Weymouth gets $250,000 to up energy efficiency in 12 buildings
The Patriot Ledger, June 22, 2017
WEYMOUTH – The town will receive $250,000 in grant funding to pursue energy conservation projects in a dozen town-owned buildings, including three fire stations, two schools and two water treatment plants.
Weymouth’s Energy Coordinator Robert O’Connor and Asset and Facilities Management Director John MacLeod joined state officials at the State House this week to accept the grant, provided through the Department of Energy Resources’ Green Communities Competitive Grant Program.
The proposed work includes weatherization of the Johnson Primary School, the teen center, and fire stations 3 and 5, and LED interior-lighting retrofits at the department of public works building, fire station 2, the teen center, Great Pond Water Treatment Plant, Wings C and D of Weymouth High School, Johnson Primary School, North Branch Library, the school administration building, the town hall annex building and the Winter Street Water Treatment Plant.
“Reducing energy consumption not only protects the natural environment; it saves taxpayer dollars for more vital municipal functions, like education and public safety,” Mayor Robert Hedlund said in a statement.
The Green Communities grants provide financial support for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that help designated communities reach their energy conservation goals.
Communities must meet five criteria to be designated a Green Community and be eligible for funding, including a commitment to reduce municipal energy consumption by 20 percent over five years
Each Green Community receives an initial designation award of $125,000, plus additional amounts tied to per capita income and population. Green Communities that successfully invest their designation award are eligible to apply for competitive grants capped at $250,000 per year.
Weymouth earned designation as a Green Community in 2015 and was awarded an initial grant of $277,635 to install an energy management system at town hall, as well as retrofit fluorescent lighting with LED technology at three town buildings and two primary schools.
Those energy conservation measures were completed in early 2017 and are projected to save 272,995 kilowatt hours in electricity per year, or more than $41,000 in annual cost savings.
The projects, funded with the $250,000 grant, are expected to save an additional 339,792 kilowatt hours in electricity per year.