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Town signs energy conservation agreement for small businesses

Date: 4/19/2010

April 19, 2010

LONGMEADOW -- The town of Longmeadow has signed an agreement with Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo) to participate in the Small Business Energy Advantage Program. Under this program WMECo pays for 70 percent of the cost of upgrading electrical equipment (lighting, motors, etc.) of town buildings and facilities to achieve added energy efficiency. The balance of the costs will be paid by the town through a no interest loan whose payments will be lower than the electric bill would otherwise have been.

"I first heard about this program at a seminar I attended at the Mass Municipal Association Meeting," Select Board member Mark Gold said. "When I returned from the conference I contacted the seminar speaker and he put me in touch with WMECo's Kim Kiernan. Within a week of my call Mrs. Kiernan, a Longmeadow resident, was sitting down with me and other town employees to put the program to work for the town. She even brought in WMECo's contractor, Advanced Energy Group (AEG) of East Longmeadow."

"Western Massachusetts Electric is delighted to be able to participate in this program with the town of Longmeadow," Kiernan said. "We expect to see quite a number of communities participating, and it's great to see Longmeadow getting in on the ground floor."

WMECo has contracted with AEG who, over the next six to eight weeks, will be replacing fixtures, bulbs and energy control systems throughout Greenwood Center and several of the town's schools. WMECo is paying all up front costs of the program such as the building and system audits and 70 percent of the costs of materials and labor to install any new equipment. Once this phase of the project is completed, WMECo will be extending the program to the rest of the town's 13 municipal buildings.

In this first phase of the program, the energy audit conducted by AEG of seven of the town's buildings that showed that an investment of $209,000 would result in annual energy cost savings of $36,500. Because WMECo pays 70 percent of the project expenses, the cost to the town for implementing these Phase I energy conservation improvements is $62,600. As part of the program this investment is loaned to the town interest free by the WMECo program. Even with the loan repayment costs, for the next two years the town will see a slight monthly savings after which the town's ongoing saving will be over $3,000 per month.

Longmeadow is one of the first municipalities to participate in this program at the 70 percent reimbursement level. A similar program where the utility reimbursed 35 percent of capital costs had previously been in place. Adrian Phaneuf, the Building Services Coordinator for the town, noted, "We looked at implementing the results of similar energy audits in the past, but the payback period was just too long. Now that there's a 70 percent reimbursement rate, many more projects beyond those we had originally scoped out now make sense."

Phase II of this project will implement changes to the Community House, Town Hall, the high school football field and other buildings and facilities not included in the more limited Phase I project. When Phase II of the project is completed, the energy usage of every building in Longmeadow will be upgraded. For some buildings the changes will be as minor as new ballasts and bulbs. In other buildings the fixtures themselves will be changed and in yet other buildings new energy control systems will be installed. Phaneuf and AEG personnel will be working closely with Tom Mazza, Business Development Manager for the School Department, to avoid disruptions as changes are made within the schools.

AEG Project Coordinator Adam Connors said, "In addition to providing more cost efficient lighting, the town will have a higher quality of light in the areas addressed. The new lighting both indoor and outdoor is more focused. This will reduce indoor glare and outdoor light scatter."

"When the program is completed, WMECo's grants will likely total over $250,000, and savings to the town will top $70,000 per year. With that return the cost of my attending that conference was money well spent," Gold said.

For more information about this program, contact the Select Board office at 565-4110.