The Southwick Department of Public Works garage on College Highway is under contract for energy upgrades with Western Massachusetts Electric Company. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – Municipal buildings in town are slated for energy audits through a Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) program.
One building, the Department of Public Works garage on College Highway, was already audited and is under contract for upgrades.
Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart said Conserve out of Tolland, Conn., conducted the DPW audit and found a number of areas that could benefit from new fixtures.
“There are lighting fixtures in the garage bay, storage areas and older, existing offices that they determined there could be savings with new energy efficient fixtures,” Stinehart said.
Stinehart said the newly renovated areas of the building were energy efficient.
The WMECO program has a 20-month payback period.
“The work is valued at $58,000 and the electric company’s share is $38,200 so the town’s share is about $20,000. It comes out of the electric bill savings so it is revenue neutral.”
Stinehart said after the 20-month payback period ends the town will see an increase in savings on its WMECO bill.
“They’re going to look at other municipal buildings and decide what makes sense,” said Stinehart.
Another energy audit was recently completed at no cost to the town by Siemens. Stinehart said the biggest results of that audit included the need for insulation at the library and and heating controls at the fire station.
“We didn’t get to a high enough aggregate for us to bond under the Siemens program,” said Stinehart, “so John (Westcott, building and grounds maintenance director) is working on those through our budget process.”
Stinehart said the town looks at its energy consumption every few years because of changes in technology and the types of devices used in buildings.
The work at the DPW garage has not yet been scheduled. Stinehart said he expects it will begin in late winter so it does not disrupt the DPW’s winter workload.
