Energy Committee Agenda 04.18.23

April 18, 2023 Karen Hambleton Energy Committee, Minutes 0

Review and approval of March Minutes  

  1. Vital Communities Climate Change Leadership Academy Updates.
    • Community Power
    • Municipal Solar
  2. Town Hall Renovation Project – Update
  3. Municipal Weatherization Status  
    • Fire Station – The residents approved the Warrant Article Petition to weatherize the Fire Station on March 29, 2023.
    • Highway Garage Update – Steve Hall is in the process of scheduling the work in May 2023.
    • Library – Weatherization of our Library in December 2021 resulted in a 25% annual reduction in heating oil use during the 2022 heating season.
  4. Solar Energy
    • Update on rooftop solar.
      • Highway – roof not suitable to support solar panels
      • BACC – long term use needs to be determined
      • Fire Station – ReVision’s high level assessment of the Fire Station roof indicated that the east-west orientation is not favorable for the installation of rooftop solar panels.
      • Library – abutter’s large pines may need to be removed.
  5. Town Hall – No updates
  6. Heat Pumps – The Town Librarian is in the process of obtaining estimates for the installation of mini-split heat pumps and has requested the Energy Committee to investigate funding opportunities.
  7. Kearsarge Climate Action
    • Kearsarge Climate Action (KCA) and Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners (KNP) announce a window insert project under the guidance of the non-profit  WindowDressers.org  This local volunteer project will be available to residents of the Sunapee Kearsarge area to be held in late Fall 2023 at St. Andrews Church in New London, NH.
    • A good place to stay on top of NH legislative updates is through the https://www.newhampshirenetwork.org/NH-bills
  8. BEC Public Outreach
  9. Information on a decision-making tool to help individuals and communities obtain the most money for energy assistance under the Inflation Reduction was published in the April Bradford Bridge.
  10. Proposed articles for publication in May Bradford Bridge
  11. Outreach to NH politicians. Comments and testimony (Kathleen Bigford) were submitted to our NH Senate urging them to vote yes on SB68. This bill is simply a reaffirmation of a policy choice that has already been endorsed by both chambers of the legislature, and signed by the governor in 2021 in the form of HB315. SB68 removes the requirement that a municipal host under the limited electrical energy producers’ act be located in the same municipality as all group members thus benefiting smaller towns in more rural parts of the state. SB68 will allow these towns to band together to build 5MW projects collaboratively. These shared community energy facilities will be large enough to offer competitive rates, and offer meaningful savings on municipal energy bills, putting downward pressure on property taxes. Smaller energy projects, the kind allowed under current law, cannot achieve these same savings
  12. The BEC will continue to report on energy saving funding and opportunities for residents and our Municipality.
  13. Other Items
  14. Conclude