The Massachusetts Senate just passed sweeping climate legislation. This is the third cutting-edge bill that will enable us to build up the clean power supply without taking a big toll on the household budget. Thank you Senator Creem for your pivotal roll in the Clean Heat parts of the Senate bill #S.2829. Now it is the House's turn.
Specifically, this bill will allow Massachusetts to install new solar, wind, and storage as well as charging electric vehicles and powering heat pumps. The bill qualifies moderate-income customers for discounted utility rates and delivers financial relief by curbing the current biases in state law that favor extending the natural gas system beyond its useful life. If signed into law, the legislation will also help us decarbonize buildings and our transit by expanding the mission of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center to include carbon removal, embodied carbon, and nuclear power. In other good news, the Senate unanimously passed the Affordable Homes Act (a Housing Bond bill) offering $150 million allocated for public housing decarbonization and $275 million allocated for green and sustainable housing initiatives. If you are curious about:
Register for David Green's free "Zero Carbon, Zero Bills" webinar on July 9th at 7PM (Eastern time). Sherborn resident David Green has cut his own home's carbon emissions and bills to zero (making a 15% return on investment) and loves driving his Tesla Model S and Ford F150 Lightning for far less than their gas-powered equivalents, and without range anxiety. The F150 has also powered my house for 24 hours during a grid outage. He has authored two books on cutting carbon emissions (endorsed by both Bill McKibben and Paul Hawken) and has created this webinar that thousands of people have seen seen. David is an energy geek with a BA in physics from Oxford University and a finance nerd with an MBA from Harvard Business School. David has retired from a career in biotechnology (he founded two companies, was CEO of both and took both public on NASDAQ) and does not work for any installer or manufacturer of energy products - his advice is completely independent. The presentation part of the webinar lasts about 45 minutes and then David will stay on the call until the last person's question gets answered. Wellesley's Municipal Light Plant (WMLP) will be offering a rebate to qualifying residential solar installations starting Monday, July 8th. The rebate amount will be $1,200 per installed kW of solar generation capacity to a maximum rebate of $12,000. WMLP will pay participating residential customers the wholesale rate for excess solar generation.
Solar energy is the most cost-effective way for homes and businesses in Wellesley to lower their energy bills and lock in reliable energy costs from a proven clean energy solution: the sun. Ready to investigate solar electricity for your home? Here is the Process: Step 1: (optional) Estimate your property's potential for solar energy production with this tool. Step 2: Get competing solar quotes from EnergySage, or other local solar installers. Solar installers known to more recently work in our Town but for whom the WMLP does not endorse or sponsor include SunBug/ReVision Energy, Devlin Energy, Trinity Solar, Great Skye, and DeFreitas Enterprises. Step 3: Choose an installer. Step 4: On behalf of the Project Owner, the Installer completes the WMLP Net Metering / Interconnection Service Agreement. The WMLP ISA, along with the Installer's online diagram, and technical specifications for the inverters, must be submitted to the WMLP. Do not install upon WMLP interconnection approval; rebate approval occurs after WMLP approval via this portal. Rebate approvals are issued via a Rebate Reservation email. Any project installed without a Rebate Reservation letter is at the project owner’s risk. Step 5: Submit a rebate application through this portal. Monitor your emails for notifications. Once submitted, your rebate application will await sign-off from WMLP that confirms an approved interconnection. All communication regarding the rebate application is via ENE portal notifications, including requests for additional information and rebate approval, and detailed directions & forms for the completion process. Step 6: Install an ALSO ENERGY Locus Meter. To qualify for the MLP Solar rebate program, you must install an Also Energy Locus Meter. Please contact Also Energy to order your meter and data package: 866-303-5668 / [email protected] Step 7: Rebate Reservation/Installation Approval. Await portal application validation. Provide additional documents, as requested via portal auto-notifcations. The Rebate Reservation letter is approval to install the system. Step 8: Install system and receive a Permission to Operate letter/ document from WMLP. Arrange for inspections by wire inspector; get building permit. WMLP inspects facility and performs witness test. WMLP provides written authorization to operate. Step 9: Submit completion documents to portal application. Await payment. Please note: Customers must apply for the rebate and will not be given the option of enrolling in the full (retail) net metering program. If the customer’s application is denied, the customer would only then become eligible to enroll in the WMLP’s full net metering program without the rebate, provided the customer: 1) submitted the application before the WMLP grants permission to operate the solar system and within 180 calendar days of the new program’s launch date; and 2) the solar system complies with the requirements stipulated in the Interconnection Service Agreement and Approval to Install. After the WMLP’s new solar rebate program has been in place for 180 calendar days, there will be no new enrollments of solar customers in the full net metering program. Resources and Document Links
Federal and State Residential Solar and Battery Storage Incentives
Solar in Wellesley Learn more about the Town of Wellesley's commitment to maximizing solar in town. “What‘s happening is a crime – a crime against all of our citizens, young and old, and a crime against our planet,” said Wellesley's Chief of Police Jack Pilecki in regards to the environmental crisis in his PSA a few years ago.
Wellesley's very own "Green Police Chief" Jack Pilecki will retire on June 30. His commitment to sustainability went well beyond the station's water hydration station and reusable water bottles. Chief Pilecki added hybrid and electric cruisers to the fleet; installed an electric charging station; took on idling at the schools; installed a bike repair station at the police station; and encouraged his officers to participate in the Rules of the Ride youth biking event. We wish the Chief all the best in retirement and congratulate the new Chief of Police, Scott Whittemore. We look forward to more emissions reduction opportunities with Chief Whittemore, a Wellesley native and 28-year veteran of WPD. Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP) is anticipating a peak in the demand for electricity on June 19 and June 20 due to predicted high temperatures.
