Recently in Energy crisis Category
The Meredith News October 30, 2008
BY ERIK ZYGMONT
MOULTONBORO — The town has undergone a lighting audit and could save about $10,000 annually in electricity costs, if it first purchases lighting upgrades. According to buildings and grounds head Andy Daigneau, the cost savings would pay for the initial upgrades in a little less than three years. An estimate from LighTec Inc., the company that conducted the audit, proposes a $57,263 for the upgrades. A $28,000 rebate is available from the town’s energy provider, New Hampshire Electric Co-op, if Moultonboro qualifies. According to the audit,the town currently pays $19,233 in lighting costs, and would pay an estimated $9,140 if the upgrades were done. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Board of Selectmen voted to submit the LighTec proposal to NH Electric Co-op to seek the rebate. The town is still waiting to hear back, Daigneau said. He added that even with the rebate, the upgrades, at close to $30,000, would require voter approval at 2009 Town Meeting.
“At this point, I don’t have $30,000 available to me in my budget to do the retrofit,” he said. According to Daigneau, LighTec analyzed lighting systems in Town Hall, public safety building, recreation building, library, Moultonboro Neck Fire Station, and highway garage. The proposed upgrades would include changing out older light fixtures with new ones, in some cases, that accommodate highly-efficient fluorescent bulbs, Daigneau said. Some light fixtures,he added, use more bulbs than are needed for sufficient lighting. Additionally, Daigneau said, LighTec brought in a specialist to analyze the town’s HVAC systems. “At this time, they determined that the HVAC retrofits pushed the payback period too far out,” Daigneau said, noting that a three-year payback for the cost of improvements is an “acceptable period.” He said that LighTec technician Jim Grady made other recommendations, such as shutting off certain computers when not in use, to save energy costs.
The Citizen Wednesday, October 8, 2008
MEREDITH — The second meeting of the Lakes Region Energy Alliance is scheduled for Oct. 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the
The Lakes Region Energy Alliance is an informal collaboration of Local Energy Committee (LEC) members, municipal staff, and concerned citizens working to improve energy efficiency in the region. The LECs expressed the need for a regional approach to energy efficient planning; as a result the
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be driven by discussion and will provide an opportunity for LECs to share ideas and needs. An agenda is available on the LRPC website at www.lakesrpc.org. Please contact Erica Anderson at the LRPC with any questions, eandersonlakesrpc.org or 279-8171
Union Leader September 21st, 2008
The day a tornado tore through his town this summer, Barnstead road agent Chris Carazzo finally convinced selectmen to join a statewide public works mutual-aid network he'd been pushing.
Within days, crews and equipment from Bow,
Among them:
-- Three towns surrounding
-- Five towns in central
-- The city of
-- Four towns in the
--
Unlike some regions where strong county governments provide centralized services,......
Note from the MCA: We applaud this effort by Meredith. You may ask why not have a similar effort in Moultonboro? Well. citizens have suggested to the Selectmen to form such a committee and offered to volunteer. The answer........still waiting. We guess that only a crisis will force action.
MCA
The Meredith News September 25th, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MEREDITH — The Town of Meredith is looking into the possibility of forming a voluntary energy committee to explore methods that would save energy and improve efficiency. Bill Bayard of the Capital Improvements Committee requested that the selectmen consider the establishment of such a committee. The Town of
address climate change. Among the actions in the article, residents asked selectmen “to consider the appointment of a voluntary energy committee to recommend local steps to save energy and reduce emissions” in a vote of 127-96. “There is quite a bit of activity on the regional side,” said Bayard, referring to residents active in regional energy meetings. “The state is very active in updating their energy plan, and there’s a lot of overlap. I assume whoever is elected (to the Presidency) will be active in energy policy.” Bayard told the board that residents and a few members of Town staff were already involved in a number of dif-ferent ways of looking at energy use in the town. A committee could investigate energy analyses of each town facility, introduce anti-idling policies, and look at the town’s carbon footprint.,While noting that the,price of fuel had been coming down as of late, Bayard said that it was far more expensive than at this time last year. An energy committee could start looking at economies in saving fuel, he said. “There is a variety of different ways of doing things, some fairly inexpensive,” said Bayard. “I believe this will pay back pretty quickly - there are a lot of opportunities to save on energy.” Community Development Director John Edgar noted that with the Master Plan and census coming up in a few years, energy would likely be a new element in the plan itself. Edgar noted that both he and Town Planner Angela LaBreque served on about six different committees, but still believed that this would be an important one for their input. “Is this important enough for us to tag team?” asked Edgar. “The answer is clearly yes. There would be a staff component.” Bayard said that Meredith likely had a lot of varied expertise among its residents, and encouraged selectmen to begin advertising for volunteers for the committee. Selectman Bob Flanders said that the idea was a good one, but that the first action should be a charter to establish ground rules. He suggested that Edgar and Bayard come up with a draft charge to present to the selectmen. Moving along from energy conservation to energy demand,
The Meredith News September 25th, 2008
LAKES REGION — A local group is working with Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat For Humanity, to field a program in the Lakes Region through which homes of elderly, poor families would be winterized in order to lower their heating costs. This might include cleaning their furnace, re-glazing windows or installing storm windows, or even insulating one or two rooms to provide a warm haven for the winter. The work would be done without cost to the families, but with the request that they give back a donation, monthly according to their ability to do so. The
the words of Jesus “In everything I did, I show you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35. An assisted family would receive the help at no cost or lien on their property. In return they will have a conversation with the
project of assisting one to six local families this year. The local co-chairs of the Provisional Lakes Region Fuller Center Partnership are Kathie Thorndike and Miller Lovett. The local effort is provisional and dependent upon raising the $7500. For more information, call Kathy Thorndike at 279-4360 or email: bluehill@metrocast.net. Contributions should be sent to Miller Lovett,
Checks should be made out to the
More on the
Theodore Comstock, Executive Director
Barrett M. Christina, Staff Attorney
www.nhsba.org
A recent article in the Concord Monitor highlighted the predicaments school districts area facing as a result of rising fuel costs and related operation expenses. Some districts are considering eliminating bus routes, consolidating bus routes, and reducing their schedule to a four-day school week in the winter
months. Also in response to these concerns, many school boards are reviewing and researching energy conservation policies. These concerns are likely shared throughout the state. With the beginning of another school year approaching, these issues offer a timely opportunity for school board members and administrators to review the pertinent state statutes and NHSBA Sample Policies relative to transportation, school building maintenance, and energy conservation.....
