Energy panel debates use for stimulus
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It’s all smiles at Central Vermont Solar & Wind on a sunny day Wednesday as owner John Blittersdorf and employee Kevin Baily work in the River Street shop in Rutland. The Rutland Regional Planning Commission’s energy committee is debating what the county should do with $80,000 in federal stimulus money expected by the end of the year for energy efficiency and conservation. VYTO STARINSKAS / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: July 31, 2009
To conserve or to create?
That was the question posed at a recent meeting of the Rutland Regional Planning Commission's energy committee following news that $80,000 in federal grant money was expected to flow to the commission for energy efficiency and conservation.
At the July 21 public forum, municipal energy committee and commission members debated whether to hire a staff person to educate residents on existing energy conservation or further develop a program at Rutland's Stafford Technical Center that combines student learning with solar solutions.
Despite years of reaping the benefits of solar and wind to power his own home and installing systems in the homes of others, John Blittersdorf of Central Vermont Solar & Wind in Rutland said he's torn over what to suggest for the two-year funding.
Blittersdorf lives in Chittenden, off the power grid, his home almost entirely powered by the sun and wind.
He's been absent an electrical bill for the past three decades.
By today's standards, Blittersdorf has invested roughly $25,000 in alternative energy equipment into his home during the past 30 years — saving him the cost of running a power line up to his cabin and then paying for large quantities of power.
This past year he used about 50 gallons of gas to fuel a backup generator for the cost of $150. He adds about $25 a month to a solar battery replacement fund.
Power is limited, but Blittersdorf said he and other Vermonters who turned to renewable energy sources installed solar and wind not by choice but by necessity.
"It was $20,000 to $25,000 to run power up there and for that same amount of money, I could have my own power," said Blittersdorf, who started his energy business in 1996. "It was the cost of getting the line up from the grid or building your own system."
Today, more locals are turning to solar energy and wind as their primary sources of power, to reduce the use of fossil fuels and cut down on the high bills they receive as a result.
For those who choose to install full solar systems to charge their homes or partial systems to offset the use of electricity, the federal government offers incentives and the state of Vermont reimburses 30 percent of the total installation cost, according to Blittersdorf.
"People are asking me if they should go bigger (with solar systems) so they can plug in their (hybrid) car," he said. "That is getting quite appealing."
But town energy committees are fragmented and many members, as well as members of the general public who want to install new energy systems, don't know where to turn for information, according to Blittersdorf and Mark Blucher, executive director of the commission.
That's where a new staff person could focus their own energy, they said.
"You've got a lot of energy committees out there and they need some kind of assistance," Blucher told a large crowd at the forum, held in the Asa Bloomer state office building.
"If it's not going to come from the commission, where is it going to come from?"
On the other hand, further supporting a program, or initiating a new one, similar to the new solar initiative between Stafford and Central Vermont Public Service could teach solar and wind installation to plumbing and electrical students at the school, getting the ball rolling on the greater use of alternative energy in the state, according to other forum attendees.
"They (Stafford students) build houses, why can't they build a wind turbine?" asked one attendee.
Rutland's Wayne Krevetski said the goal for the money should be a simple one.
"You've got to get people to change what they are doing," he said. "That's the ultimate answer."
The $80,000 energy grant is one of 10 grants expected to be dispersed to Vermont's regional planning commissions for energy issues through the federal government's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, according to the RRPC.
Future meetings are scheduled to discuss plans for the grant. A decision will likely be made at the RRPC's Sept. 21 meeting, according to Blucher.
For more information, call Sara Gilbert of the Rutland Regional Planning Commission at 775-0871.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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