Local energy panels have first-ever state conference
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By THATCHER MOATS Staff Writer - Published: December 7, 2008
RANDOLPH CENTER – Environmental concerns often take a back seat in hard economic times. Last week, for example, the Agency of Transportation announced that it is looking to cut funding for rail travel in Vermont.
And according to a recent national report, solar company stocks are plummeting at a faster rate than the stock market as whole.
But for some Vermonters, energy and environmental issues are still a top priority. About 200 people attended the conference, "Community Based Approaches to Energy and Climate Change" held at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center on Saturday.
It was billed as "the largest gathering of local citizen energy committees ever to come together in Vermont."
The local energy committees have emerged as a new phenomenon over the last five years. The ad hoc groups of local citizens are involved in a variety of activities from launching small hydro-electric projects (Greensboro) to promoting clotheslines instead of electric dryers (Grafton).
The workshop themes included how to use local government to achieve energy goals, how to form an effective energy committee and how to fund-raise for local energy initiatives. There was also a class on biomass heating for institutional buildings.
There are now between 60 and 70 such committees scattered throughout the state, according to Brian Shupe, who works at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, which sponsored the conference.
Shupe led a workshop on town and regional plans, which guide development at the local level. He pointed out that each town and regional plan must have an energy component, though this provision is typically underutilized.
The keynote speaker, Glen Brand, gave examples of communities around the country that have initiated energy and money-saving changes.
Brand, the director of the Sierra Club's Cool Cities campaign, pointed out that Salt Lake City switched 861 traffic lights over to the more energy-efficient LED lights, saving the city $32,000 a year.
Cost savings like these make the environmental aspects of such changes more pragmatic.
"That's a school teacher's salary," Brand said, of the money Salt Lake City saves annually with the new lights. "That's real money. And that's why people are doing it."
According to Shupe's presentation, energy concerns can also be addressed in the land use, transportation, and utility and facility parts of town and regional plans, and that is exactly what the Windham Regional Planning Commission did, according to a member of that planning commission, Eric Stevens, who was at the conference.
Stevens said every part of the Windham regional plan addresses energy, because the members of the commission said it was a top priority.
"Energy runs through each section of the regional plan," said Stevens.
Stevens is also a member of the Grafton Sustainability Project, which could be classified as a local citizen energy committee. He said the group, which is less than a year old, is more grassroots and focused on action, while the WRPC is focused on policy and regulations.
Those two worlds "don't really mix," Stevens said, and "there are very few of us who try to bridge both worlds."
"The policy part is so important to achieving the grassroots (goals) that sometimes it boggles my mind that they're not more focused on it," Stevens said.
Stevens is more familiar with the policy side of things, he said, adding that one reason he attended the conference was to become more familiar with the grassroots approaches to promoting the use of renewable energy.
"A lot of the people here are the boots on the ground, and I need to know more about their techniques and programs," said Stevens.
Brand said such citizen activism will change the country's energy habits.
"We need to change the national political stalemate … by building a movement and action from the ground up," he said.
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