Category: Energy

Rock to Rock News and High School Energy Awareness Programs

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven/León Sister City Project

It’s time to get excited about the 10th Annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride. We are joining forces with Green Drinks to put on a Pint Night to benefit Rock to Rock Wednesday, March 14, 6-7:30 at Patagonia, 1 Broadway (corner of York St.), New Haven. We will have beer from Blue Point Brewery, wine, refreshments, live music from Andrew Biagiarelli, and our ever-popular raffle. Admission: $5 donation to Rock to Rock.

Rock to Rock is New Haven’s biggest Earth Day celebration. Here’s how it works: You and about a thousand of your neighbors travel by bicycle from West Rock and East Rock, with celebrations on both sides of the city. Along the way, eat tasty food, hear great music, take on environmental service projects, and explore our city’s parks and neighborhoods. Info: [email protected] or (203) 285-6147.

Climate Health and Energy Week (CHEW) is an opportunity–April 30 to May 5–for New Haven-area high schools to broaden climate change awareness and engage in concrete action to cut greenhouse gases, improve health and reduce energy use and expense. CHEW organizers are researching and developing–with educators and school administrators–a variety of program/activity options to be available to individual teachers, departments, grade levels, schools, or the entire school district. The range of options will enable educators to meet the specific needs and realities of their school. Other non-school youth and community organiz-ations can also participate.

Check out the website  www.climateweeknh.org or contact Margalie at Margalie Belizaire [email protected] or call (203) 562-1607.  Also please submit good climate education activities!

New Haven Solar Program Gains Momentum as Electricity Rates Increase

Solarize New Haven makes going solar easy and affordable. In the first eight weeks of its residential solar campaign, 90 New Haven homeowners have expressed interest in determining their home’s ability to capture solar energy and offset their electricity bill.

That number is expected to climb as United Illuminating’s residential electricity generation rates in January increased 27%. Solar’s ability to protect against future utility rate increases is one of its most appealing benefits.

New Haven residents must sign a contract by March 7 to qualify for Solarize New Haven pricing. To find out if your home is good for solar go to SolarizeCT.com/New-Haven. Residents who live in surrounding communities can also participate in Solarize by going to SolarizeCT.com.

Upcoming solar workshops will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, 7-8 p.m., at the First Unitarian Universalist Society, 608 Whitney Ave., and on Sunday, Feb. 11, 1-2:30 p.m., at the New Haven Friends Meeting, 225 E. Grand Ave. More information about Solarize New Haven can be found by visiting SolarizeCT.com/New-Haven or by contacting Chamae Mejias [email protected], (860) 331-1041.

Help Puerto Rico Recover with Solar Power!

Arnaaz Khwaja, New Haven/León Sister City Project

The Elm Energy Efficiency Project and New Haven/León Sister City Project are launching a new project called the Solar Solidarity Project. Its aim is to raise money to build and install solar panels in Puerto Rico using home energy savings from the New Haven area. We would like people to lower their energy usage and redirect their energy bill savings to help give Puerto Rico clean, renewable energy.

This project also addresses the ever pressing issue of climate change and helps Puerto Rico become less dependent on a power grid, in prepar-ation for future natural disasters.

You can learn more about the project, how to get involved, and how to donate at our website: http://www.elmenergyproject.org/solidarity-solar-project. If you are a teacher or student interested in having your school involved in this project, please email us at [email protected].

Thank you!

 

Green Fund Now Accepting Applications for 2018 Funding

The Greater New Haven Green Fund solicits small and large grant applications once a year.

An electronic version of the cover letter, application, budget, and attachments should be sent to [email protected].

You may download the request for applications (RFA) for the Green Fund or the Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc (PSEG) by going to http://www.gnhgreenfund.org. Deadline is 5 p.m. Jan. 12, 2018.

They’ve changed the RFA this year so be sure to review the initial pages, especially if you have applied for grants in previous years.

The PSEG RFA is separate from the regular grants because the money came from a Community Benefit Agreement between the City of New Haven and PSEG, Inc. to provide small grants to help educate citizens about air pollution. You may apply for the 2018 RFA or the 2018 PSEG RFA but not both. Go to http://www.gnhgreenfund.org to download the RFA.

People’s Action for Clean Energy Annual Meeting

by Mark Scully, Director

Please join PACE for a celebration among friends of the good work being done to advance local clean energy across the state at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Rd.

PACE will recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of two inspiring environmental leaders: Jamie Wolf of Wolfworks, Inc. will receive a lifetime achievement award for his career of designing sustainable homes, and Craig Lewis of Clean Coalition will be honored for his bold and creative leadership in promoting local clean energy and a modern electric grid.

The evening will be informative, featuring a keynote address from Craig Lewis on “Renewables-Driven Community Microgrids” and updates on a range of good work being done in the state, including PACE’s own 100PercentCT Project, led by Bernie Pelletier.
To make it a real celebration, State Troubadour Kate Callahan will open and close the evening with her musical gifts.

