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A study released on February 13, 2019 by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) identified strategies to transition New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine to a clean energy economy. Innovative public-private partnerships and new investments can spark a clean energy future that has the potential to catalyze the creation of new jobs, expand access to renewable energy and energy efficiency, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the report, it will require $100 billion of investment across the three Northern New England states to transition to a clean energy future. Northern New England spends $8.2 billion every year on imported fossil fuels that could be redirected toward local clean energy solutions to eventually meet 80% of the region’s energy needs with renewable heating and electricity, energy efficiency, and electric vehicle transportation.
The transition to cleaner and more efficient energy will rely largely on private investment and leadership from businesses, governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Investments in clean energy have proven economic benefits. Energy efficiency and distributed clean energy can reduce energy costs, hedge against volatile energy prices, and support local jobs. The report shows that improved policy approaches like expanded opportunities for community solar energy projects and innovative financing mechanisms can help overcome upfront cost barriers and allow businesses, consumers and municipalities to realize costs savings from day one.
TNC & CEI are striving to create a vision for a clean energy future that is rooted in affordability, accessibility, and availability. This report helps identify tools to increase investment and finance to support the region’s transition to clean, reliable, affordable energy for ratepayers of all types and scales.
The Nature Conservancy in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine and Coastal Enterprises Inc. commissioned the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) to research and identify the opportunities and challenges to clean energy investment. The results of which can be found in the “Advancing Clean Energy Investment in Northern New England” report. Learn more at http://bit.ly/VEIC-advancingRE-ne.
The Nature Conservancy website is nature.org, Contacts: Jim O’Brien, Director of External Affairs New Hampshire at 603.856.5378, jim_obrien@tnc.org or Eve Frankel, Director of Strategic Communications Vermont at 802.229.4425, eve.frankel@tnc.org.re
The VEIC website is veic.org. Contact: Alayna Howard at VEIC at (802) 658-6060 x7656, ahoward@veic.org.
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