The Energy Circuit Rider (ECR) Program was created and piloted in Coös County beginning in 2019. From 2019 to 2022, the North Country Circuit Rider helped more than a dozen communities complete over 30 energy efficiency and clean energy projects. The Circuit Rider Program has helped North Country communities receive more than $1.2 million in  incentives and grants, resulting in over $3 million dollars invested in clean energy projects. In 2022, CENH partnered with the Monadnock Sustainability Hub and others to add a Monadnock Energy Circuit Rider. Since then, the program has expanded to cover Rockingham, Strafford, and Sullivan counties as well.

​

​The Energy Circuit Rider program also supports small businesses, including farms. In early 2022, a new kind of Energy Circuit Rider was added, specifically to provide similar technical assistance to small businesses in the North Country. In 2024, CENH received a three-year USDA grant to expand that program statewide, specifically to assist small businesses (including farms) in applying for USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

​

​

An Energy Circuit Rider is a shared staff person providing services to multiple cities and towns across a region. The CENH Energy Circuit Riders help municipalities and small businesses plan, finance, and implement energy-saving upgrades to buildings and infrastructure, as well as clean energy technologies such as renewable energy or electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Working side-by-side with municipal officials and business owners, Energy Circuit Riders provide capacity and expertise to support informed decision making.

​

Read more information about the program here.

​

To learn more about the CENH Energy Circuit Rider Program, please contact Clean Energy NH’s Circuit Rider Program Director, Sarah Brock, at sarah@cleanenergynh.org.