capeannenergy.org

Rebates for Small Renewable Projects (10 kW or less)

OVERVIEW
This solicitation invites applications for rebates of up to $50,000 for design & construction of renewable energy projects that are up to 10 kilowatts and located at residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and public facilities that will consume 90% or more of the renewable energy generated by the project on-site.

The applicant and project site must be a customer of a Massachusetts investor-owned electric distribution utility. The grant awards may be used to facilitate the installation of renewable energy projects on existing buildings (retrofits) or in conjunction with new construction/major renovation projects, including green buildings. For systems above 10 kW applicants are encouraged to apply for funding through the MTC Large Onsite Renewables Initiative. Click here for more info

Posted by monty at 10:21 PM | Permalink

HullWind.org explains what its like for one coastal community that has embraced renewable wind energy. The town of Hull was the first community to install a wind turbine on the East Coast. At hullwind.org, you can learn how the turbine has been embraced by the community and about plans to build a second turbine. The site contains many links with information on wind power, pictures of the Hull turbine, and video interviews of members of the community. Photo by Brian Tague.

Posted by monty at 08:19 AM | Permalink

From the Renewable Energy Trust website:

Varian Semiconductor Equipment seeks to investigate the feasibility of employing wind energy to power their world headquarters facility in the Blackburn Industrial Park in Gloucester. Varian designs, manufactures and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. A growing operation in Gloucester is expected to demand larger electric loads. According to wind speed maps, Varian’s site possesses wind resources to make a large wind turbine viable. This award will assist with the installation a meteorological instrumentation to measure the wind resource at this location and determine the economic feasibility of installing a wind turbine. In addition to a financial assessment, the study will include analysis of avian impacts, electrical interconnection, and a photo-simulation.

Visit their site to read the Feasibility Study.

Posted by monty at 11:16 AM | Permalink

Green Up: You Can Make A Difference!
GreenUp allows you to choose cleaner, healthier electricity right on your regular utility bill and is available to all Massachusetts Electric residential and small commercial customers. The GreenUp program drives regional clean energy development by making payments to renewable wind, solar, biomass, and small hydro producers.

Local Communities Benefit from the Program!

For every dollar a spent on renewable energy, the Massachusetts Technology Colaborative will match it in two ways:

• Up to one dollar will go to the town or city for renewable energy educational materials or projects.
• Up to one additional dollar will go to low-income renewable and energy efficiency projects.

How Much Will A Town Receive?

If, for example, a consumer pays $12 per month for renewable electricity and MTC matches 50%, MTC will provide $6 per month or $72 per year to that consumers community and an additional $6 per month for low-income projects. As you can see below, this can quickly add up: If there are 10 participants each of whose purchases is matched $6 monthly, MTC will provide $720 each year to the community.

• If there are 25 participants, MTC will provide $1,800.
• If there are 100 participants, MTC will provide $7,200.
• If there are 300 participants, MTC will provide $21,600.

Sign Up Before December 31st 2005!!!

If the town gets 3% of households to sign up by January 1, 2006, it gets a one time payment for renewable energy education & projects:

How Much Will it Cost Me?

For a typical Massachusetts home that uses 500 kilowatt-hours per month, participating in GreenUp with Community Energy will add $6 to $12 per month to your electric bill, depending on which option you choose. Please note this cost is tax deductible.

How do I sign up?

Signing up is easy. Look in your October Bill for an enrolement form or download a pdf of the form here. Cape Ann Climate Change Network thanks you for your support of the GreenUp program. We can make a difference!

Posted by monty at 04:18 PM | Permalink

To Cape Ann Energy

Recent events have brought a sharp focus on this country's need to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources. While this has been an issue for some time, these recent events have made this issue more prominent for all Americans. When you combine the increased costs, and the environmental impacts that this consumption creates, it is clear that it is in all of our interests to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In Gloucester we have been working on this issue for some time, and have approached the issue on several fronts.

The first approach is to reduce consumption, and we have approached this through our citizens, our government, and our facilities. The School Committee has brought on facility management staff and consultants, who will be able to change behavioral aspects of staff and reduce energy needs by a third. I have asked all of my managers to consider their operations and report to our Department of Public Works Director on ways that we can also reduce consumption in our operations. This will look at everything from idling vehicles to turning off computers at night. The City also continues to look for other ways to encourage conservation.

I have also appointed an energy committee called the Gloucester Renewable Energy Committee. The group helps Gloucester consider alternative energy sources and encourage their use. The group has already been briefed on the proposal at Varian to locate wind turbines. It has also contacted the Massachusetts Technology Council to further evaluate wind resources with the goal of possibly locating a facility to supply a City facility. The Committee is also promoting the Clean Energy Choice program. This program involves consumers opting to purchase their electricity from a clean energy source. There is a cost associated with this, but it also allows for a portion of these funds to come back to the community to be spent in furtherance of the use clean energy sources and the education of its citizens. The more citizens that participate in this program increases the grant amount that comes back to the community to support these efforts.

Clearly there still is much work to be done. I encourage all residents of our City, its businesses and institutions to look for ways that you can help to reduce our consumption and encourage our use of renewable sources of energy. Together we can be a leader, addressing these important issues for our community and our country.

Posted by monty at 03:54 PM | Permalink

Think of it as the Kyoto Protocol for your car.

You can learn more about this program at www.terrapass.com

Posted by monty at 11:31 AM | Permalink

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has been working with ten communities in the North Shore region to provide technical and educational assistance for the siting of onshore wind turbines with the goal of increasing public acceptability for these projects. The goal of this work is to create an integration strategy for renewable energy into the regional growth strategy. The communities in the study include Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Ipswich, Lynn, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Rockport, Salem and Swampscott.

The North Shore Wind project has generated considerable interest by communities around the North Shore. Both Swampscott and Gloucester have just appointed Renewable Energy Committees, which will allow them access to free technical assistance from the UMass Renewable Energy Lab to investigate potential wind turbine sites. Beverly, Rockport and Salem will have follow up presentations from the Community Wind Collaborative this summer, to learn more about the program and then consider appointing Renewable Energy Committees of their own. Working with Community Wind, Eastham, Falmouth, Orleans and Lynn have all appointed Renewable Energy Committees and erected MET towers to test wind sites. The Lynn City Council will consider adopting the MAPC-drafted wind turbine siting ordinance this summer. Read more and see the wind maps for the North Shore communities here...

Posted by monty at 10:06 AM | Permalink