December 8, 2014
New Hampshire

Hassan nominates Dummer woman to SEC

The Berlin Daily Sun | 08 December 2014 | www.berlindailysun.com

CONCORD – Gov. Maggie Hassan has nominated Dummer resident and White Mountains Community College Assistant Professor Rachel Whitaker to serve as an alternate member of the N.H. Site Evaluation Committee. The nomination must be approved by the executive council.
The Site Evaluation Committee
The SEC must approve all large energy projects in the state, including wind farms, pipelines, and eventually Northern Pass. The legislature earlier this year approved a bill changing the make-up of the commission.
“The new makeup of the Site Evaluation Committee is critical to ensuring that the siting process for new energy projects is impartial, balanced and includes perspectives of all stakeholders,” Hassan said. “Rachel Whitaker brings varied experiences in environmental sciences and programs that will help her represent the public’s interest with an open and fair-minded approach to each potential project, and I thank her for her commitment to undertaking this important work,” she added.
Whitaker has been assistant professor of environmental science at WMCC since August 2013 and also taught various science courses at Plymouth State University from September 2009 to May 2011 and as a member of the school’s adjunct faculty from January 2012 to January 2013. She has also served as the program coordinator for natural resources management at WMCC and as fisheries biological technician for N.H. Fish and Game, and she assists with the operation of her family’s logging business, Dandeneau Logging in Dummer. Whitaker received her B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Lyndon State College and her M.S. in Biology from Plymouth State University.
The revised SEC will include all three members of the Public Utilities Commission as well as the commissioners of the departments of environmental services, resources and economic development, transportation, and cultural resources or historical resources. The commission will also include two public members and one alternate public member. The public members will serve four-year terms.
The executive council on Wednesday approved Hassan’s earlier nominations of Patricia Weathersby and Roger Hawk to the public seats. Weathersby is an attorney from Rye and Hawk is a consultant from Concord where he formerly served as the city’s community development director.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/12/08/hassan-nominates-dummer-woman-to-sec/