The January 25 meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee came with some encouraging news where it concerns the town’s progress in energy savings.
MRC member Bill Saltonstall submitted Marion’s Annual Report to Green Communities two months ago on time and heard back. The town thus far has achieved 16.5 percent of the targeted 20 percent reduction in energy consumption. Chair Christian Ingerslev will leave the item on the agenda for the next MRC meeting.
In order to achieve the 3.5 percent that would get Marion to the magic 20 and unlock the theoretical key to new qualifications for grant funding, the MRC needs to be creative. Saltonstall said he would like to see the effects of a hybrid police cruiser. Town Planner Gil Hilario said he would reach out to Chief of Police Richard Nighelli the next day (January 26).
“I hope they will find it efficient and invest in it,” said Saltonstall, musing at the potential of one car replaced per year. “If they do that, it’s going to help us a lot.”
Member Jennifer Francis suggested the hybrid cruiser’s inclusion in a July 4 parade. “If COVID lets us have it,” quipped Saltonstall.
Ingerslev asked, “Are we going to be expected to reach another 20 percent after this first 20 percent?” Saltonstall said it is his understanding that the 20-percent reduction is a one-time threshold.
The committee turned toward the wastewater treatment plant. “I don’t know if it’s feasible; it might be,” said Hilario.
Francis said, “I think we should consider leap-frogging gas and going to electric,” citing that gas is still a fossil fuel. “I think that maybe we should be the spearhead…. Let’s talk about electric.”
Member Eileen Marum agreed. “All the talk is about net-zero buildings and net-zero stretch codes. I’d be really happy if Tabor Academy would do their new Campus Center as a net-zero building because the students are our future.”
As initially presented to the Planning Board, that is not the case; but the MRC plans to make it known it wants the new Department of Public Works facility to be a net-zero building.
Saltonstall said there is some interest from the Board of Selectmen and the Harbormaster’s team in considering a scheme to save existing toilets and showers at present grade and not necessarily reconstruct them 14 feet above sea level as presented in the new Harbormaster facility at the Special Town Meeting. “I think they’re working on another scheme, and they have the concern of the people of such a large building on that location,” said Saltonstall.
Marion has made progress in spending its Green Communities grant funds but discussed what happens when a project is getting hung up by elements out of the town’s control.
The new windows for the Taber Library will not be delivered until late February or early March. They are guaranteed to fit, so the company told the town it wants to measure a second time. The MRC needs to decide whether to push off the grant.
“Green Communities said this happens every year,” said Hilario. “Towns cancel projects every year. That’s why they have two [bidding seasons]. They’re encouraging us to finish the project. That’s really the only remaining project left. It’s really a supply issue…. They’re really cautious, and they really want to make sure the windows fit.”
Marion is canceling its main water weatherization project for this year. The contractor discovered that the attic needs a $12,000 reinforcement that has not been budgeted. Hilario said that Green Communities wants Marion to reapply.
Francis thanked Hilario and Saltonstall for following up and being so diligent with the projects. “It’s going to save the town a lot of money,” she said.
Hilario said that the wastewater treatment plant is “going to be a massive project.” Marion, he estimates, would not be ready in the spring to apply for a Green Communities grant, so the town will target the fall in order to prepare a better project application.
A discussion on heat recovery ventilation systems to produce fresh air in town buildings concluded that, while likely for aged structures such as the Town House and Taber Library, the systems will probably not be eligible for Green Communities grant funding.
Citing a 30-year payback to establish Green Communities grant eligibility, Hilario said he would follow up to see if the installation will qualify under the CARES Act for COVID-related reimbursement funding.
Saltonstall gave a Benson Brooks Landfill solar array report and said that, while the study is projected to finish by the end of the first quarter of 2021 and construction is expected to start in the third quarter of the year, “We still don’t know if we have a grid connection at a palatable cost.” Once Eversource gives a cost for the connection, the town can then determine its affordability.
Saltonstall discussed an emerging alternative to net-metering called Alternative On-Bill Credit (AOBC) that would allow Marion and other towns to go right over the 100 percent solar energy production. He said the program is approved by Eversource and by the state. It is hoped that Liz Argo of CVEC will attend the next MRC meeting and explain in detail how Marion can access greater benefit than is available via traditional net-metering.
Marion’s net-metering contract with Future Generation Wind caps the town’s financial benefit, whereas AOBC does not.
“I feel like [net-metering is] limiting us as well from solar projects,” said Hilario, who asked if Marion can rework the legal agreement for solar projects. “If we can make it happen through this [AOBC], it would open things up.”
The committee approved an appearance by Argo. “She’s very enthusiastic about it,” said Saltonstall, who will report back to the MRC. “If we know and understand this AOBC program and approve of it, we can apply it to a number of projects around town.”
Saltonstall reported on a phone call with Dick Macomber, who found that mail offers to change energy companies are far less favorable than the energy aggregation program that the town has. Ingerslev noted that offers that come through mailers are only valid for a few months, “And then you don’t know what you’re going to get after that.” Francis noted that the Town of Rochester had joined an electricity aggregation program with Good Energy, LLC.
Saltonstall suggested the MRC keep a running list of ideas for projects that could seek up to $250,000 in Green Communities grants next year.
Ideas thrown around began with the library storm windows that have now been pushed into the next round of grant applications, along with Music Hall items including wifi thermostats, the conversion of an old furnace, roof structure work, and insulation. Also discussed were heat exchangers in the Town House, insulation for the Community Center attic, a charging station at the Island Wharf parking lot, and an overhead solar canopy in the Sippican School parking lot.
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for February 22.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo