NEW ENERGY GOES TO TOWN

A green energy effort has the wind in its sails; Environmentally conscious citizens are finding the power to adapt municipal buildings
Melissa Beecher, February 22, 2007 (The Boston Globe)

- A grass-roots effort to fight global warming and high utility bills is sprouting in the suburbs, as advocates push for renewable energy in schools and local governments…
- …groups promoting fossil fuel alternatives are urging residents to contribute to the New England Wind Fund to qualify for free 2-kilowatt solar energy systems to be used by the towns' municipal buildings.
- …solar panels atop Hormel Stadium and [Medford] City Hall are already saving the city $2,000 a year…

- University of Massachusetts facility managers have invested in wind energy to help power residence halls.
- The changes often begin with grass-roots efforts…
- Nancy Nolan and Keith Ohmart are two members of Lexington's Global Warming Action Coalition trying to rally 300 households in town to make donations to the New England Wind Fund…"The big picture is that a program like this shows what everyday people can do," said Nolan.
- Ten communities -- including Arlington, Cambridge, Brookline, and Newton -- have signed on…
- Lexington's Solar Challenge is connected to a statewide program known as Clean Energy Choice that promises solar panels to cities and towns…To participate, 150 households in a community must pledge $5 per month or make a one-time contribution of $100 …
- In Arlington, the citizen group Sustainable Arlington has mobilized to promote the program…

- Patricia Barry , director of Medford's energy and environmental office, said the city saves upward of $2,000 annually thanks to solar panels atop Hormel Stadium and City Hall…Medford was the first community in the state to have a climate action plan and is currently reviewing options to bring wind power to the city…
- UMass-Lowell physical plant director David Kiser said that despite the higher price tag, the school is an example of how renewable energy can work…Although the power costs approximately 3 percent more than traditional energy sources, the school realized it needed to offset its impact on the environment…UMass also installed solar panels atop Ball Hall to offset that facility's electric costs and to determine how much power can be generated through additional panels on campus…