KEYS regional energy meeting July 20, 2009 So. Berwick Town Hall

 

Attending: Tom Reinauer (SMRPC) , Rob Brown (Opportunity Maine), Paulette Millette (YCCC), Meredith Sudborough, Nancy Farron, Maury Heppner (Kittery), Stephen Kosacz (Kittery/York), Wayne Boardman, Jennifer Kleindienst (York), Betsy O’Donough, Ed Hennings, Jenny Isler (Eliot), John Rudolph, Jeff St. Pierre, Bobbi Beavers (So. Berwick), Sassy Smallman, Steve Thomas (Kennebunk)

 

 Tom Reinauer of the SMRPC provided information about applying for a block grant and      informed us that they will help with our project.

-        SMRPC wanted money to be available for cities and towns.

Rob Brown of Opportunity provided information about possible funding - some highlights:

- 85,000 cap on money that would go just to a single community, up to 1 million for a region (though only a total of 5.7million (?) for the state. This program is through Efficiency ME

-        Regional Green House Gas Initiative – regional program through ME carbon trust. 85% would be to reduce emissions of electricity generation and 15% for fuel efficiency.

-        Education and training components makes proposals “highly superior”. This can include apprenticeships through union laborers

Paulette Millette from YCCC stated that the school would work with us to provide              training and programs to help fill any education requirements.

There was a discussion of successful models that provide incentives for energy              savings – two mentioned were Berkeley, CA and Marshfield, MA (the              Marshfield Energy Challenge) This led to a conversation about possible              ways to overcome the obstacles posed by Maine's Constitution, which is              very specific about how property taxes can be levied.  Two suggestions for              futher study included using Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or creating a              southern York County energy efficiency district.

The group was invited to suggest possible projects. These included:

             Streetlights – eliminating some; timers; LED replacements; checking CMP                                         contracts.

                          Decided - this could be pursued by the region without other funding.                           Kennebunk has a model for eliminating unnecessary lights.

             Transportation – Adding more public options on 236 and Rte.

                          1. SMRPC has already done much work on this; connecting with                                           the Shipyard, which offers incentives to not drive; creating                                                more van pools

                          Decided – this could be pursued with assistance from SMRPC

             Solar project – many possibilities for this. Various solar installations could                           be offered in the region. These could include photovoltaics, solar                                 hot water, and solar hot air. A brief outline of components of the                                  program is listed:

1. Demonstration solar installations for schools, municipal buildings – this would              include an educational piece (curricula for the schools)

2. Making solar alternatives available for residences and small businesses.

             This could incorporate a revolving loan program – cost of the product is                                   paid for in energy savings and becomes available for others to                                       install solar products.                      

             Energy audits – this would be necessary to qualify for the solar installation              and would require a training component connecting with YCCC or                                apprenticeships, etc.

             Weatherization – also required (if needed) and this would create jobs

             Connecting with a group like SEAREI to help provide the installation for                                  low income people

             This could attract producers of solar products to this area, also creating                                 jobs.

Other things to consider – community PV (individuals buy shares)

Other models for financing installations – connection to property tax (difficulties              because of Maine tax structure)

There was a consensus toward the end of the meeting that any project we do              should not lead with technology (ie. solar energy), but should use              available technology to achieve energy saving and efficiency goals.

Principals that should guide our work which were mentioned during the meeting              include efficiency, education and training, drilling down into the private              building stock (ie. non-governmental buildings), and helping buildings that              are easily overlooked.

 

Actions:

Prepare brief summary of project to be presented to Efficiency ME to determine whether we should move forward with this.

Invite other surrounding towns to join us (notably Ogunquit, Wells, Saco and Berwick)

Next meeting – 7pm August 10 at the Eliot Town Hall.