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The idea of a wind turbine to power Town Hall was ruled out, however, as was turning to hydroelectric generation at Mill Pond Dam, but the committee recommendations on lighting at Town Hall, Rowe Elementary School, and other town buildings produced energy savings.
The idea of a wind turbine to power Town Hall was ruled out, however, as was turning to hydroelectric generation at Mill Pond Dam, but the committee recommendations on lighting at Town Hall, Rowe Elementary School, and other town buildings produced energy savings.
NORTHFIELD - The year-old Northfield Energy Committee is counting its successes and urging other towns to follow suit.
The committee, bent on curbing town energy consumption, has begun talks with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to possibly establish a circuit rider position, helping towns launch and sustain similar committees.
The rise in the price of oil was the trigger for Northfield, Donald Campbell, one of five on the committee, said yesterday.
Efforts to make town facilities less vulnerable to the fossil fuel market were needed, he said.
Measures the committee has come up with have costs, but also long-term payoffs.
"As costs go up, the savings go up," Campbell said.
Initially just a a gathering of concerned …
NORTHFIELD - The year-old Northfield Energy Committee is counting its successes and urging other towns to follow suit.
The committee, bent on curbing town energy consumption, has begun talks with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to possibly establish a circuit rider position, helping towns launch and sustain similar committees.
The rise in the price of oil was the trigger for Northfield, Donald Campbell, one of five on the committee, said yesterday.
Efforts to make town facilities less vulnerable to the fossil fuel market were needed, he said.
Measures the committee has come up with have costs, but also long-term payoffs.
"As costs go up, the savings go up," Campbell said.
Initially just a a gathering of concerned residents, the committee has become an official town body, taken in by the Board of Selectmen as a subcommittee.
The committee's assessments have led to energy use reduction changes at Northfield Elementary School, Dickinson Library and Town Hall. The Highway Garage is now in focus.
A list of eight goals and responsibilities guides the committee.
"We gave ourselves about 10 years of work when we came up with those eight things," Campbell said.
The committee is not the county's first. In 2003, the Rowe Energy Committee was formed and remains active.
"It got started when we were looking into wind power," Ellen L. Babcock, Rowe town coordinator, said yesterday.
The idea of a wind turbine to power Town Hall was ruled out, however, as was turning to hydroelectric generation at Mill Pond Dam, but the committee recommendations on lighting at Town Hall, Rowe Elementary School, and other town buildings produced energy savings.
Sunderland has a committee in formation, and a group has been meeting in Greenfield, although not, as yet, a government affiliate.
The Franklin Regional Planning Board may be a conduit for Campbell's message, that other towns should perhaps form committees and give energy consumption more attention.
Campbell gave a presentation on his committee to the board Thursday night. The session ended with board Chairman Thomas W. Hutcheson of Greenfield urging town representatives to take the idea to their communities.
Meanwhile, the Pioneer Valley Renewable Energy Strategic Plan Advisory Committee is surveying municipalities as part of the development of a plan to expand the use of renewable energy.