State grant recognizes city’s energy conservation efforts
By DAN MORIARTY
Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – The Westfield Gas & Electric Department has been awarded a state grant in recognition of its energy conservation program.
WG&E General Manager Dan Howard reported to the Municipal Light Board Wednesday that the municipal utility will receive “the lion’s share” of a Regional Green House Gas Initiatives (RGGI) grant, the first such award to municipal utilities.
The grant was submitted by the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC) on behalf of the municipal utilities in Westfield, Chicopee and Ipswich to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs through the Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr., said Thursday that the RGGI has provided funding to investor-owned utilities for decades.
“This is the first time the state has worked with municipal utilities,” Sullivan said. “It was a competitive grant program and Westfield scored very well.”
The Westfield municipal utility will receive $92,611 of the $150,000 allotted for municipal utilities, money that will be used to support the department’s commercial and industrial energy conservation program.
“Energy we don’t use is our first fuel,” Sullivan said. “Massachusetts is leading the nation in this energy efficiency initiative.”
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said this morning that the WG&E commercial and industrial energy conservation program has become an approach being adopted by municipal utilities across the state.
“It’s astounding how quickly it has taken on a life of its own, to the point now where it has become the model for other municipal utilities,” Knapik said. “Over the past two years the department has taken the concept of the state’s Green Communities Program and implemented it here in the city, which is why it is being recognized by the state.”
Knapik said the concept of energy conservation has been a key component of the WG&E’s energy management for years.
“The one component that was missing was the ability to do (energy efficiency) improvements, a component that the investor-owned utilities have been able to finance,” Knapik said. “The department set aside $250,000 which has been used to fund 50/50 grants for commercial and industrial customers.”
The WG&E energy conservation program also includes energy audits for municipal and school buildings, providing information incorporated into a strategic plan to invest in the city’s physical plant to increase energy efficiency.
Sean Fitzgerald, the WG&E energy specialist and customer liaison, represented the municipal utility in the securing the RGGI grant funding.
“We commit almost $1 million a year (to energy conservation programs),” Fitzgerald said Thursday. “All utilities pay a portion of their rate to compensate for greenhouse gases, CO2, which is pumped into the air. That money is put back into programs to reduce energy consumption.
“Our commercial and industrial program is so big, helping those customers to reduce their energy consumption,” he said.
The energy conservation program begins with an energy use assessment, and then a comprehensive energy audit used in identifying energy conservation measures that work for the specific power customer.
“We look at everything, lighting, compressors, heating and air conditioning, pumps, drives, systems that can be energy hogs, trying to find more efficient systems to reduce consumption,” Fitzgerald said. “We have a grant program to replace those inefficient systems with efficient systems.”
Dan Moriarty can be reached at [email protected]