Innovations in Alternative Energy and Power Generation in Cuba

On Saturday, Dec. 16, 10:30 a.m. to noon, join us at the New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street, for a discussion about Cuba’s energy future with Professor Luis Vazquez Seisdedos.

Luis Vazquez Seisdedos

Luis Vazquez Seisdedos, PhD., is a full professor in the Department of Automatic Control, part of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in the University of Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. He has more than 30 years’ experience as a professor with a multidisciplinary background that includes electro-mechanical conversion systems, energy-converting systems, using fossil sources and renewable re-sources, power electronics, electric drives, analog and digital electronics, system theory and systems modeling and identification. Previously, he was a skilled engineer of seismic instruments and seismic-telemetric networks for automated earthquake detection in Cuba.

This event is co-sponsored by: Alderman Jose Crespo— Ward 16, Alderwoman Dolores Colon—Ward 6, the City of New Haven Peace Commission, the Greater New Haven Peace Commission, New Haven/León Sister City Project. For more info email Seth at [email protected] or call (203) 946-7450. We hope you can make it! To reserve a seat, go to www.eventbrite.com/e/innovations-in-alternative-energy-and-power-generation-in-cuba-tickets-40173606338.

Elm Energy Efficiency Project

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven/ León Sister City Project

The Elm Energy Efficiency Project and New Haven/León Sister City Project are launching a new project called the Solar Solidarity Project. The Project will help families save more on home energy, and have them donate those savings to install solar panels in Puerto Rico (Cool It Here – Build It There!). This project will help reduce your carbon footprint, and help Puerto Rico become less dependent on a vulnerable power grid. All donations will go to Resilient Power Puerto Rico, a project of the Coastal Management Resource Center (a 501c3 organization). For more information, call (203) 562-1607 or go to elmenergyproject.org/solidarity-solar-project.

Money Talks, and So Does Solidarity!

by Melinda Tuhus, New Haven Stands with Standing Rock

[As this issue of the PAR newsletter went to press, we received notice about the following event. We are printing it so people can be aware of the various local banks that are funding fossil fuel projects in the U.S. and other countries. For more information about this rally and future plans for New Haven Stands with Standing Rock, please e-mail [email protected].]

Rally Wednesday, Oct. 25, 4:30-5:30 p.m., beginning on the New Haven Green, corner of College and Chapel streets. Then walk 3 blocks to visit 3 banks. The reason is that next week, 92 of the world’s largest banks are meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss environmental and social risk management policies regarding the climate and indigenous people’s rights to “free, prior and informed consent.”

Mazaska Talks (“Money Talks” in Lakota) is calling for global actions on October 23-25 focusing on banks that are funding fossil fuel projects that are endangering indigenous lands, water and cultures, and our global climate. Indigenous groups and the Fossil Free divestment movement started by 350.org have led individuals, organizations and local governments to withdraw billions of dollars from these banks. In the most recent success, in early October, BNP Paribas — Europe’s second largest bank — announced it is cutting funding to tar sands, all tar sands pipelines, fracking, LNG (liquefied natural gas), and Arctic oil projects. This kind of pressure works.

Join New Haven Stands with Standing Rock (NHSwSR) as we focus on banks in our community that are making these destructive investments. We will meet on the Green at the corner of College and Chapel streets, then pay a visit to TD Bank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank, where we will highlight our campaign asking the city to move its $3 million a day operating budget out of Wells Fargo to a bank that prioritizes investments in our community. Wells Fargo just announced a drastic 18 percent drop in its third quarter earnings related to penalties it’s had to pay for its many unethical practices, putting taxpayers’ money even more in jeopardy.

Questions? Email us at [email protected].

Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs needs your calls to the governor today

by John Humphries, Organizer

[On Oct. 26, the House of Representatives voted in favor of Dominion/Millstone. This bill now goes to Gov. Malloy. Call (800) 406-1527 and Demand that he not sign it. Call your legislators! (Find their number on this website in the sidebar.) Let them know what you think of their preferential treatment to the demands of the Dominion.]

Two current energy questions—Millstone and offshore wind —are linked, and how CT responds in the coming months will impact the state’s workers and communities, as well as the region’s electric grid, for decades to come.

Tell legislators: Protect Millstone’s workers, not its shareholders. Recently we published an op-ed that lays out a vision for resolving the ongoing “debate” about the Millstone nuclear plant with a long-term strategy to protect the plant’s workers and communities and to replace it with renewables (including offshore wind) when it does eventually retire.

Last month, the Senate passed a bill designed to give Dominion Energy (Millstone’s owner) a special deal, even though the out-of-state corporation has produced no evidence of economic hardship and has made no commitment to remaining open even if they get such a deal. The House may take up the measure in the coming week.

Tell them to REJECT any special deal for Dominion Energy that doesn’t require a long-term commitment to Millstone’s workers and communities.

Offshore Wind: Clean Energy & Jobs for CT

On September 20, more than 60 labor, religious, environmental and business leaders gathered at IBEW Local 90’s union hall to learn about the potential for local jobs and eco-nomic development from the regional push for offshore wind.

