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Helping the town go green

Energy Committee gives Council detailed presentation BY ROB GLIDDEN STAFF WRITER

The Energy Committee gave a detailed presentation to the Town Council Monday night, including an in-depth proposal on how Southington could invest in greener, more efficient technology. The committee was formed in 2008 to deal with rising energy costs, but has remained mostly under the radar. Since the Republicans took control of the council in 2009, the committee has been chaired by Fred Rogers. The featured speaker was Chris Halpin of Celtic Energy, a longtime expert whose resume includes being selected by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to review stimulus proposals. He outlined the concept of Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC). If Southington chose to participate, the town could invest in energy upgrades (either leasing technology or retrofitting existing equipment) and the expected savings of the more efficient technology would, in the long term, balance the costs of the construction and then some. “It’s a complex process, but when done well it’s an amazing thing,” Halpin said. “The savings always outweigh the costs of the construction. This is the way of the future for municipalities.” Halpin cited his com¬pany’s work with the Windham school district in Willimantic. The struggling district with older buildings was able to finance major infrastructure upgrades like boilers and windows. The committee’s presentation also touched on the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund’s “20 percent by 2010” program, which encourages towns to obtain 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources. If a town succeeds, it can earn green technology to use as it wishes. Southington joined this program a few years ago and now the year 2010 is nearly over. Two hundred sign ups are needed. As of press time, the town has 188. “With only twelve more sign ups, we earn a solar array worth $20, 000,” said committee member Sharon Vocke. The council seemed to respond favorably to the presentation, though there was not much discussion. Rogers hoped to go more into detail on the ESPC and other energy-related issues during a joint meeting with several town boards. Council Chairman Edward Pocock, III added that he hoped for an “energy summit” sometime in January. “This is an enormous [idea] that could have huge benefits for the entire town,” Pocock said.