State makes energy assessments available to municipalities

Vermont’s Municipal Energy Resilience Program (MERP) is offering free energy assessments of municipal buildings.

The assessments will document current conditions and make recommendations for improvements to building envelopes, heating and cooling systems, and other projects to make towns more efficient and resilient, including recommendations to incorporate renewable energy sources. Once the

Resilience

continued from page 9 storm-hardened line construction techniques.”

We recently spoke with Kristin Kelly, GMP director of communications, who indicated that the key to this project is that the microgrid must work seamlessly with the big grid and be able to disconnect during a crisis to keep the community powered up. Currently GMP is building Resiliency Zones in partnership with the towns of Brattleboro, Grafton and Rochester, with more on the way.

ALL-ELECTRIC NEIGHBORHOOD

Closer to Williston, the South Burlington Hillside East neighborhood is designed to be Vermont’s first all-electric, fully storm resilient neighborhood. The utility infrastructure and homes are designed with climate and storm resiliency in mind with the added benefit of being free of the use of fossil fuels for all homes.

GMP partnered with Vermont-based property company O’Brien Brothers, which opted to go fossil fuel free as it expands its popular Hillside at O’Brien Farm community. GMP says this project will show how an entire neighborhood can be all-electric and benefit the grid.

assessments are completed, municipalities can apply for up to $500,000 in implementation grants to make the recommended improvements.

MERP is modeled on the State Energy Management Program (SEMP) that has been improving the efficiency of stateowned buildings for close to a decade.

“This is the next step in a program that will help towns across the state improve the

GMP’s energy storage programs include energy sharing during peak demand times on the grid, which helps to reduce power costs for all GMP customers, while also reducing carbon emissions.

The neighborhood will be modeled on GMPs Resiliency Zones, as homes will come equipped with Tesla Powerwall performance of their municipal buildings,” said Buildings and General Services Commissioner Jennifer Fitch. “Improving performance lowers greenhouse gas emissions supporting the state’s climate goals while reducing utility bills and saving money on utility bills, a win-win for Vermont’s communities.” community conversations, generating many questions dealing with cost, risk, reward, scope, location and time to deliver a workable solution. batteries and rooftop solar panels to recharge them. There is also a community microgrid with utility scale batteries to keep the whole neighborhood powered up. Combined, the batteries in the homes and neighborhood will create a virtual power plant.

Application information is available at https://bgs.vermont. gov/municipal-energy-resilience-program.

Do we target new development, as they did in South Burlington? Or is the historic village with our town offices, police and close-by schools and fire department the best choice?

Any consideration for a microgrid needs to include the utility companies that serve Williston. GMP is ready to work with communities and businesses looking to create resiliency and reduce fossil fuel use.

Each dwelling will include ducted heat pump systems for heating and cooling, all electric appliances and a level 2 EV charger in the garage. Kelly indicated that this is the first community of its type in Vermont and may be the first in the entire nation.

For Williston to move in this direction, it would start with

We hope that these real-world examples will excite community members to ask more questions about the possibility of energy resiliency for Williston. We invite you to comment on this article through the Observer or by writing to us at energy@willistonvt.org to provide your input.

To participate in Williston’s energy future, reach out to the Williston Energy Committee at energy@willistonvt.org or attend a public meeting held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The agenda for upcoming meetings is posted on the Town of Williston website (www.town.williston.vt.us). For more information, visit www. willistonvtenergycommittee.org.