Energy Commission Minutes

Minutes of 7/30/2024

July 30th, 2024

Carroll Energy Commission Minutes
Meeting of July 30, 2024 @ 5:00 p.m.
Carroll Town Hall Conference Room
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 (joined meeting in person at 6:23 p.m.), Member Brian Mycko, Vice Chair and Secretary Imre Szauter, and Chair Bill Vecchio.

Members of the public in attendance: Clean Energy New Hampshire North Country Circuit Rider, Melissa Elander

The meeting was called to order at 5:01 p.m. by Chair Vecchio.

Chair Vecchio invited all attendees to rise and join in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Chair Vecchio welcomed Melissa Elander and thanked her for joining the meeting in person. He noted that she had to leave the meeting by 6:00 p.m. to honor a prior commitment. Chair Vecchio also noted that Member Greer would be joining the meeting later, as he had a prior commitment and could not be present at 5:00 p.m. for the meeting’s beginning.

Chair Vecchio stated he would entertain a motion on the July 24, 2024 meeting minutes. Chair Vecchio motioned to accept the minutes as written. Member Mycko seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion passed with 4 AYES to 0 NAYS.

Under New Business, Chair Vecchio asked if there was any new business to come before the Commission. Hearing none, he moved on to Old Business.

Under Old Business, Chair Vecchio opened a discussion on the NH Department of Energy (DOE) Municipal Solar Grant Program. He noted that he and Vice Chair Szauter met on July 29 to work on the application. He also noted that the Carroll Energy Commission (CEC) received all outstanding Barrington Power documents from Ted Vansant over the weekend.

Chair Vecchio suggested that the CEC review the 11-page application line by line, and inspect all the attachments to ensure accuracy and completeness. Members had a hardcopy of the application and would be viewing the attachments on the large flat screen monitor. Vice Chair Szauter noted that each member received an addendum to the application, as there wasn’t enough space in some areas of the application to provide complete information without the text becoming too small to read.

Melissa Elander suggested adding “ - 36” to the “Tier 2” field in Section II Project Eligibility, entry 2. She stated this value has been assigned to the Town of Carroll in the CDFA (Community Development Finance Authority) Core Data Index – 2023 table. Members agreed the addition should be made to the application. More information on the Core Data Index is available on the CDFA website at https://nhcdfa.org.

Chair Vecchio highlighted that an updated Annual Production Report in Attachment 07 – Shading and Production Report indicated a reduced annual production from the original Annual Production Report received earlier from Barrington Power. The new annual production estimate likely resulted from an updated Soiling (%) estimate table in the report. The new annual energy production estimate is 61,750 kWh, while the anticipated percentage of the electrical load that will be served by the project dropped to 102.7%. This latter number is still within the 100-125% range as specified in the RFP requirements document.

Vice Chair Szauter noted that the anticipated total project cost was updated to $151,766 as a result of a requirement that any municipal project over $125,000 be bonded. This information and the updated cost are reflected in Attachment 03 – Proposal for Solar PV Energy System.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section III. Technical Project Overview and found no deficiencies.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section VII. Qualifications, Experience & Management of Federal Funds and found no deficiencies. Members noted that Section VII was out of numerical order on the application.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section IV. Energy Savings and found no deficiencies.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section V. Metering Arrangements and found no deficiencies.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section VI. Project Development, Costs and Financing and found no deficiencies.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section VIII. Community Support and found no deficiencies.

Members reviewed information and attachments in Section X. Conflict(s) of Interest and found no deficiencies. Members noted that Section X was out of numerical order on the application.

Members reviewed information in Section XI. Signature Section and found no deficiencies, noting that the Carroll Select Board had voted to authorize Select Board Chair, John Greer to sign the application after completion and verification. Members noted that Section XI was out of numerical order on the application.

Vice Chair Szauter opened the NH DOE Application Attachment Checklist for review. Members agreed the information requested in the checklist was provided in the attachments slated for submission with the grant application.

With no additional information to review, Member Mycko made a motion to authorize Member Greer to sign the NH DOE Municipal Solar Grant Program application form as amended. Chair Vecchio seconded the motion. With no further discussion, the motion passed with 4 AYES to 0 NAYS.

Melissa Elander stated that she thought the town had prepared a very competitive application. Members thanked her for her many hours of work and input during preparation of the application and supporting information.

Vice Chair Szauter contacted Member Greer by phone to inform him the Energy Commission had passed a motion authorizing him to sign the NH DOE Municipal Solar Grant Program application as amended. Member Greer stated that he would travel to the Carroll Town Hall to sign the application shortly.

Once signed, the application signature page will be scanned and incorporated into the final PDF version of the application, then the application, the addendum, and all the numbered attachments will be sent to the NH DOE at the email address specified in the RFP.

Melissa Elander excused herself at 6:02 p.m. to attend another obligation; members thanked her again for supporting the Energy Commission throughout the application process.

Members discussed the mechanics of sending two emails to the NH DOE related to the grant application. The first email is a text-only heads up (with no attachments) to expect an application and supporting documents from the Town of Carroll. The second email is the formal application, complete with the signed application, addendum, and application attachments. Member Mycko recommended spacing the emails out by a few minutes and to request confirmation of receipt of the application.

Members agreed that Chair Vecchio and Vice Chair Szauter should return to Town Hall on Wednesday, July 31 in the morning and submit the application.

Vice Chair Szauter brought up the NH DOE Commercial and Industrial Solar Incentive Program and asked if the Energy Commission should begin work on the application. Members agreed to add this under New Business on the August 14 meeting agenda.

Members discussed beginning the drafting process for a warrant article on the Public Safety Building solar project. With an early December deadline, it’s better to start working on it now.

Member Greer arrived at 6:23 p.m. and signed a hardcopy of the last page of the application. Vice Chair Szauter will scan the signature page and include it in the PDF application file.

Under Other, Chair Vecchio asked if there were any items for discussion. None were brought up.

With no additional agenda items for discussion, Chair Vecchio entertained a motion for adjournment. Member Mycko motioned to adjourn. Member Amirault seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion passed unanimously with 5 AYES and 0 NAYS and the meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Imre Szauter, Vice Chair and Secretary