Energy Committee Minutes 11.22.22

November 30, 2022 Karen Hambleton Energy Committee, Minutes 0

Meeting at BACC 5:00-6:30 pm.

Attended by Sandra Bravo, Kathleen Bigford, Susan Moss, and Jenny Locke Howley by Zoom

Review and approve October Minutes 

  1. Vital Communities Climate Change Leadership Academy Updates.
    1. Community Power: Jenny is following the New London Energy Committee, which has signed an initial agreement with their Board of Selectman to present a proposal to town residents to switch to Community Power. There are no upfront costs. We will watch how this unfolds for them.
  • Municipal Solar: There are many questions as various sites for a solar array are considered. So far we don’t seem to have an ideal location where the costs to prepare the site would provide a favorable return on the investment. Kathleen is continuing to investigate. We have mostly focused on the Transfer Station property. There are other town properties to consider.
  • Town Hall Renovation Project
    • Karen will specifically ask the Town Hall Project Team about roof top solar suitability in their next meeting.
  • Municipal Weatherization Status 
    • Highway Garage Update – At the request of the Selectboard, the BEC obtained an extension of the NHSaves incentive until June 2023.
  • Other Municipal Buildings  –  The recent CIP Plan recommends that the Library, Fire Station and BACC weatherization proposals be scheduled out over the next four years –   Library: 10K in 2024, BACC:15K in 2026, FD: 43K in 2026 (weatherization and windows.) We want to note that the costs will continue to rise for both the work and fuel before they are recommended to be part of the town budget.
  • The town will get $160,000 to $170,000 from the Infrastructure Bill. Sandra will follow up on how this is being used to see if any of it could go to the weatherization projects.
  • We want to continue to spread the message that the best first dollars to spend to reduce energy costs is on weatherization projects.
  • Solar Energy
    • Update on rooftop solar for municipal buildings – Solar companies contacted include GSS, Revision Energy, Norwich Solar. Estimates from $35,000-$50,000 for one building were obtained. The IRA (Climate Bill) would give an immediate 30% rebate for municipalities reducing project costs to $23,500- $35,000 per building. There is no line item in the CIP Plan for solar development on municipal buidlings.
    • Transfer Station Property. See 1b above.
  • Heat Pumps – 
    •  15K for 2023 is included in the CIP plan for heat pumps for the Fire Department. Weatherization at the same time would dramatically lower heating costs and improve the function of the heat pumps.
  • Kearsarge Climate Action Items –  
    • KCA will distribute informational brochures at the Holiday Band Concert in New London on Dec 18. They are also considering participation in the Window Dressers interior storm window community building project.
  • BEC Public Outreach
    • Article printed in the November Bradford Bridge “Need Help for High Energy Costs?”
    • Article for December Bradford Bridge offers fire safety tips from the Fire Chief and asks for donations of smoke alarms for the fire department to give to folks who need them. We will get posters of this information up around town (Susan). The Chief is concerned that the high price of energy this winter will cause people to heat their homes in less safe ways, increasing the risk of home fires.
    • Sandra will attend a Zoom meeting hosted by Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) with a member of Annie Kuster’s staff on December 1, to communicate support for several energy bills including:
      • Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act of 2021 or the RISEE Act of 2021;
      • Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021 (GCSA) and
      • Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act
    • The NHSaves Button Up Workshop November 9, 2022 at the BACC, was an excellent presentation, and much appreciated by those in attendance. We were disappointed that more residents did not take advantage of this opportunity to learn about weatherization possibilities and rebate incentives available from NHSaves. We promoted the event in a number of ways. 20 people attended, and 6 were from surrounding towns.
    • Susan will write about LED’s for the January Bridge.
  • Energy Opportunities for Bradford Re: Inflation Reduction Act formerly known as Build Back Better.
    • The BEC will continue to report on energy saving opportunities as they become available.
  • Conclude: Next meeting is Dec 20 at 5:00pm.