As neighboring states aggressively pursue development of offshore wind resources in federal waters off the coast of New England, CT must act quickly to catch up and secure a share of the economic benefits for our ports and coastal communities.

More than 130 people from 60+ towns across the state endorsed our statement about the need for offshore wind to be included in the Comprehensive Energy Strategy. We look forward to working with all these allies to build a broad-based offshore wind campaign in the coming months.

CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, ctclimateandjobs.org.

People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) Annual Meeting Dec. 2

PACE’s Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, Dec. 2, 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 55 Bloomfield Rd., Hartford. The keynote address, “Renewables-Driven Community Micro-grids,” will be given by Craig Lewis, Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Clean Coalition. Music will be provided by State Troubadour Kate Callahan.

People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) is an all-volunteer non-profit that has been educating the public and advocating for clean energy since 1973. PACE conducts annual tours of energy-efficient homes and electric vehicles, and urges participants to “try this at home!” PACE’s 100PercentCT Project is working with individual towns across the state to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. For more information, go online at www.pace-cleanenergy.org or contact PACE President Mark Scully at [email protected].

Call to Action from PACE

This article was written before the Legislature voted on a budget that raided $90 million from clean energy funds. Call Gov. Malloy — 800-406-1527 — and demand he veto the budget. The large corporations and millionaires and billionaires of CT can pay more in taxes to make up the difference. Call your legislators and tell them raiding the money from the clean energy funds is unacceptable and demand they work to reinstate those funds so people can have increased access to non-polluting energy and energy assistance.

by Mark Scully, People’s Action for Clean Energy

You may have heard that the latest Connecticut budget includes highly damaging raids to three important clean energy funds. This budget would cut $27.5 million this fiscal year and next from the CT Green Bank, $50 million per year from the Energy Efficiency Fund, $10 million per year from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

These raids are tantamount to a tax on residents through their utility bills. These funds had been designated to support energy efficiency and clean energy. The CT Green Bank has become a national model for promoting investment in energy efficiency and clean energy. Robbing its balance sheet would be damaging not only to the environment but also to our economy.

These raids would be a major setback to energy efficiency and clean energy in Connecticut. Let’s make our voices heard!

PACE, PO Box 134, West Simsbury, CT 06092

Solarize New Haven

by Paula Panzarella, Fight the Hike

Solarize New Haven will have a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 7-9 p.m. at the Hall of Records, G2 Hearing Room, 200 Orange St. The press conference will be followed by an information session. People can have their questions answered about solar panels, installation and energy financing. This is a great opportunity for New Haven homeowners to explore the possibility of getting solar panels. There are many financing programs that make solar panels affordable. This solar installation is available also to multi-family homes, provided that one of the apartments is owner-occupied. RGS is the company that will be installing solar panels through Solarize New Haven.

On Sept. 5, the New Haven Alders passed a resolution to encourage the State of Connecticut to push forward on promoting shared solar. We hope that as clean energy advocates in other CT cities and towns have their boards of alders or town councils pass similar resolutions, Connecticut legislators will move ahead in allowing the development of many shared solar projects.

At the hearings last month about the draft 2017 Comprehensive Energy Strategy of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, many people spoke out about the shortcomings of the proposed energy policy and specified the need for expanded shared solar projects. The timing of the hearings and the New Haven resolution coincided well!

New Haven Resolution on Shared Solar to be Voted on Sept. 5

Paula Panzarella, New Haven Energy Task Force

The New Haven Energy Task Force and the New Haven Environmental Advisory Council have worked on a resolution to encourage the state politicians to push forward shared solar projects so that more people can benefit from lower electric rates and use renewable energy which is not polluting our atmosphere and will not accelerate climate change.

Below are excerpts of the resolution that will be presented to the Board of Alders (City Hall, 165 Church St., second fl.) on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. From 6-7 p.m. people who are interested can lobby their alders.

We are hoping that other cities and towns will enact similar resolutions so the State of CT will hear that throughout Connecticut the residents want the State to stop holding back the development of shared solar projects.

RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERS urging the CT General Assembly, Governor Malloy, the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, and the electric distribution companies to support “community shared solar” legislation.

Whereas: the City of New Haven understands the dangers of climate change, pollution and the need to reduce our carbon footprint; and…

Whereas: it is the policy of the State of Connecticut to, in part, “… develop and utilize alternative energy resources, such as solar and wind energy, to the maximum practical extent …” (Energy Policy Act, CGS 16a-35k); and

Whereas: Connecticut residents, and particularly residents of United Illuminating’s service territory, continue to pay some of the highest electricity rates on the continent; and…

Whereas: the development of “community shared solar” installations in New Haven will create well-paying jobs and enhance the city’s overall economic development efforts; and…

Whereas: The Connecticut General Assembly has to date only approved a small pilot program that has continuously been delayed, and has not authorized a full-scale state-wide shared solar program;…

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The City of New Haven calls on its elected representatives in the Connecticut General Assembly, Governor Malloy, the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, and the electric distribution companies to support comprehensive, long-term “community shared solar” legislation, and encourages its residents to become informed about the issue and communicate their views to their representatives.

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