HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - AEC - 02/23/2016 Meeting Minutes Alternative Energy Committee
Board of Selectmen Office, 7:30 p.m., 2/23/2016
AEC Attendees
Shaun Selha, Chair
Mary Jo Larson, Vice Chair
Patricia Gooding
Steve Girardi
Eric Seuss
Other Attendees
Chris Senior (Town Manager)
Tanya Bodell (Advisory Board)
Jeanne Astino (School Committee)
Robert Silvia (Fire Chief)
Seth Pickering (MA DOERR)
CHS students
Amanda Thompson (Cohasset Mariner)
Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes for January 2016 were noted but not approved since we did not have an
official quorum. They will be approved at the March 2016 meeting.
Green Communities Actvities
Initial grant application for $141,460 submitted to DOER. Seth noted that in 3 weeks we
will have the contracts from the DOER for the release of the funds. The application has already
been reviewed and approved. Those funds, along with utility incentives, will pay for Phase 2
of our ECM implementations that include the following (represents 106,000 kWhs of annual
savings or 2.5% of annual energy consumption):
o Exterior lighting upgrade at Cohasset Middle/High School
o Exterior lighting upgrade at Osgood Elementary School
o Exterior lighting upgrade at Deer Hill Elementary School
o Exterior lighting upgrade at Cohasset DPW Facility
Phase 1 ECM implementations accounted for 463,000 kWhs of annual savings or 11% of
annual energy consumption.
Town will be eligible for 2017 grant of up to $250,000. Current plan is to utilize those
grant funds for the Phase 3 ECM implementation, which is the Streetlight LED Retrofit
project. Capital cost estimate is $179,000. The savings will be approximately 161,000 kWhs
annually or 3% of annual energy consumption. This will bring our total energy reduction
amount up to 16.5% through the three (3) phases.
The Town asked Seth about the Energy Manager grants the DOER used to
administer. Seth noted that the DOER is looking at the benefit of the program and whether to
continue it. The two potential programs that may be available to Cohasset are the following:
o Energy Manager Grant: Grant will pay up to $50,000 for the first year salary of the Energy
Manager and then $25,000 the second year. This may be discontinued.
o META Grant: Municipal Energy Technical Assistance Grant that allows for up to $12,500/yr
for a technical assistant for the Town. Possibility of teaming up with other Towns and sharing a
full-time assistance utilizing grant funds.
Palmer Capital Old Landfill PV Array Development
Palmer has continued with the applications for interconnection, post-closure use, and the
Planning Board Site Plan Review, but require the Closure Permit to be executed and the three
parcels of land comprising the Old Landfill to be merged for Net Metering reasons.
o As far as the Closure Permit, Chris Senior reported that the Certificate of Compliance was
received by the Town and that CDM Smith will file the closure permit application this week or
next week. Seth noted that he can talk to the DEP on behalf of the Town if we would like.
o As far as the merging of the three parcels, Chris Senior reported that the survey crew will be
on-site at the Old Landfill next week to complete the survey required for the parcel merger.
Streetlight Procurement and Conversion
National Grid is scheduled to send their reconciliation report this week. They are
claiming to have found eighty (80) of the 101 streetlights that could not be identified during the
GIS mapping. Additionally, of the eighty-eight (88) streetlights that were not operating, National
Grid has committed to repairing them prior to the Town purchasing and taking over ownership
of them. The sale price is being lowered and negotiated to take into account the final number
of streetlights being purchased as well as the errant payments for non-operational
streetlights. The new purchase price should be distributed to the Town next week as well by
National Grid.
Other New Business
Chris Senior mentioned that the village will be getting repaved in the Spring and that as
part of that initiative the Town will be adjusting the parking space configuration. He also asked
whether or not the AEC was still recommending the installation of one or two electric vehicle
charging station, which we are. Seth noted that the MA DEP EVIP program offers grants for
charging station installations and that the Town should look into it.
Shaun Selha is currently sitting on the Steering Committee for the "Town Master Plan"
initiative. The next meeting is on 2/24/16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Board of Selectmen
office. Shaun will provide updates at the March 2016 AEC meeting.
Patricia gave a presentation on the utilization of the MassEnergylnsight System, in
particular on the features the Town can utilize as well as the manual maintenance and updates
required (uploading of diesel and gas consumption and cost figures as well as account
descriptions). Patricia recommended that the Town reconfigure their spreadsheet for diesel and
gas consumption and cost figures to allow for automatically uploading of the data to the
Mass Energylnsight System. Chris Senior to determine which Town Employee is well suited to
complete the routine maintenance tasks.
o Bob Silvia (Fire Dept) requested read only access to the system so he can review and analyze
the data for the facilities under his department. Chris Senior to send Seth Pickering the contact
information for all Department Heads who should have access to the system so Seth can assign
log-in credentials.
Shaun Selha asked Chris Senior about the status of the Town's electricity and natural gas
commodity contracts as well as if the Town is currently engaged in a Demand Response
Program. Chris noted that he believes the current contracts are expiring but he is not sure about
the Demand Response Program. Chris to investigate and report back. Please note the
commodity contracts can be a source of energy procurement savings while the Demand
Response Program is a potential additional revenue stream for existing Emergency Generators
that the Town owns.
Shaun Selha noted that the Water Distribution and Treatment Plant and Pumping Stations
currently account for 13% of the Town's total energy consumption, yet we have not had an
energy audit completed of any of the facilities. There is a potential for improvements and ECM
implementations on both the process as well as "back of the house" auxiliary equipment
side. Also, potential savings could be used to justify rate reductions if the savings are passed on
to the rate payers. Chris to talk to Brian about discussing with National Grid the use of a TA to
assess the system. Also, Seth noted that he can forward along the contact information for some
TA's (Technical Assistants) with National Grid that specialize in Water Distribution and
Treatment Plant energy assessments.
Tanya Bodell and Shaun Selha noted the new grant program by the MA Clean Energy
Center for Community Microgrid Feasibility Studies. There is $650,000 available for feasibility
studies. Currently they are evaluating potential Engineering Firms that can conduct the
feasibility studies and then they will evaluate Project Team Applications from the firms and
specific end-users. Cohasset can look at teaming with an Engineering Firm to complete the
feasibility. A potential Microgrid may include the Schools, Town Hall, Police/Fire Station, and
DPW Facilities.
o In terms of on-site generation for the Microgrid, Tanya and Shaun discussed the utilization of
the existing emergency generators as well as the installation of additional generators as well as
PV arrays and battery storage devices.
Bob Silvia noted that the Town may want to look at the installation of a Roof-Mounted PV
Array on the Public Safety Building. This would be a "behind the meter" application similar to
what was proposed for the Middle-High School Roof. This will be investigated.
Bob Silvia noted that he reviewed the new Town Bylaw around the Ground-Mounted
Solar Photovoltaic Array installations at the Old Landfill and asked whether or not the AEC
considered either modifying it or creating a new one to cover PV Array installations throughout
Town (including commercial and residential). The AEC has not considered this but the request
is not unreasonable though it will have to be funneled through the Planning Department and
Construction Department. Bob's concern is centered around standardized installation
procedures that are per NEC and NFPA code and allow for a Fire Department review for
isolation and access during an emergency or fault event.
Next Meeting
Monday, March 14, 2016