DUMMERSTON — The Selectboard want to hear from the town's Energy Committee and School Board on a proposed solar power net-metering project headed to Westminster.
The officials heard a proposal Feb. 6 from a representative of Waterbury-based Green Lantern Capital for the town and school board to join the project to bring net-metered solar power to municipal and school facilities.
According to draft minutes of the Feb. 6 Selectboard meeting, Green Lantern Managing Partner Luke Shullenberger reached out to Dummerston to partner in a 500-kilowatt solar project eyed on 3{1/2} acres in Westminster.
No decision was reached, though Shullenberger said via Skype that officials here would need to act by March for Dummerston to join the program, the minutes say.
On Feb. 19, the Selectboard said they wanted to hear from the Energy Committee, which meets March 3, and the School Board on their sense of the proposal's merits. They would then refer the matter to town counsel.
“It would be interesting to see where the school (board) ends up coming down on this because they're really the ones that [Green Lantern] want[s],” said Selectboard member Steve Glabach.
Net metering allows the owners of some small power generating systems to receive credits on their electric bills. According to the Public Service Board's website, in Vermont net metering means measuring the difference between the electricity supplied to a customer and the electricity fed back by a net metering system.
Energy Committee seeks citizen input
Also on Feb. 6, the town's Energy Committee updated the board on its efforts to get greater participation among town residents in the committee's energy survey.
Last summer, the energy committee mailed surveys to every Dummerston household. The instrument asked respondents to share information about their homes and vehicles, use of renewable energy, installation of energy-efficiency improvements, and ways in which they generate heat, get water, and cook during power outages.
The project, now two years in the making, furthers the Town Plan's goal of achieving a 40 percent reduction in Dummerston's per-capita nonrenewable energy consumption by 2030.
To get there, the town first needs to understand the town's power consumption as it stands. The survey is available at www.dummerston.org/energy.
The energy committee supports the town in monitoring locally important energy issues and developments, and promoting energy conservation, efficiency, and increased use of renewable resources.