Energy Commission Minutes

Minutes of 1/24/2024

January 30th, 2024

Carroll Energy Commission Minutes
Informational Session of January 24, 2024
The Carroll Energy Commission mission is to advise, encourage, and facilitate energy conservation, energy efficiency, and clean energy solutions for public buildings and properties, businesses, and resident homes. The Committee shall provide leadership and direction for community education relating to energy and shall propose and explore funding for local energy projects.
These minutes of the Town of Carroll Energy Commission have been recorded by its Secretary. Though believed to be accurate and correct they are subject to additions, deletions, and corrections by the Energy Commission at its next meeting when the Commission votes its final approval of the minutes. They are being made available at this time to conform to the requirements of New Hampshire RSA 91-A:2.
Minutes recorded by Imre Szauter, Secretary
Commission members in attendance: Member Vern Amirault, Member and Select Board Representative John Greer, Member Brian Mycko, Vice Chair Imre Szauter, and Chair Bill Vecchio
Members of the public in attendance: Bobbi Amirault, Michael Gooden, Paula Murphy, Lois Pesman, and Rena Vecchio
The Informational Session was called to order at 6:04 p.m. by Chair Vecchio as he welcomed all attendees.
Chair Vecchio invited all attendees to rise and join in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chair Vecchio began his presentation (PDF copy available on the town website at https://carrollnh.org under Boards and Committees > Energy Commission > Energy Commission Minutes) by introducing Energy Commission members and providing a brief background on the commission and its members. Chair Vecchio acknowledged Melissa Elander, Clean Energy NH North Country Energy Circuit Rider, who has been a valued partner with the Commission on this LED street light project and other energy-efficiency projects for Carroll and other communities.
Chair Vecchio read the Carroll Energy Commission mission statement and explained the various components that it emphasizes. He specifically mentioned the ‘Button Up New Hampshire’ energy savings program to be presented later this year for residents interested in exploring energy-efficiency options for their homes.
Chair Vecchio asked a series of questions to help get attendees focused on the topic of the Informational Session – a proposal to convert the town’s street lights from old technology to new, more efficient LED technology. He then presented the numbers and types of street lights in use in Carroll.
Chair Vecchio introduced a sample of an LED street light and highlighted the advantages of replacing older technologies such as high pressure sodium (HPS) lights currently used throughout the town. Attendees witnessed an 18 Watt, 3000K (color temperature) LED cobrahead being powered up and heard an explanation of how the top-mounted photocell plug-in module controls the light, illuminating it from dusk to dawn.
Several questions were asked about current street lights that were out or malfunctioning. Chair Vecchio explained that those street lights are reported to Eversource Energy and they handle scheduling and replacement of defective units.
Chair Vecchio pointed out the quality of the LED’s light, specified at 3,000K (Kelvin), a measure of the color temperature of the light. He emphasized that this light is far superior to that emitted by the older technology HPS lights, as LED light renders objects much truer than HPS light.
Additional Q&A about the LED street light, including longevity, warranty, light spillage, intensity, and lumens per Watt, were discussed as the sample LED street light was passed around among the attendees.
Chair Vecchio displayed the 2023 Eversource Energy charge for town street lights at about $21,114, emphasizing that LED street lights would reduce this amount significantly. He also displayed a projected payback period of 4.2 years, based on an estimated savings of $13,618 annually. This means that if the proposal is implemented, the savings generated by reduced electricity charges will pay the cost of the project back in about 4.2 years.
Attendees asked about the addition or removal of existing street lights if the proposal is implemented. Chair Vecchio explained that Affinity LED Lighting of Dover, NH (the company that submitted the proposal) would first conduct a detailed audit and analysis of our existing street lights and assist us in determining if over- and under-lighting conditions exist in the town. Following completion of the audit, the Energy Commission would review and make recommendations, with input from the police chief, fire chief, and public works director, to the Select Board regarding possible additions or deletions.
Chair Vecchio displayed a map and listing of a dozen northern New Hampshire communities that have converted their street lights to LEDs with Affinity LED Lighting as the contractor of choice. The neighboring communities of Bethlehem and Whitefield, and over 70 municipalities across New Hampshire have made the successful conversion and have reduced their street lighting costs substantially.
Member Amirault highlighted several of his telephone conversations with communities in New Hampshire and Maine that have converted their street lights to LED, including Booth Bay, Maine that reduced their annual street lighting charges from about $27,000 to about $3,000. Vice Chair Szauter mentioned that Bethlehem reduced their street lighting annual cost from about $36,000 to about $13,000.
Chair Vecchio and Member Amirault covered the reasons why the Energy Commission chose to work with Affinity LED Lighting, chief among them the stellar reputation the company has for successful completion of their projects, ongoing technical and repair support, and the fact they are a Dover, New Hampshire-based company that employs US Veterans in their assembly
facility. All municipalities Energy Commission members have spoken with praised Affinity LED Lighting and highly recommended them as our vendor of choice.
Chair Vecchio outlined the steps to completion, should voters approve the warrant article on March 12. He emphasized the one-year parts and labor, and ten year parts only warranty on all streetlights and floodlights.
Chair Vecchio noted that the Eversource Energy rebate quoted in the proposal was based on $50 per street light; subsequent conversations and emails with Eversource representatives confirmed the current rebate is $100 per street light and $50 per floodlight. This changes the estimated rebate from $6,250 to $12,400. This also reduces the estimated payback period from 4.2 to 3.75 years.
At the conclusion of his presentation, Chair Vecchio opened the floor for additional Q&A. Questions were asked regarding the availability of GIS information from the Affinity LED Lighting audit, and the deliberative session discussion process and possible handouts.
With regard to the new information on the Eversource Energy rebate amount, Member Mycko made a motion to allow Chair Vecchio to update the warrant article dollar and payback period amount during the deliberative session to reflect the additional savings, once the final calculations are verified. Member Amirault seconded the motion. With no additional discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Drawing the Informational Session to a close, Chair Vecchio thanked attendees for participating and summarized the advantages of converting our existing HPS street lights to LED.
With no other questions or information to share, Vice Chair Szauter motioned to adjourn. Member Amirault seconded the motion. With no additional discussion, the motion was passed unanimously and the Informational Session was adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Imre Szauter, Vice Chair and Secretary