But the 150 kilowatt photovoltaic project is expected to have big benefits for the Brattleboro school, both in terms of education opportunities and financial savings.
“We’re really going to really be able to cut some of our energy costs very, very quickly,” SIT President Sophia Howlett said. “We’re already estimating that we’re going to save about $50,000 … for the first year.”
The SIT solar project was one of five grant recipients announced Friday under a new program that recycles Vermont Yankee money into renewable energy projects in Windham County. Also included were two other solar projects; a system to capture steam and generate electricity at a lumber mill; and a feasibility study for an anaerobic digester at the regional solid waste district.
“We’re really happy at the Clean Energy Development Fund to see this money going out,” said Andrew Perchlik, who manages that fund at the state Public Service Department. “We think it’s a good thing for Windham County and the economic development that’s happening here around clean energy.”
Money for the program came via Vermont Yankee owner Entergy.
The company had paid $5.2 million into an escrow account related to the Clean Energy Development Fund. A 2013 agreement between Entergy and the state mandated that at least half of that account be used for “clean energy development activities in or for the benefit of Windham County.”
Last year, state officials decided to allocate $400,000 of that to Windham Regional Commission to start what’s now called the Windham County Renewable Energy Program, a grant initiative geared toward smaller projects in the area.
Before asking for grant applications, Windham Regional and its energy committee sought public input on how the program should work.
That application period ran from Nov. 1 to March 31, which allowed extra time for project development and also allowed for Town Meeting Day deliberations if necessary, Major said.
Public comment also shaped the program’s priorities. There’s an emphasis, for example, on “municipally owned or controlled properties that benefit the municipality as a whole.”
At the same time, officials want to reward “neighborhood or community scale projects.” They’re also focused on renewable energy initiatives that promote economic development; have educational value; use “heavily impacted sites”; and help “underserved communities or groups.”
Twelve grant applications were submitted by the deadline, and the total funding request exceeded $1 million. Major said that “showed how much interest and dedication the community has to renewable energy and the green energy economy.”
The grant-winning projects must be completed by May 31, 2018:
• SIT is getting $100,000 for its solar array, which will be built on a hillside next to the Lowey International Center.
In addition to reducing the school’s electricity costs and fossil fuel usage, the array will be part of an effort to research “crops that are appropriate for areas within and around solar panels,” administrators said.
• Windham & Windsor Housing Trust landed a $28,023 grant to install a solar array on the roof of its Great River Terrace project at the former Lamplighter Inn in Brattleboro.
Some of those housing units will be available for the chronically homeless. And the trust is using green building principles in the project, including air source heat pumps to heat the buildings.
The solar array will “offset the electrical usage from our heating and ventilation systems,” said Peter Paggi, director of housing development for the trust.
• A $20,500 grant will help fund a solar array on the former base lodge for Hogback Ski Area along Route 9 in Marlboro. That system will power two residences and several businesses including Hogback Mountain Gift Shop, Southern Vermont Natural History Museum and Vermont Distillers.
Accompanying educational exhibits are planned, said Ed Metcalfe, who operates each of those entities. “This ties right in to what we do with the museum,” Metcalfe said.
• Allard Lumber, based in Brattleboro and Dummerston, is getting $160,000 toward a project that combines two vital functions: A steam boiler that produces heat for a lumber-drying kiln also will be used to produce electricity.
“We’re going to be able to piggyback the electrical production off of the boiler,” said Trevor Allard. “We’ll use 100 percent of the heat and be able to generate electricity also.”
• A $50,000 grant will fund a joint study by Windham Solid Waste Management District and Putney-based Dynamic Organics to assess the feasibility of a power-producing anaerobic digester at the district’s Brattleboro headquarters.
Bob Spencer, the district’s executive director, said officials are “pretty optimistic” about the project in part because of Act 148, a state law that eventually will mandate recycling of organic, compostable kitchen waste.
The proposed digester would be fueled by such wastes.
“This is a relatively long-term, complex project that’s coming to fruition,” Spencer said.
Though Windham Regional Commission’s new grant program had the spotlight Friday, it accounts for only a portion of Entergy’s clean energy money allocated to Windham County.
The largest allocation – $1.6 million – went to the Windham Wood Heat Initiative, which seeks to convert public buildings to advanced wood-burning systems. That initiative now is administered by Windham Regional Commission, which has “several projects in the pipeline,” Perchlik said.
The remaining $600,000 initially was split between low-interest solar financing and funding for anaerobic digester projects in Windham County. But there didn’t seem to be much interest, and changes are in the works.
“The (solar and digester) programs have now run their full courses with little demand, so we do need to reallocate those funds,” Perchlik said.
One idea is to award some or all of the money to Windham Regional, allowing the commission to continue and bolster the renewable energy grant program. But that’s not yet been finalized.
“I’d like to reach out to others and invite the public from Windham County to let us know what they think,” Perchlik said.
