Cheshire County government looks to conserve energy

Jul 12, 2010 — The Keene Sentinel

Casey Farrar

Jul. 12, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Going green has gone governmental in the Monadnock Region.

Energy audits, a wind power study and changing out the light bulbs at Maplewood Nursing Home are part of a move to revamp Cheshire County's energy use over the next several years.

Last week, county officials sought proposals for the three-part project, funded by federal and state grants focused on energy conservation.

"Six years ago we did energy audits and made some energy-saving improvements (to county buildings) based on the results," said County Administrator John G. Wozmak. "We're hoping that this will be a little broader in that it will look at ways to save energy and alternative energy sources."

Using the results of the studies, county officials hope to lay out an energy master plan, or list of priorities for future projects that could include building upgrades and adding alternative energy sources like solar and wind power.

Cheshire County has $400,000 to get the initiative started.

Last year, all 10 counties and several large cities and towns in the Granite State were awarded federal stimulus dollars through the state's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.

Cheshire County's portion of that pie was $327,000.

Then in March, the N.H. Office of Energy and Planning created a sub-grant program that gave the county nearly $75,000 more to use on energy conservation projects.

In all, the programs will fund 116 projects in 67 communities, including 26 lighting upgrade projects at traffic signals, schools and government buildings, energy audits at about 90 buildings and schools, and installation of solar panels and solar hot water heaters at several schools and municipal buildings, according to a report on the U.S. Department of Energy's website.

Cheshire County officials are taking a tiered approach to energy conservation, aiming first to find ways to reduce energy use and then to supplement it with alternative sources, Wozmak said.

The first step in the process could be the replacement of all the lights at the nursing home in Westmoreland with energy-conserving LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs.

"When I looked at a forward-thinking project that could set a standard for the region, my thought is that LED lighting is the lighting of the future," Wozmak said. "We could do a pilot project to show that there's no fixture that can't use LEDs."

Wozmak knows of a handful of corporations that are upgrading lighting at their facilities, but "thought it would be useful and appropriate for one government building to be retrofit."

The move could drop the county's electric bill at the 35-year-old nursing home by as much as $50,000 a year, Wozmak said.

The next step in the process would consider alternative energy sources, such as solar or wind power at the nursing home.

"We've gotten a preliminary proposal for solar collecting panels and a battery system so that we could at least get a sense of what we're looking at and how much that might cost," Wozmak said.

To determine if wind power is feasible at the site, county officials want to do two kinds of studies.

The first, a virtual one that uses weather and climate data to create a computerized model of the potential for energy production near the nursing home, could be finished within a few months, Wozmak said.

The other would put equipment to measure wind speeds, directions and patterns on an existing 80-foot county-owned tower in Westmoreland and take about a year to gather information.

The reason for the dual study is to compare their results and show local businesses and homeowners how each works, Wozmak said.

"What I wanted to do from a public demonstration point of view is to do those studies side by side for the same location as an educational tool," Wozmak said. "There is discussion about the accuracy of both kinds of studies and I want to do it locally here so that people can see it.

"One of the purposes of the federal funds is that we do things for display purposes so that other people could use that information for their own businesses or houses."

Stillman D. Rogers, chairman of the county commissioners, said officials were considering whether wind power could be used at the Westmoreland nursing home for a few years, but wanted to finish the new jail in Keene before starting work on it.

Green elements including a geothermal heating system were included in the new jail, but the county doesn't own enough land near the jail to consider it for solar or wind energy generation, he said.

County officials also plan to update the six-year-old energy audits at all the county's buildings and determine ways they could shave even more off electric bills, Wozmak said.

The recommendations that come out of the audits would go on the list of potential projects for the future.

"The goal is to do this without increasing property taxes," Wozmak said. "It looks as though federal funding for communities to do energy efficiency projects will continue to be available in the future."

Casey Farrar can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or cfarrar@keenesentinel.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-1475-46897547