The Hudson Sustainability Advisory Committee met on Sept. 23 to hear a presentation from Sarah Brock of Clean Energy New Hampshire, who shared information about potential grants and regional clean energy initiatives.
“We’re an organization that’s been around for 20 years,” Brock explained. “For most of that time, we focused on being the clean energy experts in the state – working in Concord, advising the Public Utilities Commission and legislators with expert advocacy. Now, we have staff located across NH. Five of us provide free technical assistance to municipalities statewide.”
Brock noted that her team is currently supporting hundreds of projects in approximately 130 to 140 towns. She introduced several online resources, including a qualification checklist and a frequently updated spreadsheet of funding opportunities.
“We maintain a funding sources spreadsheet that we update regularly. It’s not perfect, but we have our fingers on the pulse of many opportunities, and it’s fairly comprehensive,” she said. “We also have a small business technical assistance team, and I encourage you to refer Hudson businesses to us. If they have questions about energy use or statewide support, we’re happy to help.”
Clean Energy NH has also posted links to commonly used resource guides. Brock emphasized the importance of having high-priority projects “shovel-ready” to take advantage of funding when it becomes available. She highlighted opportunities for municipal solar arrays, heavy-duty vehicle replacement, community outreach, and policy initiatives – one of which involves a unique loan program.
“It’s called C-PACER, or Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resiliency,” Brock explained. “It’s a loan tied to the property itself. Property-assessed clean energy means you can secure funding as part of your development stack for commercial buildings.”
The committee had several questions about the program.
“Can this be used for municipal buildings?” asked alternate Craig Putnam.
While Brock wasn’t entirely certain, she believed most municipal buildings – except the smallest – would likely qualify. However, Hudson would need to establish a C-PACER district before implementing the program locally.
“What about existing buildings?” asked committee member Chris Thatcher. “If Hudson were to designate the Sagamore Business Park as a C-PACER district, could those commercial and industrial buildings use the loans to retrofit for energy efficiency?”
Brock confirmed that C-PACER loans could be used for both new construction and retrofitting older buildings.
“There’s a whole list of eligible improvements,” she said. “Unfortunately, because this is still a new initiative, I’m not fully prepared to give the complete C-PACER presentation today. But we’re hosting a webinar next month.”
She promised to send the committee a recording and additional materials on the program.
Other grant opportunities at the state and federal levels were more limited.
“What are the incentive levels for municipalities?” asked committee member Jake Keller.
Brock outlined a few remaining programs, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which could help fund local projects through NH Saves.
