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Region 1: EPA New England

Make Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy a Priority at Your Town Meeting

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

By Robert W. Varney
March 15, 2007

Moving our clocks ahead this month helped New Englanders “spring ahead” to the longer and warmer days of spring. The decision by Congress to begin Daylight Savings Time three weeks early this year represents an awareness of the importance of saving energy that New Englanders can act on directly within our own communities.

Spring also brings a cherished but challenging New England tradition: town meeting. Our unique, home-grown form of local government forces us to make difficult choices about how to spend our limited resources. But lost in the fog of battles to balance budgets, save school programs, or improve public safety is a source of savings that everyone can agree on: energy efficiency.

If you haven’t looked, you probably don’t realize how much of your town’s budget goes to energy bills. A typical town of 25,000 spends more than a million dollars each year on electricity and heating fuel for town buildings. If the town operates a drinking water or wastewater treatment plant, the costs are considerably higher. For many towns and cities, energy costs are second only to personnel in the budget.

EPA estimates that – on average – about 30% of the energy used in commercial buildings, including public buildings, is wasted. While no one wants to learn that their buildings are wasting energy, the opportunity to save big on a million dollar budget item is welcome news to any community.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the towns and cities across New England have pursued these cost savings, which is why EPA New England is launching the Community Energy Challenge. We’re asking cities, towns, local water utilities, and school districts throughout New England to commit to improve energy performance, assess energy use in their facilities, set a goal to reduce energy use by 10 percent or more, and encourage energy efficiency and clean and renewable energy in their communities. We’ll also be offering free training, technical support, and recognition for achievements through ENERGY STAR and other EPA programs.

The benefits of energy efficiency go beyond saving money. Energy use is the leading source of air pollution in New England and the United States. Burning fossil fuels to produce energy is by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Making your town more energy efficient saves money and helps protect our environment for future generations.

What is the secret to improving energy efficiency and cashing in on the savings? Better technology – for example, efficient lighting and motors – plays a big role. But EPA studies show that the most important factor determining energy efficiency is good management. Making energy efficiency a community priority, setting goals, and measuring and tracking performance can make an enormous difference.

A terrific example of how this works can be found in Vermont’s state capital. The Montpelier Energy Task Force was formed to address community-wide energy use and investment. The Task Force developed an inventory of energy use in municipal buildings and acted to coordinate smaller groups looking at specific components of energy use, such as lighting and transportation. They will also hold an “Energy Town Meeting” to showcase all their work and discuss plans for the future.

A more specific example is the EPA regional laboratory in Chelmsford, MA. When it opened in 2001, this laboratory received a LEED Gold Rating for its energy efficient design, its active and passive solar power, its use of recycled materials in construction, and its environmentally-friendly landscaping. Even with this outstanding baseline, by implementing an aggressive energy management plan over the last two years, we've reduced energy consumption by 30%, for a cost savings of nearly $200,000 in 2006 alone!

We hope that, over the next few months, every city and town in New England will establish a local energy committee with members approved by the City Council or Board of Selectmen. The town or city energy committee would focus on making every municipal building and facility as energy efficient as possible and explore opportunities for alternative energy which may lower the cost of government, while improving public health and the environment.

Please join the Community Energy Challenge! Together, we can make a tremendous difference for our communities, our businesses, ourselves, and most importantly, our planet.

For more information visit: www.epa.gov/ne/eco/energy/energy-challenge.html

Robert W. Varney is regional administrator of EPA's New England Office in Boston.

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