Town of Newtown, CT 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT
4-19-2012
The Sustainable Energy Commission held a regular meeting Thursday, April 19, 2012 in shared meeting room 3 of the Municipal Center located at 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT 06470.
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Kathy Quinn at 7:04 pm.
Present: Chairman, Kathy Quinn, Fred Hurley, Charlie Copp, Joseph Borst
Absent: Sarah Hemingway, Barbara Toomey, Dan Holmes, Desiree Galassi
Public: Diana McCarthy – Bercury, Clean Energy Communities Program Administrator
Communications:
Mr. Copp asked the commission what the town does in terms of energy conversation, maybe from a printing standpoint. If the town prints double sided, they will save energy and money on paper. Ms. Quinn stated the commission has not looked into advocating for that. Mr. Hurley said the town has been consolidating printing machines and updating them so most machines are now capable of printing double sided but it wouldn’t hurt to remind people of those capabilities.
Mr. Copp also asked about how to recycle fire detectors. The Fire Department is a running a new program where they are providing new detectors to residents and he was wondering where the old ones can be recycled. Mr. Hurley shared that the federal and state governments are looking into getting the manufacturers to create a recycling programs for the old units. He said many e-waste programs are actually run by manufacturers to get their old products back.
Acceptance of March Minutes:
There was no quorum to accept the minutes.
Old Business:
Home Energy Solutions – Diana
Diana began by informing the commission they will be donating a kilowatt and a weatherization kit to the commission for them to use at events or as giveaways. The kilowatt can be used to plug into appliances and see how much energy each appliance is using. She then suggested donating the unit to the library to loan out to residents or to a school to use with science and math units. The weatherization kit contains LEDs, weather stripping, caulking, and other weatherizing materials.
Diana broke down the Energy Efficiency Fund and told the commission about the different programs that are offered. There is an education program for teachers (K-12), an energy efficiency program, a residential new construction program, a small business program, and general education materials. Diana left pamphlets about all of these programs with the commission to give to interested parties and use on Earth Day at their table. The programs are funded through a line item on CL&P invoices to its customers.
Diana also spoke about the Home Energy Solutions program. Technicians will come to a home for about 4 hours and perform an assessment to see where the home is losing money. The technicians will replace light bulbs, perform an air leak test, fill cracks, use spray foam, and other energy saving solutions. It costs the homeowner $75 and the Energy Efficiency Fund pays the rest. There is also a low income program where it costs nothing for the homeowner. Diana encouraged the commission to remind residents that they have already paid into the fund so they might as well take advantage of it. After the assessment, the technicians will sit down with the homeowners and tell them what they did as well as give them coupons and rebates for other products and services they may need to make their home more energy efficient.
Diana told them commission CL&P is willing to help them with getting this program up and running by sending out pamphlets and letters to customers. She also told the commission how the town can earn points towards grants and clean energy systems by getting their residents involved in these programs. These assessments will help to bring down the congestion rate on the grid if the residents commit to saving energy.
Diana told the commission about some workshops they have coming up in May and June that will give more in depth information about these programs. One workshop is in Litchfield on May 8th and the other is in Hamden in early June. She invited all members to attend.
ESCO
Mr. Hurley informed the commission that they have 2 quantitative reports back and they are waiting for the qualitative reports to come back. The reports are from Ameresco and Honeywell. They are planning to have a meeting with both organizations at the beginning of May and wrap up before June when the grant ends. $350 per kilowatt is the maximum bid they are looking at for the reverse auction. The town would have to pay for the kilowatts and the price would be determines by the cost of the Z-REC.
Solar Panels PPA
Mr. Hurley told the commission that they are extending the deadline for RFPs to April 30, possibly May 7, to give the bidders time to add in the addendum the town added to the original proposal.
Water Treatment Plant
Mr. Hurley said the contractor showed up to put the system in and it will go up quickly now. The town is planning on starting the final trenching next week. They should be done by June. The final system will have to meet performance and capacity levels.
Earth Day
Earth Day is April 28 and the Commission will have a table at the event. Ms. Quinn told the commission they will have 2 tables, one for the Transition Movement and the other for the Home Energy Solutions along with a sign – up sheet. The event will take place from 10 am to 4 pm.
Transition Movement
Ms. Quinn told the commission about the website, Facebook page, and the table at Earth Day that is planned to promote the movement.
New Business:
Go Green Website
Ms. Quinn has submitted changes to be made, including having a link to the energy dashboard on the main page.
Energy Star
Ms. Quinn spoke about the electricity and gas usage of the municipal center.
On other note, Mr. Hurley informed the commission of Household Hazardous Waste Day on May 19 from 9 am to 2 pm at the Town Garage. It is open to any resident from a town participating in the HRRA.
Adjournment:
Ms. Quinn closed the meeting at 8:35 pm on her authority as there was no quorum.
The next regular meeting will occur on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the Newtown Municipal Center in Shared Meeting Room 3.
Submitted, Jessica Smith, clerk.
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