Fosters.Com
WOLFEBORO — The Gov. Wentworth Regional School Board determined there wasn't enough time to resolve all the issues to make any drastic changes in the school calendar before classes begin in two weeks
District officials heard from Superintendent Jack Robertson and listened to more than 100 area residents, including parents, teachers and district staff, as board members discussed adding 45 minutes to the school day, moving to a four-day school week during the winter months and other less drastic means to save on energy costs.
"The purpose of this is not about adopting this (proposed) calendar, it's about saving energy," Robertson said.
Robertson said the average annual costs for fuel and electricity in the district — which includes the communities of Brookfield, Effingham, New Durham, Ossipee, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro — are significantly higher than last year and more than initially budgeted by officials. For the 2008-09 school year, the district budgeted $290,000 for oil, $470,000 for electricity and $292,000 for diesel fuel, but estimates the projected costs to be $368,000, $580,000 and $347,000, respectively — resulting in a total shortfall of $243,000, according to Robertson.
District officials know it is not a short-term problem since fuel and heating costs have increased 450 percent in the past decade, he said.
Robertson said the district spends more than 99 percent of its budget, leaving very little left over to pay the expected shortfall. He added the district can reduce some of the amount by 5 to 7 percent — possibly $47,000 to $66,000 —
The Citizen August 19th 2008
The idea of a four-day school week as a way to save energy costs has little support on the Inter-Lakes School Board. The issue was briefly discussed at last Tuesday's meeting of the Inter-Lakes board as a possibility discussed by other school districts. Other school districts, such as the Governor Wentworth School District and Shaker Regional School District, have previously discussed the possibility of extending the school day for extra time and having a four-day week in hopes of saving money with high fuel costs. ..
Editorial The Citizen Friday, August 8, 2008
The
Other school districts are having serious discussions on how they will deal with the serious challenges higher fuel prices put on their budgets. The
The underlying message of this trial balloon is one that is worth heeding. School districts, like other arms of government, face serious challenges as energy prices continue to rise. The proposal of extending the school day one hour and going to a four-day-a-week from December through March again directs attention to the need of coming up with ways to deal with the cost of heating homes, schools and businesses this winter, and helping those who can least afford it deal with high transportation costs. The idea is that shutting schools will save on heating costs and save workers the gas used to commute on the fifth day. On the other hand, fiddling with the established weekly schedules in schools means a great number of people would have to shift their daily lives. Working parents who find their children out of school an extra day would have to deal with finding and paying for more child care. Schools would have to figure out how to meet the minimum number of school days mandated by law. It's much easier to point out the obstacles to making an idea work than to come up with a fresh approach toward dealing with a tough problem. A four-day school week might prove to be impractical for many reasons, but the idea goes beyond the usual focus on how we pay our most immediate bills. No matter the ultimate outcome of such proposals, school districts deserve credit for being willing to look at bold moves to deal with a daunting and serious issue. There is little prospect for oil prices coming down anywhere near the level that we've enjoyed in the past. That means we all need to look at how we can change the way we live to cope with the changing world of energy
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By JOHN KOZIOL |
The Citizen Saturday, August 2, 2008
It's going to cost a whole lot more — nearly double — to fuel municipal boilers this fall and winter. On Friday, City Purchasing Specialist Jonathan Gardner opened three bids for No. 2 heating oil and the apparent low bidder, at $3.995 per gallon, is the Fred Fuller Oil Co.The Irving Oil Co. bid $4.285 and Strafford Oil, $4.495 per gallon.
Subject to verification, the winning bid from Fuller was $1.63 higher than its winning bid from 2007 of $2.335 At the time, the 2007 Fuller price was a good deal given that the average price of heating oil in
Twenty of the city's municipal buildings are heated with oil, including city hall, the police station, the community center, Laconia Public Library, Goss Reading Room, all park houses, the public works garage and all water department buildings.
