Energy Conservation Committee Minutes

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, May 9, 2018

LITTLETON ENERGY CONSERVATION COMMITTEE     

                                  MEETING OF 9 MAY 2018

 

Attendees:   Peter Cooper, Ron Bolt, Bob O’Connor

 

Administrative Matters: 

 

The minutes of the April meeting were approved.

 

Bob produced flyers to be placed at the Transfer Station advertising the need for ECC members.

                         

Opera House Project

 

            Sue Pilotte is working with the NH Division of Historic Resources to obtain approval to complete this project. The DHR wanted to see pictures of the access arrangement designed to observe that the original walls are protected from the new insulation.  

                        

Green-Up Day Post-Mortem

 

            Our information booth garnered little to no attention.

 

Response to/from Board of Selectmen

 

            Selectman Franco Rossi complimented the ECC on the thoroughness of our reply to his question about energy savings calculations. He then asked about the increased use propane at the fire station and highway garage this past heating season. Ron and Peter each responded detailing the long history of issues relating to the wood pellet system design and re-design. Both mentioned that the system may, in fact, be undersized but that at current rates for propane and wood pellets, the cost is not a big concern.

 

            The wood energy people have a rule of thumb that a pellet system that meets 50% of peak load will provide 90% of the energy for the year. We would seek to get closer to that performance. We will reach out to Froling Energy and Yeaton Associates to resolve this anomaly and, of course, involve Joe De Palma and Joe Mercieri. Peter will try to arrange an experts meeting (Froling, Yeaton, and Dan Hebert Inc., and town representatives) to try to resolve outstanding issues.

 

 

Value Chain Network

 

A second workshop is scheduled for 22 May. The VC Network is looking for the best ways to lower energy costs for low income residents, primarily in Coos Country, who pay a proportionately higher percentage of their income on energy. The goals are to:

 

  • Prioritize the top 3 to 4 areas of focus for the next few years
  • Form a team of local and regional partners for each area of focus who are excited about and wish to engage in advancing that area
  • Create a high-level action plan for each focus area

           

Other Business

 

  • Peter has been assisting with a grant application to the USDA Regional Development to replace window a/c units with wall mounted heat pumps at the library. The Town needs to sign off on the application to formalize the request, and the town/library needs to cover $13K of the $29K total cost.

 

  • Ron and Brian Patnoe jointly submitted a public service article to the Courier about a number of recycling challenges at the Littleton Transfer Station. Lower demand is driving prices down, but users can help with a little more attention to proper sorting and eliminating contamination.

 

  • Bob will engage Ed King at the Littleton Food Co-op about a post-expansion interview focusing on energy savings.

 

 

Next meeting: Wednesday, 13 June 2018, 10:30 AM, at the Community Center

 

Ron Bolt, Secretary