Presentation for the 2015 Massachusetts Sustainable Communities and Campuses Conference

1. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create a Cleaner Energy Future
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Charles D. Baker, Governor
Matthew A. Beaton, Secretary
Daniel Burgess, Acting Commissioner
Green Communities Division
Updates
Lisa Capone, Acting Director
Green Communities Division
1

2. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Massachuse(s:
Cleaner
Energy
is
Part
of
Our
Future
Important
Legisla0on
l Global
Warming
Solu0ons
Act
– GHG
reduc0on
goals:
25%
by
2020;
80%
by
2050
– As
of
today,
15
%
below
1990
baseline
l Green
Jobs
Act
– 2014
Clean
Jobs
report:
double
digit
growth
in
clean
energy
jobs
last
3
years
2
State
Energy
and
Environment
Programs
in
same
Cabinet
since
2007:
Good
energy
policy
and
good
environmental
policy
go
hand-­‐in-­‐hand

3. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future3
Green
CommuniEes
Act
Boosted
Energy
Efficiency
&
Renewables
Created
the
Green
Communi0es
Division
in
DOER

4. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Outreach
-­‐
Regional
Coordinators
4
l Regional
Coordinators
act
as
direct
liaisons
with
ci0es
and
towns
on
energy
efficiency
and
renewable
energy
ac0vi0es
l Located
at
each
of
the
DEP
Regional
Offices:
SERO – LAKEVILLE: Seth Pickering
Seth.Pickering@state.ma.us
NERO – WILMINGTON: Joanne Bissetta
Joanne.Bissetta@state.ma.us
CERO – WORCESTER: Kelly Brown
Kelly.Brown@state.ma.us
WERO – SPRINGFIELD: Jim Barry
Jim.Barry@state.ma.us

5. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Meet the Green Communities!
5

6. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future6
DESIGNATION
and
GRANT
PROGRAM
Provides
grants
to
qualifying
communi0es
to
fund
energy
efficiency
ini0a0ves,
renewable
energy,
innova0ve
projects
QualificaEon
Criteria
1. Adopt
as-­‐of-­‐right
si0ng,
in
designated
loca0ons,
for
RE/AE
genera0on,
or
RE/AE
R&D,
or
RE/AE
manufacturing
2. Adopt
expedited
(12
month)
applica0on/
permi]ng
process
3. Establish
an
energy
use
baseline
with
a
plan
to
reduce
baseline
by
20%
in
5
years
4. Purchase
only
fuel-­‐efficient
vehicles
5. Require
new
residen0al
construc0on
and
new
commercial
and
industrial
real
estate
construc0on
to
minimize
life-­‐cycle
energy
costs
(Adopt
Stretch
Code
-­‐
780
CMR
115,
Appendix
AA)
h(p://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-­‐uEliEes-­‐clean-­‐
tech/green-­‐communiEes/gc-­‐grant-­‐program/

7. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
l Grants based on $125K base plus a population/per capita
income formula
• Range $130,725 in Hatfield to $1M (max award) for Boston
l Close to $40M awarded in designation and competitive grants
l Projects include building EE measures, LED streetlights, solar
PV, incremental costs for hybrid vehicles, and more
l 137 projects in 84 municipalities complete to date
• Total Project Costs - $41.1M
• Total GC grant funds used - $25.4M
• Total Utility incentives - $8.4M
• Projected annual cost savings - $6.9M
• Projected annual energy savings –197,986 MMBTU (=1,535 homes)
• Projected annual GHG savings – 14,908 metric tonnes (=3,138 cars)
DesignaEon
and
Grant
Program
–
7

8. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
The
energy
hub
for
all
Massachusebs
ci0es
and
towns,
not
just
designated
Green
Communi0es
8
Green
CommuniEes
Division
Energy
Efficiency
Municipal
Buildings
Street
Lights

9. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future9
Green Communities Division -
Programs & Resources for Municipalities
• Green
Communi0es
Designa0on
and
Grant
Program
• MassEnergyInsight
energy
tracking
and
analysis
tool
• Municipal
Energy
Efficiency
Program
• Energy
Management
Services
Technical
Assistance
• Owner’s
Agent
Technical
Assistance
• Massachusebs
Municipal
Energy
Group
(MMEG)
Ø Website
filled
with
tools
&
resources
www.mass.gov/energy/greencommuni0es
Ø Email
updates
via
listserv
–
Sign
up:
join-­‐ene-­‐greencommuni0es@listserv.state.ma.us

10. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future10
DOER/Green Communities - What’s New?
New Grant Programs (2014)
l Energy
Managers
Grants
– Year
1
-­‐
Nearly
$1M
in
28
awards
made
to
36
municipali0es;
Year
2
-­‐
Depends
on
Year
1
l W/WTP
gap
funding
-­‐
$1.7M
awarded
to
22
drinking
water
and
wastewater
facili0es
to
install
$10.9
million
in
clean
energy
improvement
projects,
leveraging
nearly
$2
million
in
u0lity.
l MLP
energy
efficiency
grants
-­‐
$1.8
M
for
MLP
energy
efficiency
programs
in
14
municipali0es

11. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future11
DOER/Green
CommuniEes
-­‐
What’s
New?
Owner’s
Agent
Technical
Assistance
l Funding for independent third parties to help municipalities
negotiate, develop and manage projects, or who perform
studies to support the development of clean energy projects
l $12,500 Maximum award available;
first come, first serve basis
l For upcoming round, adding:
– Technical assessments for public W/WTPs
l Look for PON in May; accepting applications in July

12. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Community
Clean
Energy
Resiliency
Grants
(RE
Division
-­‐
ACP)
l $40
million
announced
Jan.
2014
– 27
technical
assistance
awards
(consul0ng
services
at
no
cost)
– Round
One:
6
project
implementa0on
awards
($7.4
million)
– Round
Two:
14
project
implementa0on
awards
($18.4
million)
l Program
Status
– Funds
being
disbursed
to
Round
One
awardees
– Finalizing
contracts
for
Round
Two
awardees
12
Ini0a0ve
to
increase
municipal
resilience
through
clean
energy
technology
that
guards
against
energy
service
interrup0ons
due
to
climate
change-­‐induced
severe
weather
events

13. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Community Clean Energy Resiliency Grants
13
• Geographic diversity – awards in
all 4 GC Division regions
• Project type and
technology diversity: both
single facility projects and
micro grid projects
awarded
• Awarded projects
demonstrate daily benefits,
as well as ability to island
and/or provide resilient
support during a power
outage

14. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future14
Green Communities Division
Other
l Webinars – see list on our website.
– How to decipher your electric bill – TBA May
– Solar Loan – TBA in June
– What else? What do you want to hear about?
l Collaboration with MA DESE on US-ED
Green Ribbon Schools award program:
– 2 schools and 1 district nominated in January – national awardees
announced on Earth Day
– Previous awardees: (2014) Boston Latin School; (2013) Acton Public
Schools and Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, Berkshire
School (Sheffield), Manchester Essex Regional Middle High School,
Quincy High School

15. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Rooftop Solar Challenge Round II
l Participating in a regional effort to target non-
hardware “soft” costs for photovoltaic (PV)
electricity systems and increasing
coordination across Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode
Island, and Vermont.
l Coordinated by national energy non-profit
CESA and called the New England Solar
Cost-Reduction Partnership
l Focused on permitting and interconnection
challenges; the need for new financing tools;
and planning and zoning rule variations
l Partners: MassCEC, City of Boston, City of
Cambridge, City of Winchester
15

16. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future16
Inspector Technical and Safety
Trainings
l Solar PV Basics and Definitions
l Trainings on technical and safety
aspects of solar in MA
l Overview of model permitting
guide and explanation of how it
could be use
l Trainings and guidance
documents can be found at:
http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-
utilities-clean-tech/webinar-future-
and-archive.html

17. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Upcoming DOER Solar Resources
RSC II:
l MA Condominium Guide for Solar PV
l MA Residential Financing Guide for Solar PV
l Possible additional solar PV permitting and safety
trainings for municipal inspectors and first responders
l Possible outreach and opportunities on online
permitting
DOER/CEC:
l Residential solar loan program
http://www.masscec.com/programs/mass-solar-loan
17

18. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Project
SAPHIRE
(Schools
&
Public
Housing
IntegraEng
Renewables
&
Efficiency)
18
• 3-­‐year
project
thru
2015
–
may
be
extended
• Over
$2
million
in
state
and
federal
funding
• Leveraging:
• MSBA’s
Accelerated
Repair
• State
bond
financing
• Part
of
effort
to
incen0vize
renewable
thermal
• Schools
may
apply
for
engineering
feasibility
studies,
and/or
project
grant
funding
and
low-­‐
interest
bond
financing
• No-­‐cost
feasibility
studies
only
open
to
public
schools
not
hea0ng
with
natural
gas
• All
public
schools
may
apply
for
project
implementa0on
grants
• mass.gov/eea/energy-utilities-clean-tech/renewable-
energy/renewable-thermal/saphire-program-
renewable-heating-energy-efficiency.html or contact
Elise Anderson at elise.anderson@state.ma.us
So
far:
• 7
feasibility
studies
complete
• 3
ac0ve
grants=$810,000
• Ashburnham
Overlook
• Biomass
pellet
• S.
Berkshire
RSD
• Biomass
pellet
• Narraganseb
RSC
• Biomass
chip

19. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
l Organize an Energy Committee
l Contact your Regional Coordinator
l Get trained on Mass Energy
Insight
l Talk to other municipalities in your
region
l Contact your utility about an audit
What Can YOU Do?
19

20. Helping Massachusetts Municipalities Create A Cleaner Energy Future
Contact
InformaEon
20
Lisa Capone – Acting Director
Lisa.capone@state.ma.us
www.mass.gov/energy/greencommunities
www.mass.gov/doer
Email
updates
via
listserv
–
Sign
up
by
sending
an
email
to:
join-ene-greencommunities@listserv.state.ma.us
Grant
Opportuni0es
Page
http://www.mass.gov/eea/grants-and-tech-assistance/guidance-
technical-assistance/agencies-and-divisions/doer/doer-
procurements.html