Senate panel hears bill to align stormwater rules for solar with PV‑SMART science

Sen. Howard Pearl (R‑District 17) opened the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Senate Bill 65, saying the bill would “bring New Hampshire's stormwater and wetlands rules for solar projects in line with the best available science on environmental impacts.”

Proponents told the committee current New Hampshire rules can make small utility‑scale and distributed solar projects uneconomic and that adopting the PV‑SMART methodology used elsewhere would reduce unnecessary construction of large stormwater basins while preserving environmental protection.

Sam Feigenbaum, head of policy for Kearsarge Energy, told the committee: “The DES stormwater rules that are currently in place, threaten the economic viability of many projects in Kearsarge's pipeline.” He said a typical 20‑acre solar site in New Hampshire can be required to build “about 3 or 4 acres of concrete stormwater basins,” a requirement he and other witnesses said can add hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to a project and in some cases kill it.

Industry witnesses described the technical basis for…