Heretofore, the name of the game for the Marion Energy Management Committee has been patient, thorough research, interaction with state agencies and grant organizers, presentations on energy-related matters and a lot of waiting.
Be it a utility company like Eversource or responses from town government on the committee’s initiatives and proposals, the EMC is accustomed to meeting to check its messages, share any new ideas and try again in a couple of weeks.
There has been major progress in the mission to cut electricity consumption in accordance with the state’s prescribed 20% goal that triggers greater grant opportunities, but regarding the EMC’s efforts to get a solar project built at Benson Brook, for instance, it’s been a slow go.
The tenor of the committee’s conversation was noticeably different on Monday night as the members tried to organize a response to a request that Chairman Christian Ingerslev said has come in from Town Administrator Geoff Gorman.
Thus, a special meeting to discuss a potential solar array at the Cushing Community Center. It was hoped by the membership that Gorman would attend the Zoom-only meeting.
“I think he’s looking at the new extension (of the senior center) and Parking Lot 2. He wants some advice fairly quickly, so we need to agree on what we think is most viable. We really need to get some estimates coming in,” said Ingerslev.
The committee, comprised of Ingerslev, Jennifer Francis, Tom Friedman, Eileen Marum, Alanna Nelson and Bill Saltonstall, has been relentless in its pursuit not only relative to energy and cost-saving opportunities for the town but with a view toward future-is-now technologies, such as electric vehicles, charging stations and conversion of fossil-fuel furnaces at municipal buildings to electric-powered heat pumps.
Climate conscious and mindful as to rising tides, the committee has been diligent in its effort to research and present the town’s decision makers with the most up-to-date information possible as the Marion builds two major facilities, a new Department of Public Works operations center and the new Marine Center (harbormaster.) The EMC was very public but unsuccessful in its effort to influence net-zero energy designs in the two projects.
A solar array at Cushing Community Center, it turns out, is more about logistics both in terms of what to do (or not) and how to make it happen.
Saltonstall, who was in attendance Monday night, along with Ingerslev, Francis and Friedman, told the committee he has contacted PowerOptions, Inc., a Boston-based, nonprofit energy-buying consortium that “delivers savings and predictability on energy costs to nonprofits and the public sector across New England.”
“I was a little late getting the gas news out to them, but they now have all the town data on electrical and gas accounts,” said Saltonstall, referring to the Mass Energy Insight program.
Financing is one aspect of such a project, the one is equally daunting because the senior center off of Route 6 is surrounded by trees that can easily block direct sunlight from maximizing the potential of a roof-solar installation.
“We have to be careful not to place where they will be shaded, obviously, and I hope the job is completed in one step with one company,” said Saltonstall, who had two companies install different parts of his home array and wound up needing separate meters, etc. “I heard they’re planning a new roof for the Community Center, we should coordinate with that … get plans and budgeting done beforehand. I think it’s a great idea, and we should help Geoff any way we can.”
While Saltonstall said PowerOptions is eager to work with Marion, negotiating the best lease arrangement would likely involve letting other companies make their own pitch.
“It’ll be hard to make specific recommendations (to Gorman) until we have a couple of proposals,” said Francis. “I think we can be pretty sure that the payback time … is in the six, seven-year range. It would not include structure for the canopy to which the panels would apply.”
Whether the design favors roof solar or a parking-lot canopy, Saltonstall reiterated that the tall trees at the property line to the former Lockheed Martin property throw substantial shade that has to be avoided to be a successful project.
Ingerslev raised the question as to whether a ground-mounted solar array would require the changing of a bylaw. “I don’t think the bylaws allow that at the moment,” he said, noting he has suggested a change in the bylaws.
According to committee members, the removal of trees is not only a costly enterprise, it can nullify the benefits of solar panels because their ability to sequester carbon cannot be easily replicated by new plantings.
“The relative environmental value of a large tree versus the panels it might shade, I tried to figure it out several times,” said Friedman. “Depending on the estimates you use, it can go one way or another. A large healthy tree is one way of fighting CO2.”
Ingerslev said he researched the effect of taking down a tree on his property and learned that “the payback is eight to 10 years … it’s just not worth it.”
“If you’re talking about replacing the carbon from that tree, it takes decades. Taking down trees is a pretty bad idea,” said Francis.
“New trees just can’t sequester carbon as well as a healthy, mature tree,” agreed Friedman.
Wherever a solar array goes at the Community Center, it will need strategic placement working within the confines of the tree-lined property.
While the center is aged, Saltonstall noted it is a truss-type structure and might be receptive to reinforcement.
Friedman suggested that Nelson’s expertise in funding matters and her communication with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC) would be helpful.
It was agreed that Saltonstall will craft a letter, to be reviewed by Ingerslev before going to Gorman, summarizing Monday’s meeting, the EMC’s overall support of a solar project at the Community Center and suggestions on actions Gorman can take to get the committee’s involvement into a higher gear.
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for Monday, July 24, at 6:00 pm.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo