State funds available for towns to receive municipal energy audits
The Center for Ecological Technology (CET) and Precision Decisions, LLC announced today that they were awarded a contract by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to provide municipal energy audits in Western Massachusetts.Schools, town halls, libraries, police and fire stations, water treatment plants, regional school districts, district waste water departments and other facilities owned and operated by cities or towns are eligible for energy audits. The audit will help towns reduce energy costs by identifying capital improvements and assessing renewable energy options.
DOER is accepting applications through April 15, 2009 for the municipal energy audits. DOER will assign municipal energy audits to one of the selected auditing companies on a first-come first-serve basis.
Berkshire communities and school districts that applied during the first round include: Lenox, Otis, Lee, North Adams, Mt. Greylock Regional High School, Berkshire Hills School District, Sheffield, Stockbridge, Farmington River Regional School District, Tyringham and Pittsfield’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. In the current round DOER has already received applications from Egremont, Great Barrington, Hancock, Hoosac Water Quality District, Peru, Richmond, Southern Berkshire Regional School District, Washington, and Windsor.
Otis and Lenox are among the first communities to receive funding to make energy efficient improvements totaling $226,745 and $94,111, respectively, through DOER’s Green Communities program. Cost-effective measures that reduce energy consumption for heating, cooling and electricity may be eligible, including: heating and cooling system upgrades, energy efficient lighting, energy management controls, pumps and motors. A qualifying Energy Audit is the first step in the process.
“Towns in Western Massachusetts are being hit hard by energy costs. Many haven’t had energy audits in more than a decade and technology has significantly advanced. Energy efficiency is the best way to reduce costs and our impacts on the environment,” said CET Director Laura Dubester.
For more information, contact Scott Durkee, Energy Audit Program Manager at DOER (617) 727-4732 ext. 40156 or Laura Dubester at CET (413) 445-4556 ext. 13.
