Cornish and Plainfield, New Hampshire Commit to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy

PLAINFIELD, N.H. -- On Saturday, March 17, the Town of Plainfield, New Hampshire voted to establish a goal of transitioning to 100% clean and renewable energy for electricity by 2030 and 100% renewable energy for heat and transportation by 2050. Plainfield is the 63rd municipality in the United States to commit to transition entirely to clean energy.

Plainfield’s commitment comes four days after the Town of Cornish passed an a similar article. Overwhelming support, issued by voice vote at a Town Meeting on Tuesday, March 13, led Cornish to formally approve Article 27, committing to move the town to 100% clean and renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% renewable energy for heat and transportation by 2050.

With commitments from Plainfield and Cornish, three municipalities in New Hampshire now have goals to power themselves entirely with clean energy. Hanover was the first to adopt a goal to transition to 100% clean energy in 2017. The City of Concord has plans to consider a similar goal later this year.

“Witnessing these communities vote to support a commitment to 100% renewable energy was inspiring,” said Allyson Samuell, community organizer with the Sierra Club’s Ready For 100 Campaign, who attended both the Plainfield and Cornish Town Meetings. “The overwhelming community support for this goal demonstrates the momentum building towards 100% renewable energy. Changing our energy system will benefit our communities, our state, and the entire Northeast. With three New Hampshire communities committed to a clean energy future, now is the time for more towns and cities across New Hampshire to set ambitious energy goals for their communities.”

“The Cornish Energy Committee has been pursuing our 100% clean energy goal over the last year. Our committee endorsed this goal in 2017 and we were eager to bring these energy goals to the voters in Cornish during the 2018 Town Meeting,” said Cornish Energy Committee member Mary Boyle. “We had engaged with residents of Cornish and Plainfield about our energy goals by collaborating with the Plainfield Energy Committee to host a series of educational talks and events. Seeing a great discussion take place last week at the Cornish Town Meeting was exciting. We’re encouraged to have the support of the town behind us, and looking forward to engaging residents in a planning process as we work toward powering our community with 100% renewable energy.”

“The Plainfield Energy Committee is pleased that more than 80% of the people at our Town Meeting voted in favor of committing to 100% clean energy. We want to protect the economic, health, and social well-being of our citizens, while reducing energy costs to the community and keeping energy dollars in the local economy. Achieving this goal will reduce the risks to the community associated with any future escalation in energy prices, and address the threat of global climate change,” said Steve Ladd, Plainfield Energy Committee member. “In implementing this goal, priority will be given to low-cost measures to meet energy needs that will create an energy-saving culture in Plainfield. We also want to make sure low-income community members share in the benefits of renewable energy sources. The public will have opportunities and be encouraged to participate in the process for planning and implementation.”

Plainfield and Cornish join 61 other cities and towns across the United States in committing to powering themselves with 100% clean, renewable energy.