Northern NH Farms & Small Businesses Receive USDA Renewable Energy and Energy Grants.

On October 16, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Rep. Anne McLane Kuster visited Edgewater Farm in Plainfield to announce that the farm was one of 31 farms and small businesses in NH receiving $1,163,000 in USDA Rural Development grants to spur renewable energy generation and energy conservation.

Across the northern tri-county area, six projects received grants, including Mahoosuck Inn in Milan. The innkeepers are Mark Peabody and his wife Kimberly Hockmeyer.

"Utilities are the 3rd highest cost to operate business, after the mortgage and insurance" says Mark Peabody. The USDA grant ($28,906), a $14,900 grant from the PUC, (Public Utilities Commission) a loan from the CDFA, (Community Development Finance Authority) and federal tax incentives will allow Mark and Kimberly to recoup the cost of their 35 kilowatt solar system within seven or so years.

The USDA grant is also enabling them to make better use of their 250K BTU pellet boiler. It currently just heats the Inn, but has enough reserve capacity to efficiently heat their 3,800 sq. ft. barn and meeting facility. Running the plumbing and enlarging their pellet storage capacity will allow them to purchase wood pellets at bulk pricing, saving $30-$40/ton. Mark estimates those savings alone will pay all the barn's heating costs. It also allows them to discontinue the barn's propane heating system.

Besides the savings, there are other benefits too. Mark has been "amazed (at) how much people are tuned into green businesses." He's close to making the property as green as possible. Tesla is providing a quick charge station for him. He's also planning to replace his heating system's fixed-rate circulating pumps with variable rate pumps. The property's current power consumption is nearly identical to the capacity of his new solar system. He'd like to find additional energy savings around the property to he can sell unused power back to the grid.

He estimates that the USDA application process took him and his office manager about 480 hours over the last year, but freely admits that a lot of time was consumed just learning the system. "The USDA staff was extremely helpful, but they have a job to do too," so he was careful not to learn on their expertise too heavily.

Across New Hampshire, 31 farms and small businesses received $1,163,000 to install more than two dozen solar arrays, three modern wood heating systems, one energy efficient lighting project, and one geothermal installation. The funding leveraged an additional $4,279,579 of investment from the farmers, small businesses and other sources.

Local recipients are listed here:

Recipient, Grant	Project Description
The Tannery Marketplace Littleton $28,688	This renewable energy project involves installing two wood pellet boilers that will replace almost 80% of The Tannery Marketplace's historical heating oil consumption.
Huckins Construction New Hampton $11,668	This project involves installing a 10kW Solar PV System. The system will provide all of the recipient's electricity needs.
Mahoosuc Inn Milan $28,906	This project will install a solar system as well as make upgrades to a pellet boiler system. The proposed system will displace almost 100% of the Inn's energy usage.
Mt. Washington Auto Road Gorham $29,250	This renewable energy project involves installing two pellet boilers that will replace 100% of the #2 fuel oil previously used.
LL Cote Errol $18,000	This project involves installing over 450 new energy-efficient lights at the Recipient's business. The new lights will reduce the company's electricity usage by 56%, savings over $13,000 annually.

The Rural Energy for America Program allows farmers and small businesses to apply for a grant of up to 25 percent of a renewable energy or energy efficiency project's cost, up to a maximum grant of $500,000, or $250,000 for an energy efficiency project.

During the Plainfield announcement, Brady announced that the USDA is currently accepting applications for the next round of REAP funding through November 2nd. Funding is available for projects under $80,000, with a maximum grant of $20,000. Larger applications are encouraged to apply, but are not due until May 2, 2016.

USDA, through its RD mission area, administers and manages housing, business and community infrastructure programs through a national network of state and local offices. Rural Development has an active portfolio of more than $211 billion in loans and loan guarantees. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural areas. For more information on Rural Development visit www.rd.usda.gov/nh or contact USDA RD at (603) 223-6035.

10/20/15

USDA Awards Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Grants

Five local farms/companies to receive money.