Electricity use is expected to peak between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on both days. Customers are asked to voluntarily cut back on energy use during this time, to help shave the peak and save the planet. This does not mean there is a shortage of electricity. Reducing demand during this period will help reduce both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Cut back electric use by turning up your air conditioner thermostat a few degrees, turning off car chargers, dehumidifiers, pool filters, clothes dryers, and other unnecessary appliances. By 8:00 p.m. the peak should pass and you can resume regular use. Please share this information with friends and neighbors. From the Town of Wellesley:Electric Vehicle (EV) owners can now use two new Level 3 fast charging stations recently installed at the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP).
The charging stations are located at 4 Municipal Way. Each station has two different charging cords and is designed to charge at 100 Kilowatts (KW). Payments must be made using the FLO EV Charging app which can be downloaded from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. As approved by the WMLP Board, the charging per kilowatt hour fees are based on the time of day: Time Days Hours $/kWh Off Peak Saturday - Sunday All Day $0.25 Off Peak Monday - Friday 9 PM - 6 AM $0.25 Mid Peak Monday - Friday 6 AM - 4 PM $0.50 Peak Monday - Friday 4 PM - 9 PM $0.75 Each station has a maximum charging rate of 100 kW. There is an idle fee of $1.00 per minute after a 10-minute grace period for a vehicle that has been parked at a station for more than 2 hours. These stations can be used by anyone with the FLO app and will show up on public charging station maps like Plug Share. From the Town of Wellesley:
Mandatory outdoor watering restrictions are in effect for all Wellesley citizens and business owners for Summer 2024. The requirements include alternate day outdoor watering schedules for homes and businesses, a ban on outdoor watering between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and a request to reduce the amount of outdoor watering time by 20 percent. These efforts are needed to ensure that Wellesley’s water supply is sufficient to protect the health and safety of residents, including providing enough water necessary to fight fires. This is a preventative measure to ensure adequate water supply throughout Town while the PFAS filter media is being replaced at the Morses Pond Groundwater Treatment Plant. Typically, this treatment plant supplies over 750,000 gallons of water per day to homes and businesses. We anticipate that the plant will be down between 1 to 3 weeks. If our region experiences drought conditions in the coming months, additional restrictions may be required. Outdoor Water Use Alternate Day RestrictionsBased upon street address numbers, essential and nonessential outdoor water use IS ALLOWED according to the following schedule:
Essential uses of water are:
To help maintain appropriate water levels in Town storage tanks, the DPW is also asking residents to reduce the amount outdoor watering time by 20%. For example, if you have an automated irrigation system with a 15-minute watering time in each zone, you should reduce each zone’s watering duration by at least 3 minutes. Additional water conservation recommendations include checking for and repairing any water leaks in irrigation systems, faucets, showerheads, and toilets. The Wellesley Housing Task Force and Barrett Planning Group will hold an in-person community meeting on Tuesday, June 18 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at Wellesley High School (50 Rice Street).
Keep in mind that Wellesley has a goal adopted by Town Meeting in 2021 to reduce town-wide greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 (with interim targets to reduce these emissions 50% below a 2007 baseline by 2030 and 75% below the 2007 baseline by 2040) and dense housing can help us meet this goal. The public, and especially residents, developers, business owners, and service providers are encouraged to attend. The meeting will include a presentation on the current state of housing in Wellesley and the opportunity for all participants to provide insight on a new Strategic Housing Plan for our community. Wellesley's existing Housing Production Plan was approved in 2018 and was intended to guide the Town for five years. Despite meeting many of the recommendations in the 2018 plan, the housing market in Wellesley has evolved and Massachusetts has passed new regulations, such as the MBTA Communities Law, that impact housing. As a result, the Town has determined it needs to develop new strategies to create the varied housing needed to support our community. This meeting is part of a planned community engagement program to gather input and feedback as the Town develops its new Strategic Housing Plan. Do you need to upgrade your heating system? It might be a good time to consider heat pumps, a super-efficient heating option that also provides cooling in summer. There are big rebates & incentives to install heat pumps, but not every HVAC technician knows how to install them correctly. Hear from EnergySage about trusted installers and advice when it comes time to compare their quotes. They’ll get you oriented so you can ask the right questions and find the best answers to suit your home.
Join the popular and informative Heat Pumps webinar for a conversation with Caleb Pulliam from EnergySage and Loie Hayes, Energy Efficiency Coordinator at Green Energy Consumers, and plenty of time for questions after the presentation. Wednesday, June 5 from 12-1pm. Register here for this online event. Register even if you can't attend, and they'll send you a link to the recording afterwards. Navigating the Metro West using Public Transportation: An MWRTA Travel Training Program for Increasing Independent Mobility
Register for this event on Tuesday June 4th 2-3pm The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority proudly offers a comprehensive travel training program to empower individuals with the skills and knowledge to navigate public transportation confidently and independently. Join us for an informal session where you will learn about our personalized training sessions, accessibility options, route planning tools, and more. Whether you are a first-time rider or looking to enhance your skills, this program is tailored to meet individual needs and support your journey towards greater mobility and freedom. |
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