literally at stake right now.

One needs to look no further than the biomass power plant in Alexandria, to see why SB 129 is necessary. The plant recently suspended operation. These plants support over 900 jobs and over $250 million yearly in economic activity in our state. SB 129 is critical to their survival. Without SB 129, the remaining biomass plants are likely to close by 2018 and these jobs will vanish.

The biomass industry is also critical to New Hampshires statewide natural resource-based economy and its scenic character. It is the one area where our energy policy intersects with our natural resource policy. Not only does the biomass industry produce electricity, but the biomass plants also serve as the market for low-grade wood.

With New Hampshire being the second most forested state in the country, biomass serves as a critical market for the states logging, forestry, sawmill and landowner communities. Proper forestry practices produce healthy forests for recreation, wildlife habitat and an annual $1.4 billion forest products industry.

SB 129 also supports and advances more than 1,200 solar-related jobs in New Hampshire. Solar continues to be a growing industry in New Hampshire. More jobs have been added in the clean energy job sector than in most other New Hampshire industries. These jobs also appeal to a younger workforce something New Hampshire desperately needs. SB 129 supports our solar industry and also expands its benefit to low- to moderate-income residential customers.

As we continue to promote New Hampshire as the state to locate business, we need to focus on growing our clean-energy sector. Without these opportunities, clean-energy companies will continue to shift and expand jobs in neighboring states.

Opponents have tried to label this bill as a hidden tax. This is far from the truth. The RPS was passed over 10 years ago. The programs and industries that have participated in the RPS have yielded significant benefit to the states ratepayers in terms of energy diversification, state economic activity, thousands of jobs and reducing peak demand, all of which contribute to lowering electric rates and the promotion of a strong New Hampshire economy. The RPS must be updated to remain competitive in our region. Many residential, commercial, municipal and industrial customers have taken advantage of the RPS to lower their electricity costs. We want this to continue.

How do you determine whether a law and program is worth the investment? We look at the return on investment.

Although RPS opponents continue to call it a subsidy and claim higher rates, the fact is our states renewable energy industries and programs provide value in lowering bills, creating and sustaining New Hampshire jobs, and providing economic activity that has a ripple effect in our economy. If we lost the biomass industry tomorrow, we would see small-business bankruptcies, lost taxes, lost jobs and an increase in unemployment in every region of our state.

Instead, our support of these renewable energy industries means we continue to receive the benefits of reduced electricity costs brought about by ensuring we have effective and updated renewable energy policies, like those in SB 129.

At the end of the day, the benefits in terms of jobs and economic activity far outweigh the cost.

It is time to move forward with this bipartisan effort to support and sustain our renewable energy industries. Its time to pass SB 129 and support our New Hampshire energy and related sector jobs.

(Jeb Bradley is a Wolfeboro Republican. Dan Feltes is a Concord Democrat. Herb Richardson is a Lancaster Republican. Robert Backus is a Manchester Democrat.)

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Our Turn: Pass SB 129, save 900 New Hampshire jobs - Concord Monitor