Siting of Renewable Energy Facilities Within the Montachusett and North
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SITING OF RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITIES WITHIN THE MONTACHUSETT AND NORTHERN MIDDLESEX REGIONS Funded by: Prepared by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) and the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) October 2014 I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Expenditures for conventional energy and fuel costs provide little direct economic benefit for our regional economies. Utilization of renewable energy and improvements to energy efficiency has the ability to keep more of those dollars in our local communities and regional economy. This involves siting and promoting renewable energy facilities in appropriate locations, increasing reliance on renewable energy sources, and making these energy sources more practical and affordable. Renewables are not subject to fossil fuel price volatility, enabling residents to more efficiently deal with temperature extremes. Energy prices in a region with both high efficiency and renewable energy are likely to see less volatility and lower average power prices because price spikes will be reduced. However, at this time, there are insufficient siting standards for renewables. As a result, developers of renewable energy do not know what criteria they need to meet in order to develop wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower and other facilities. Renewable energy facilities also provide complementary economic development benefits by generating investment and employment in different sectors of the economy, which expands the total economic stimulus effect. Renewable energy also has a high job growth rate, reflected in efforts at Fitchburg State College, Mount Wachusett Community College, and University of Massachusetts - Lowell to educate and train people in the skill areas necessary to fuel the clean energy transition. This report was developed, in part, to serve as a template for other Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs) throughout the Commonwealth to promote renewable energy and enhance economic development in their regions. Many of the communities in the area affected by this EDA grant meet the definition of a “traditional New England” manufacturing city or town. The reality today, given the migration of employers away from this region in the past 10 years, is communities have large amounts of vacant industrial space. In fact, the vacancy rate of modern industrial space in the Fitchburg-Leominster area alone has ranged from a low of 1.60% in 1995 to the current high of 16.8% in 2010. The City of Lowell and other communities within the NMCOG region have seen similar trends. By having the opportunity to site renewable energy across our region, MRPC and NMCOG have a great opportunity to utilize these rooftops and vacant spaces for renewable energy production, allowing for cheaper utility rates for interested business while helping to meet the statewide goals established under the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). The research conducted in support of the study found that the Montachusett and Northern Middlesex regions have the infrastructure and the overall capability to employ an effective mix of renewable energies to begin to reduce reliance on finite fuel sources. These regions are well suited to photovoltaic solar power, ground source heat pumps, biomass power and hydropower. With our regional history of manufacturing, our future still lies in manufacturing, but the difference moving forward will be to shift from consumer goods and furniture to green energy components, helping to turn the regions back into the economic powerhouse they once were. Energy Advisory Committee Meetings The Montachusett Region Energy Advisory Committee (EAC) was formed in January 2010 prior to this grant award and it will remain intact indefinitely. The Greater Lowell Energy Advisory Committee II met for the first time on December 13th and was briefed on the components of this study and the role that the committee would have throughout the duration of this project. A complete listing of those serving on the Montachusett Energy Advisory Committee and the Greater Lowell Energy Advisory Committee can be found in Appendices A.1 and A.2. Since the beginning of this particular project, the Montachusett Energy Advisory Committee met a total of 10 times while the Greater Lowell Energy Advisory Committee met 8 times to provide oversight of grant activities. During these meetings, significant contributions and accomplishments were made concerning the siting of renewable facilities, and commenting on the final draft report. In short, all meetings were well attended and significant input and contribution towards the project were realized. Meeting agendas can be found in Appendices B. 1 and B.2. It should also be noted that as part of this project, MRPC staff collaborated with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to form a team of four students. Supervised by Derren Rossbach, Assistant Teaching Professor at WPI, the team of WPI students researched, reported and presented at a Montachusett Energy Advisory Committee meeting held on February 21, 2014 on promoting economic development in the Montachusett region by enhancing solar adoption and the siting of renewable energy on brownfields. Boreal Renewable Energy Development located in Concord, MA was also hired as a consultant to assist with overseeing student activities. The reports have been posted on the WPI library site and are now publicly available: http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project- 030714-003608/ & http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-031914-142902/ Regional Workshops A total of six (6) educational workshops were held as part of this project. All six workshops were well advertised and open to the general public - anyone interested was highly encouraged to attend including citizens, local and state officials, students, the regional business community and others. (Workshop Notices have been attached in appendices B.3 and B.4 but materials distributed at workshops are not included in this final report due to their magnitude. However, these materials are available upon request by contacting either the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission or the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments.) Wind Energy MRPC was the agency assigned to lead the first community workshop on Wind Energy held on February 12th, 2013 at MRPC Offices in Fitchburg. Workshop Topics included Collaboration and Public Engagement in Wind Energy Siting presented by Stacie Smith, Consensus Building Institute; Wind Energy Bylaw Process, presented by Stephen Wallace, Westminster Town Planner, and; an Energy Issues Legislative Update, presented by Representative Stephen DiNatale. Solar Energy The second community workshop, led by NMCOG, was about Solar Energy. The workshop was held on April 23, 2013 at Middlesex Community College Federal Building, 50 Kearney Square, Lowell. Workshop topics included the Westford Solar Park presented by Jim Goldenberg, Co-Founder Cathartes Investments; Solar Energy Market presented by John Langton, Vice President American Capital Energy; III and Workforce Development Issues presented by Gail Brown, PMP, Senior Project Manager Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board. Hydropower MRPC worked to organize/facilitate a workshop on Hydropower. It was held at Pepperell Town Hall and included a tour of the Pepperell Hydroelectric Plant. Topics presented at this workshop, held on November 7th 2013 included an Energy Issues Legislative Update by Representative Stephen DiNatale; an Overview of Hydroelectric Power Generation by Celeste Fay, Project Engineer, Alden Research Laboratory, Inc., and an Overview of Pepperell Hydroelectric Plant by Davis Hobbs, Principal Pepperell Hydro, LLC. The workshop concluded with a guided tour of the Pepperell Hydro Company. Renewable Energy in Historic Buildings NMCOG took the lead to organize the fourth community workshop about Renewable Energy in Historic Buildings at Middlesex Community College in Lowell on November 18, 2013. Presenters for this workshop were Tom Heslin from the City of Lowell Department of Planning and Development, Ken Koornneef from Nobis Engineering, Inc. and Gregg Croteau from the United Teen Equality Center (UTEC). New Construction and Renewable Energy This workshop took place in the Montachusett Region within the community of Devens at the Vicksburg Square Conference room at 33 Andrews Parkway on April 10 at 6PM. Specific topics/speakers included Net Zero Energy Housing, presented by Carter Scott, Transformations, Inc.; Roof Mounted Solar, presented by Jonathan Abe, Blacksmith Solar Design, Engineering, and; Implementation of Renewable Energy for New Construction, presented by Steven J. Strong, President, Solar Design Associates, LLC, Harvard, MA. Renewable Energy Incentives The sixth and final educational workshop took place at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center, 50 Warren Street, Lowell, MA. It featured five speakers. Sean Robertson, Director of Bostonia Partners talked about Renewable Energy Financing and Economics. This was followed by a presentation by Rebecca Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Institutional Finance, Massachusetts Development Finance Agency on MassDevelopment Lending Programs. Bram Claeys, Deputy Director, Renewables Division, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) then spoke about Renewable Heating and Cooling Alternatives, followed by speaker Dinesh Patel, Principal Engineer, National Grid on Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Incentives. To conclude, David Gaudet, Senior Energy Engineer from National Grid, presented on Thermal Heat Recovery Solutions and