ICYMI: Shaheen Secures $3 Million for New Program to Help Communities Save Money on Energy Costs

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies (Ag-FDA) Subcommittee and a senior member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, secured $3 million for a new Energy Circuit Rider pilot program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Ag-FDA Appropriations bill that was signed into law by President Trump. The program is designed to help boost clean energy and energy efficiency investments in rural Granite State communities. The pilot is modeled after a successful program in New Hampshire run by Clean Energy NH, a nonprofit based in Concord.

“With electricity prices on the rise it’s critical that small and rural communities have the tools they need to take on clean energy and energy efficiency projects that lower costs,” said Senator Shaheen. “I’m proud that my commonsense energy circuit riders pilot was included in the government funding bills that were signed into law. This pilot will bring a successful model run by Concord’s Clean Energy NH to the national scale and will help level the playing field for rural communities so that they can get the technical expertise they need to leverage funding opportunities and make energy improvements.”

The pilot program is based on Shaheen’s Energy Circuit Riders Act, which would establish a new grant within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development to help eligible entities hire local, on-the-ground experts that travel to rural communities and provide technical assistance on projects that help spur economic development and reduce energy costs that help ease rural property tax rates.

Shaheen has championed work to secure federal investments in clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives to lower energy costs across New Hampshire. In April, Shaheen condemned efforts by the Trump Administration to eliminate staff responsible for administering the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Shaheen was a key supporter of the Inflation Reduction Act and a lead negotiator of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provided an approximately $6 billion investment in energy efficiency, including funding for residential, municipal, industrial and federal entities to implement efficiency upgrades based upon her longstanding bipartisan legislation with former U.S. Senator Rob Portman.

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