CANAAN — For the second straight year, voters at Town Meeting will be asked to approve a tax exemption for solar panels. A similar proposal last year failed.

This time, the exemption would apply to owners of “residential property which is equipped with solar energy systems intended for use at the immediate site,” according to the text of Article 30 on the Canaan warrant. The exemption would be equal to 100% of the assessed value of the qualifying equipment. Unlike last year’s article, it does not extend exemptions to wind energy.

“Canaan is the only town in this immediate area that taxes solar installations,” said Joanna Carr, a driving force behind the petitioned article. “Even Grafton and Dorchester, and of course Hanover, Lyme, Plainfield and Enfield, do not tax solar.”

Selectboard members Dan Collins and Stephen Freese support the article. Chairman Scott Borthwick opposes it, according to minutes from the Jan. 10 Selectboard meeting.

Passage of the article would not increase Canaan’s tax rate, but would shift some of the town’s tax burden.

Last year, in a 307-234 vote, the town denied a proposal to exempt both wind and solar systems installed for on-site use from property taxes.

The construction of wind energy equipment is a touchy subject in Canaan since the 2016 proposal of Spruce Ridge Wind, a project that would have built 29 wind turbines across Canaan, Orange, Dorchester, Alexandria and Groton, N.H. It was never built.

“So this year, we just said that we’ll take the wind out of it,” Carr said.

When Carr and her husband’s Canaan property was reassessed after they installed solar, they found the equipment had added $15,000 to their property value, resulting in a tax increase.

As of 2021, 135 cities and towns in the state exempt solar installations from taxes. Lyme, for example, has done so since 2008.

“Our assessor, depending on how big the system is and what it costs, puts a value on it,” Lyme Town Administrator Dina Cutting said. “Generally they’re anywhere from mostly $10,000 to $40,000. That assessed value gets added to their assessment, and then they have to fill out the exemption form, and the exemption comes off the assessed amount.”

Carr attended a forum on Sunday to hear from those running for office in Canaan.

“At the meeting, a fair amount of discussion about solar came up, and it was mostly really positive,” she said. “I don’t know how the vote’s going to go this year. I’m quite sure it will be a better vote than last year, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”

In a letter to the Selectboard, Carr wrote that passing the article would “make Canaan less dependent on utility companies, consistent with Canaan’s Master Plan goal of a sustainable power supply.”

Carr also emphasized in an interview with the Valley News that solar installation is not just for high-income property owners.

“Our income is about average for the town of Canaan,” she said.

Frances Mize is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at fmize@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.

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