Energy Commission Minutes

Minutes of 8/14/2024

August 14th, 2024

Carroll Energy Commission Minutes
Meeting of August 14, 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 and Select Board Representative John Greer, Member Brian Mycko, Vice Chair and Secretary Imre Szauter, and Chair Bill Vecchio. Member Vern Amirault was absent and excused.

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

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 stated he would entertain a motion on the July 30, 2024 meeting minutes. Member Mycko motioned to accept the minutes as written. Member Greer seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion passed with 4 AYES to 0 NAYS.

Under New Business, Chair Vecchio opened a discussion on the 2025 Energy Commission budget presentation scheduled for the October 8 Select Board meeting. Members discussed what was spent of the $2,650 budgeted for the 2024 calendar year. Members felt asking for the same amount ($2,650) was sufficient for the commission’s needs in 2025. Vice Chair Szauter will follow up with Administrative Assistant, Megan Basnar to determine what the Energy Commission has spent against the 2024 budget and will bring the update to the September meeting.

Under New Business, Chair Vecchio opened a discussion on the NH DOE (Department of Energy) Commercial & Industrial Solar Incentive Program. Melissa Elander provided clarification on submission of the Eversource interconnect agreement, for which an application must be submitted prior to applying for the solar incentive program grant. It was also determined that the project (parts and labor) must have a 5-year warranty, rather than just the manufacturer’s warranties (varies by product) on parts and the installer’s warranty (1 year) on labor. Vice Chair Szauter will contact Ted Vansant at Barrington Power to discuss this item. Chair Vecchio asked about the SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates); Melissa Elander clarified that the town should register with an aggregator to sell their SRECs in the marketplace.

Under New Business, Chair Vecchio opened a discussion on planning for the 2025 warrant article for the Public Safety Building solar PV array. Members agreed that searching for what other municipalities have submitted to their voters for solar PV array projects could provide a good starting point for our own warrant article, particularly from municipalities in Coos and northern Grafton Counties. Melissa Elander offered to provide several examples of what other communities have created.

Under Old Business, Chair Vecchio opened a discussion of the NH DOE Municipal Solar Grant Program application status. He indicated that the application and supporting documents were submitted prior to the August 1, 2024 noon deadline. The Energy Commission received an email acknowledgement that the application and supporting documents had been received by the NH DOE.

Under Other, Chair Vecchio mentioned that the upcoming heat pump incentive programs to promote conversion of fossil fuel residential heating systems with electric air- or ground-source heat pumps could be of substantial benefit to town residents.
Under Other, Vice Chair Szauter mentioned there have been no updates on the Affinity LED Lighting streetlight audit.

Under Other, Chair Vecchio mentioned the Clean Energy New Hampshire (CENH) website and the town’s application for a NH DOE (Department of Energy) water system audit. The town received notification several months ago that it was on the list for a summer audit, but there have been no updates since then.

Under Other, Vice Chair Szauter asked Melissa Elander if there was any news on the storage battery study that the town agreed to be part of. She stated that the town’s information package was sent to Eversource for review. She also stated that CENH is working with a modeling tool to estimate storage battery size for each particular installation, but there are many variables that haven’t yet been determined and are needed for accurate results. In addition, CENH has questions regarding the modeling tool which need to be answered prior to distributing modeling results.

Melissa Elander excused herself from the meeting to attend to a prior commitment. Members thanked her for attending the meeting in person and for providing valuable information and feedback.

With no additional agenda items for discussion, Chair Vecchio entertained a motion for adjournment. Member Mycko motioned to adjourn. Member Greer seconded the motion. With no discussion, the motion passed unanimously with 4 AYES and 0 NAYS and the meeting was adjourned at 5:48 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Imre Szauter, Vice Chair and Secretary