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Public Works, Energy & Utilities Renewable energy to power water plant
Thanks to federal stimulus funds, Lee will be able to produce enough renewable energy to fully offset the cost of powering its water treatment plant.
Town Meeting on Aug. 6 approved plans to spend roughly $800,000 to add a 90-kilowatt solar array, as well as a second hydroelectric turbine, to the water treatment plant, which was built in the 1990s. While the money must be borrowed through the revolving loan fund the state set up to finance drinking water and wastewater-related projects, no interest will be charged and the loan will be paid off by federal stimulus funds designated for green energy projects.
“We’re not calling it a 100 percent grant, but in essence that’s what it is,” said Michael DiBara, the manager of the Department of Environmental Protection’s energy pilot program for water facilities.
The pilot program, designed to reduce greenhouse gases generated by water and wastewater treatment plants through green technology as well as energy efficiency, was launched in December 2007. According to DiBara, the program attracted the interest of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which came to regard it as a model conduit for energy-related stimulus funds.
In Lee, the solar array and the second hydroelectric turbine is expected to save about $35,000 a year. Lee already saves roughly $28,000 annually, thanks to the turbine put in place when the treatment plant was constructed.
Without the federal funding, according to Lee Town Administrator Robert Nason, it would have taken too long to recover the cost of installing the second turbine and solar array.
Stimulus money is supporting 13 other municipal and regional drinking water and wastewater projects in Massachusetts. A description of each project can be viewed on the DEP Web site.
Public Works, Energy & Utilities Renewable energy to power water plant
Renewable energy to power water plant
Thanks to federal stimulus funds, Lee will be able to produce enough renewable energy to fully offset the cost of powering its water treatment plant.
Town Meeting on Aug. 6 approved plans to spend roughly $800,000 to add a 90-kilowatt solar array, as well as a second hydroelectric turbine, to the water treatment plant, which was built in the 1990s. While the money must be borrowed through the revolving loan fund the state set up to finance drinking water and wastewater-related projects, no interest will be charged and the loan will be paid off by federal stimulus funds designated for green energy projects.
“We’re not calling it a 100 percent grant, but in essence that’s what it is,” said Michael DiBara, the manager of the Department of Environmental Protection’s energy pilot program for water facilities.
The pilot program, designed to reduce greenhouse gases generated by water and wastewater treatment plants through green technology as well as energy efficiency, was launched in December 2007. According to DiBara, the program attracted the interest of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which came to regard it as a model conduit for energy-related stimulus funds.
In Lee, the solar array and the second hydroelectric turbine is expected to save about $35,000 a year. Lee already saves roughly $28,000 annually, thanks to the turbine put in place when the treatment plant was constructed.
Without the federal funding, according to Lee Town Administrator Robert Nason, it would have taken too long to recover the cost of installing the second turbine and solar array.
Stimulus money is supporting 13 other municipal and regional drinking water and wastewater projects in Massachusetts. A description of each project can be viewed on the DEP Web site.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
