Green energy plans in towns

Green energy plans in towns

The residents of Northborough are quite convinced of receiving a clean-chit from Massachusetts Renewable Energy trust. They are awaiting the approval of $20,000, towards the allocation of clean energy. Kimberley Hood, Assistant Administrator of Massachusetts Renewable Energy trust said that a letter was sent to them as per their deadline date of November 30th, the letter stated the areas where the residents wanted to utilize the awarded money. The application meets all the requirements for approval, therefore a positive response was anticipated. The money received from this approval will be spent on promotions of clean energy. The residents who were involved in the purchase of energy from clean sources during the year 2004 to 2009 contributed towards the towns funds. The town earned grants when residents signed up to support clean energy through their electric bills, and these grants could be used towards acquiring solar panels or renewable energy-related products. Chris Kealey chief staff of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) said that the town had already earned nearly $5.5 millions in grants till date.

There are three areas where Northborough officials plan to direct the money towards. Firstly, they would need to buy a three BigBelly Solar trash compaction systems, which basically are municipal trash cans which uses solar power to compress the waste, about $9,643 would be needed for its purchase. Secondly, a solar lightning system will be installed at  new Northborough Senior Center, this is a project which would educate the local residents with regards to the clean renewable energy benefits at the same time providing the town with clean electricity, the funds needed for this project would be upto $10,500. Thirdly, $350 worth of funds will be needed for 3 Universal solar powered battery chargers which would be beneficial in providing clean electricity towards small electronics.

According to Hood, approval of the application was in process, and the time it would take could go up to 60 days, although she hoped to hear from them by January.
Kealey was also quoted saying that the advancement of the Massachusetts green economy was mainly through Clean Energy Center by their research, development, training towards the workforce and entrepreneurship which were all funded by a portion of annual Renewable Energy Trust revenues. According to Hood,  it was not known if a similar program related to grant-matching would be available for the town in the near future.

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