Task Force Aims For Grant Funds

For A Greener New Year

By Kendra Bobowick

Candlelight threw a holiday glow across tabletops at the Inn at Newtown while warming the faces of Clean Energy Task Force members Tuesday evening. With just a few days left to 2008, the group made an end-of-year resolution to reach for more funding opportunities to make Reed Intermediate School’s roof greener in 2009.

Hoping to receive grant funds through the state’s Clean Energy Fund, the task force wants to make a deal: they will essentially enter a lease agreement to provide roof space where one state-approved solar installer will place panels — the equivalent of 70 kilowatt hours — covering nearly one third of the school’s roof. Future expansion will be likely, believes Task Force Chairman Dan Holmes.

The town would purchase energy provided by the installer at a reduced rate. The deal would be considered a solar power purchase agreement, which allows for the Board of Education to buy electricity at reduced rates for an extended period of time with no cost to the town.

There is one catch, however: they need to find an installer. With his notebook spread on the table and quickly filling its empty lines, member Ryan Clancy jotted down wording for a request for proposals (RFP) that would seek bids from a shortlist of state-authorized installers to do the work and include the several additional solar panels earned by Newtown through the state’s clean energy initiatives.

Glancing over his shoulder at the rippled, single-pane glass at the historic Inn, Mr Holmes hugged his arms against the chill and said, “I’m ready…” Another catch: They need to get an application — bid included — to the state before January 15. The package also must have the okay from the town attorney, selectmen, and other officials.

Member Dave Stout looked ahead at the early days of January rushing toward them and did some quick calculations. The task force would need estimates back from solar installers by as early as January 5, for example, in order to fill out an application for state funds.

Filled with holiday spirit, Mr Holmes said, “I bet we could do it.” Would the state approve the funds? They could hope, member Terrence Ford indicated. The state resources for the install are there, he said.

Soon after, as Mr Clancy and member Kathleen Quinn worded an RFP with language provided by Mr Stout, conversation turned to hockey games and holiday parties, when Mr Stout noted, “Christmas miracles have happened.”

At the table adjoining the task force members’ gathering, where teaspoons swirled against porcelain sending bursts of cinnamon and lemon into the room, Mr Ford considered why the town had not taken advantage of the state’s funds, which have been available for the past several years.

“Interested and proactive people have begun to steer the town toward a greener future,” he said. The relationships between utility and solar companies have strengthened, with an eye toward improving the infrastructure for utility delivery. What is driving the interest? Mr Ford speculated, “The demand and use of electricity is so much greater now.”

More recently, Mr Holmes explained the town’s reasons for reaching for the Clean Energy Fund money. Thinking of the four-kilowatt panels the task force has earned through the state for its efforts to convert to green energy locally, Mr Holmes explained, “We saw this as an opportunity to expand on the [four-kilowatt] install.” He hopes this will be one of many clean energy installations to come, he said.

“It’s the right thing to do for the future of our town,” Mr Ford said.