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Montague Energy Committee Works Behind the Scenes to Promote Greening of Town

PRES RELEASE – Montague, MA- July 28, 2011-The Montague Energy Committee may have been off the public radar for a while, but it has been actively planning and moving forward with a number of projects and goals. Over the winter, the committee prioritized its goals, deciding to focus on working with residents and small businesses to promote energy efficiency, while it wraps up on-going projects and addresses energy-related town issues that demand short-term action.

Plans are in the works to offer two hands-on, volunteer work sessions to weatherize the Millers Falls and Montague Center libraries this fall. The committee will be looking for people willing to take a few hours to caulk and weather-strip windows and doors, for example. The Carnegie Library will be weatherized under the town energy performance contract that Montague has recently signed with Siemens.

 

Meanwhile, the town purchased solar hot water panels with Clean Energy Choice matching funds donated by Montague residents. Bob Trombley, Superintendent of Montague’s Water Pollution Control Facility, is taking the lead on getting bids for installation of these panels and will use funds from the pollution control budget to have the panels installed on the roof of the facility’s office building, where the solar panels will start heating water for staff showers this fall.

After an extended negotiating process, the Town has signed phase I of an energy performance contract with Siemens. The measures implemented by Siemens will make three town buildings more energy efficient and, with grants and rebates, will only cost the town $45,413. With the Town’s yearly energy savings of over $16,000 from these measures, the project will have a payback of 2.8 years!

Examples of the work covered by the first phase of the performance contract include: installation of a new energy efficient gas boiler, added insulation, and improved lighting in town hall; sealed air leaks and added insulation in the Carnegie Library; and high efficiency lighting to make the public safety building operate more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Soon, the Massachusetts Green Communities Grant Program will be announcing a request for proposals for competitive grants to help municipalities pursue energy efficiency measures. As a Green Community, Montague will be able to apply for its second grant from this program. The energy committee is exploring possibilities for such projects that would be competitive with other qualifying Green Communities; ideas are welcome. Out a committee discussion with Tom Bergeron, Montague’s Superintendent of Public Works, came one possible project to include in a grant proposal: the replacement of the globes on light posts on Avenue A with energy efficient light-emitting diode (LED) globes.

Lastly, the energy committee has provided input to the planning board, making recommendations and raising questions about draft regulations for solar electric (also called photovoltaic [PV]) and hot water solar installations in Montague. The energy committee is pleased that the planning board’s intent is to promote solar energy. The planning board confirmed that Massachusetts state law allows roof-mounted installations on any building, as reflected in Montague’s draft regulations.

The energy committee has asked about proposed regulations that the committee felt may present unnecessary barriers to homeowners wanting to install solar panels, and, in response, the planning board is revising the regulations to better facilitate adoption of solar. The regulations as currently drafted would allow for neighborhood net metering, where solar power generated on one property might be shared among several neighbors as long as some of the power generated is used by the home where the panels are located. At the July open meeting about the solar bylaws, a solar contractor raised concerns that the restriction on solar installations on agricultural land do not take into account newer approaches being used in farm fields which allow for dual agricultural and solar power production land use on farms. The federal government is promoting this practice to expand clean energy production and provide farmers with an opportunity for economic diversification and enhanced economic stability.

The planning board’s current proposed regulations focus mainly on regulating large solar installations, regulations that the energy committee supports. When the planning committee finalizes its bylaws, they must then be approved by town meeting and reviewed by the attorney general and the Department of Energy Resources.

For More Information, Contact:
Sally Pick, member, Montague Energy Committee, 413-367-0082, SJP@crocker.com

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