Warwick builds on volunteer efforts to become a Climate Leader

The rural town of Warwick is demonstrating that, with hard work and dedicated volunteers, embracing green energy isn’t just for big communities.

Over two decades, the town of 780 residents has leveraged state grants, private donations and other partnerships to install solar panels, purchase electric vehicles and make other green updates. Now, it has been designated as a Climate Leader Community by the state.

People involved with the initiatives credit supportive town leadership, dedicated volunteers, and Warwick’s environmental mindset.

“It’s a great little town, because there’s already conservation-minded people in town,” said Janice Kurkoski, who chairs Warwick’s Building and Energy Committee. “But we don’t have a whole lot of money to spend.”

The Building and Energy Committee, which includes Kurkoski’s husband, Stephen, started about two decades ago by taking small steps, such as leveraging utility incentives for lighting upgrades and adopting low-cost energy conservation measures while using volunteer labor.

In 2015, Warwick was accepted into the state’s Green Communities Program, which allowed it to access grant money to reduce its energy use and costs. Kurkoski said the town has received $735,000 in Green Communities grants since joining the program.

The program’s tracking requirements have helped the town gain a clearer picture of where it stands, energy-wise.

“When we started to see how much we could save just by installing programmable thermostats and insulation — I mean, what’s not to love about saving money on energy?” she said. “Because people really get it, you know — they turn down the thermostat in the winter, they shut the lights off when they leave the room.”

Warwick has installed solar panels on several of its eight buildings, including Town Hall and the fire station. It has also invested in programmable thermostats, insulation, window inserts, and heat pumps. Three years ago, the town accepted a donation from a Greenfield resident to install solar panels on half of the highway garage roof.

The town has also focused on its vehicles, including the purchase of a seven-passenger electric Kia. Nicknamed the “Blue Bus” by residents, the vehicle, which transports children to and from school, was the brainchild of Assistant Town Coordinator Diana Noble. The town has been considering installing a smart charging station to power the vehicle’s battery, and possibly save Warwick up to $2,000 a year.

These efforts and others have paid off, Kurkoski said. The town has cut energy use in municipal buildings by 65%, oil use by 80%, and heating costs by two-thirds since it started this work.

With its Climate Leader Community designation this spring, Warwick is building on its Green Communities participation and opening greater access to financial support from the state.

Now Warwick is seeking funding to place solar panels on its school, police station, and the other half of the highway garage roof, Kurkoski said. The town is also looking to do another round of building weatherization and possibly add battery energy storage at the fire station.

After so many years of relying mainly on the volunteer Building and Energy Committee, Warwick recently hired a buildings and energy manager to assist with its growing green energy efforts.

The Kurkoskis said they feel the urgency of addressing the climate crisis locally.

“We’re just trying to make the world a little bit less bad for our kids and for our grandkids,” said Stephen Kurkoski. “Because climate change is here, it’s just a matter of how we’re going to deal with it. So we’re trying to abate it a little bit in our little corner of the world and be a leader.”