Acting To Encourage Green Energy Use

CORNWALL — There’s no denying that Cornwall folks are, overall, an environmentally conscious bunch. Already, a handful have signed up to buy some or all of their electricity from renewable energy sources.

The Board of Selectmen decided to encourage other town residents to follow the same path. They passed a resolution Monday night to officially commit Cornwall to SmartPower’s "20 percent by 2010 Clean Energy Campaign."

Prior to a discussion and vote, the selectmen heard a presentation from SmartPower’s Keri Enright, who explained the incentives offered by her company and by alternative energy providers.

Renewable energy sources available in Connecticut are wind, landfill gases and water (small hydropower).

Customers, including government, business and residential users, can elect for half or all of their power usage to come from a combination of these sources.

The goal is for 20 percent of Cornwall customers to be signed up for renewable energy by the year 2010.

Towns can earn solar energy systems that can be installed on town buildings, as well as cash rebates, if enough residents sign up.

If there is a downside, it is that clean-energy providers are new businesses, and costs to customers is higher than what big energy providers such as Connecticut Light & Power charge. What Will it Cost?

During a discussion, the board wondered if asking people to pay a higher electric bill — especially after the recent rate hike — is unreasonable. But how much is the difference, really?

"The average cost to homeowners using about 700 kilowatt-hours a month is $3 to $12, depending on what option they choose," Enright said. "It’s an additional cost now, but if we don’t do anything, energy costs will continue to go up."

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway stressed that it is not about saving money now, but about investing in the future economy and environment.

"Twenty-five years ago, I helped write a book about renewable energy sources that we have right here," he said. "The options have been out there for at least that long. If we do this now, we will avoid a lot of problems in the long run."

Selectman K.C. Baird wondered if CL&P might cut rates once the production pressure is off.

"People are going to ask that," he said.

"I don’t think you can make a prediction," Ridgway said. "And the price you see on your electric bill doesn’t reflect the true cost of energy. It doesn’t reflect the cost of pollution or the cost of going overseas to fight a war."

Resident Biancha Langer Griggs cheered Ridgway’s comments.

"I have had my home and my business, The Wish House, signed up for renewable energy sources for two years now. I haven’t seen any huge increase, or even a notable increase in my bills. But that’s not the point. Cornwall has a lot of environmentally concerned people who will understand that." Investing in the Future

The extra cost can be seen as an investment in clean energy. Some of the billing revenue is used by clean energy providers to expand their operation, but it is more about the message it sends to legislators and the big energy companies.

"The message is that renewable energy is considered valuable, especially when people are willing to pay more for it," Enright said. "The benefit is getting renewable energy sources on the grid."

Enright explained that SmartPower is a nonprofit marketing company funded in part by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund tax on consumers’ electric bills. Its task is to educate people about and promote the use of renewable energy sources.

Cornwall becomes number 36 on the list of Connecticut towns which have made the commitment in the program‘s three years. Other municipalities include Salisbury, Norfolk, Torrington, Harwinton and Hartford.

Seventeen of them have already signed up enough people to earn free solar energy systems.

SmartPower gives away a system when 10 percent of local customers sign up. With 800 energy users, Cornwall would earn a system for every 80 converts.

Cornwall currently has 22.5 customers signed on. (Those who sign on for half of the power to come from renewable source are counted as half a customer.) That’s 3.36 percent of households and businesses.

"When it comes to the way people use energy sources, we are not seeing a lot of change on a national level," Enright said. "We have found on community and state levels there is a better sense of caring about what direction energy usage is taking."

Enright said the campaign can be mounted by groups such as churches and private schools. Towns and groups are coming up with imaginative promotions, often using grants and rewards — such as the Community Innovation Grant that awards $5,000 to the first 40 towns who sign on.

"Portland, for example, allotted $2,000 of its grant for the local Boy Scout troop. For every customer who signed up through the troop, they got $10."

Ridgway said public forums will be arranged in the spring.