A new law that will go into effect next month will require the state to get at least twenty-five percent of its energy from renewable sources by twenty-twenty-five.
But for individuals who want to tap into cleaner, greener technologies, it might not be so easy.
As NHPR Correspondent Brian Early reports, the town of Amherst is refusing to let one man create his own energy from windmills.
Norm Hebert wants to build three, ninety foot windmills on his property in Amherst.
But the Planning Board denied his request for a permit.
They said the proposed windmills would be too high.
Zoning laws say no building can exceed thirty-five feet.
At the Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting last week, Hebert argued that the windmills were a structure, not a building.
NH (11 secs): We have an ordinance in town that says primary buildings can't be higher than 35 feet. Accessory buildings can't be higher than 22 feet. But is says it nothing about accessory structures.
But The Zoning Board disagreed.
Zoning Board Chair, Robert Rowe, who is also a state rep, says the board's scope is limited.
It can only determine if the Planning board made the correct decision to deny Hebert a permit.
RR (16 secs): We're walking a very fine line in terms of wanting to do what's best for a citizen of the town, one of our fellow citizens, and still meeting our obligation that we have that we swore to up hold the state law and the zoning ordinance.
Hebert says the zoning board’s decision is too strict
NH (8 secs): These guys are interpreting this town zoning law in such a tortured way that doesn't make sense to anybody.
For wind energy systems to work efficiently, they need to be thirty to fifty feet higher than the tree line, and anything else in the area to get consistent wind.
Laura Richardson of New Hampshire's Sustainable Energy Association, says that can create problems.
LR cue 7 (21 secs): A lot of towns don't allow any structure higher than 25 feet, and so if you have to be 30 to 50 feet taller than anything around it, basically you're telling people that they can't have a wind energy system, and at that point it becomes a complicated issue.
One hundred sixty four towns in the state – including Amherst - voted this past spring on a resolution that encourages a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
It also encouraged citizens to work toward that goal locally.
Hebert says unless municipalities around the state change their zoning laws they won’t be able to live up to that goal,
State Representative Bill Chase of Westmoreland co-sponsored a bill last year(this session?) that would have encouraged towns to allow windmills.
BC (18 secs): The basic intent was to differentiate tower height from building height. The bill in it's original form was designed to basically say to municipalities that if they had a building height limit that it should not apply to wind turbines.
It would have also set a maximum decibel level for the windmills.
Chase, who sits on the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee says members are still studying the bill – but its not expected to pass this year.,
It appears that no other towns in the state have addressed what happens when a resident wants to build a windmill.
Even the Town of Epping, which recently passed an ordinance requiring new buildings to be energy efficient, steered clear of residential regulations.
Town consultant Clay Mitchell says that if they tried to include regulations for residential windmills, it might have derailed the entire ordinance.
CM (19 secs): The reason Epping did not address residential in it's energy efficiently ordinance, because nobody wants the government to tell you what to do with their property. But then in the same case, now your talking about an issue where people are upset because the government is not telling people what to do in their property, like keeping windmills to a certain height and stuff like that.
In Norm Hebert’s case, the town’s zoning laws aren’t keeping up with new energy technologies.
But that may change in the future,
Hebert plans to appeal the Zoning Board's decision to superior court, and if he loses there, he plans to appeal to the state supreme court.
For NHPR News, I'm Brian Early.
