Board of Selectmen Vote to Join Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative
Brewster is committed to erecting one, or more probably, two wind turbines in the 1.5 Megawatt range on municipal
sites.
At the December 15, 2008 meeting
of the Brewster Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator Charles L. Sumner stated that he, and John Cunningham and
Don Schober, members of the Alternative Energy Committee, spent a lot of time reviewing the
Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative agreement. They also had a joint meeting with Town Counsels for Harwich and Brewster, Harwich energy
committee members, and with county officials. Brewster Town Counsel reviewed and approved these documents.
Town Meeting authorized the Selectmen to enter into the cooperative agreement. At the Selectmen's meeting, Sumner
recommended the Selectmen join the cooperative. Selectman Foley moved to join. Selectman Lewis seconded the motion.
The Board voted 5-Yes 0-No.
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The town's website is available here.
Brewster has an Alternative Energy
Committee.
|
Name
|
Appointment |
|
Stoughton Ellsworth |
Golf Commission Member |
|
John Cunningham
|
Citizen Alternate |
|
Stoughton Ellsworth |
Golf Commission Member |
|
Dean Keuch |
Citizen Member |
|
William Porter
|
Water Commission Member |
|
Charles Sumner
|
Administrative Rep. |
|
Jillian Douglass
|
Administrative Rep., Alt.
|
|
Ed Swiniarski, Chairman |
Citizen Member |
|
Victor Staley |
Building Commissioner, Ex-Officio Member |
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NStar provides power delivery services to all Brewster electricity consumers. The table and charts below depict electricity
consumption (in kWh) in Brewster from 2003 to 2007 and show the types of usage. The information is provided courtesy
of NSTAR.
|
Year |
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
Residential |
57,103,465
|
56,110,354
|
56,404,028
|
52,733,909
|
54,119,380
|
|
Commercial / Industrial |
19,114,776
|
18,952,185
|
19,210,508
|
18,640,154
|
19,348,087
|
|
Street Lighting |
46,117
|
38,369
|
38,105
|
38,330
|
38,526
|
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The Cape Light Compact (CLC) tracks information on all its energy efficiency programs on a town-by-town basis. For
Brewster, the Cape Light Compact efficiency report
shows an annual kWh savings of 152,178 kWh in 2008 as a result of the various CLC energy efficiency programs. See
below for details.
Town Energy Audit
Rich Wolf, of the Alternative Energy Committee, this week presented to the selectmen a town energy audit, which included
a detailed breakdown of the town’s energy use by department and season and correlated to weather. It also suggested
some future projects, such as wind turbines, changing from oil to gas, and installing solar panels on town buildings.
However, his immediate concern was conservation. The presentation was reported in the
Cape Codder.
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The production data below is based on information from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) collected in
support of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). RECs are tradable environmental commodities in the United States and
represent proof that a specified amount of electricity was generated from an eligible renewable energy resource. Photovoltaic
and wind energy producers that do not participate in the RECs program are not represented in the data. The information
is valid as of the end of 2007.
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 Solar PV
The charts below show a growing amount of photovoltaic energy being produced within Brewster from an increasing number
of sites.
Click here to review photovoltaic energy production for all towns
on the Cape & Islands.
As part of the Cape Light Compact's
"Solarize our
Schools!" campaign, a 2kW solar photovoltaic (PV) systems was installed at the Brewster elementary school.
The solar panel at the Stony Brook Elementary school reports the daily, weekly, and monthly
solar panel performance.
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 Wind
At the end of 2007, Brewster had no net metered wind energy production.
Brewster is committed to a municipal wind energy project and is fairly far along in the process.
In May, 2007 a Wind Energy Site Screening and Development Options Analysis was developed by Black and Veatch in
the course of performing work sponsored by the Renewable Energy Trust (RET), as administered by the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative (MTC). The Town of Brewster Alternative Energy Committee, especially Jillian Douglass
and Deane Keuch, provided assistance and guidance. The full report is available
here.
The report's abstract says "Black & Veatch screened the three identified sites near Brewster, Massachusetts for
the potential of installing a community wind energy project. The wind resource was estimated using
wind data collected on site, as well as from the state wind resource map. Land use and operational
issues were reviewed, specifically the proximity of the sites to protected open space and to privately-owned land.
The electrical infrastructure near the sites was reviewed to understand the feasibility of connecting a wind turbine
to the existing electrical grid. Production from a candidate wind turbine was estimated, and the likely cost for
project was reviewed. Black & Veatch found no obvious fatal flaws for the project, although concerns regarding
setbacks, protected open space, and electrical interconnection will require further review."
A zoning bylaw amendment covering wind turbines was passed by the Brewster Fall Town Meeting in Nov 2007.
The current intention is to plan for two wind turbines in the 1.5 megawatt range. The first is on the grounds
of the Captain's Golf Course on Freeman's Way. The second site was originally intended to be in Commerce
Park. The passage of the Green Communities Act in July 2008 the Green Communities Act, which requires the promotion
of energy efficiency and renewable energy by utility companies, empowers consumers to use, generate, and sell renewable
energy themselves, and rewards cities and towns for creating efficient energy policies has liberalized the state
law governing the location of municipal wind turbines. The act is summarized
here. This raised the possibility of a more favorable location than the Commerce Park site.
This alternate is being reviewed by Black & Veatch to determine if it is equally acceptable.
As noted above, Brewster has opted to join the
Cape & Vineyard Electric Cooperative, which will assist in both technical
management of the Brewster turbines, and in providing finance. According to Alternative Energy Committee Chairman
Ed Swiniarski, this option appears to be advantageous for Brewster. Instead of borrowing funds at the 3 to 4% rate
available for town municipal bonds, the coop is able to borrow at 1 to 1.5%, under the terms of the Rural Electrification
Act. For Brewster, the already favorable payback period of 7-8 years dropped to 3-4 years. The
wind turbines have a life of 20-25 years.
Click here to review wind energy production for all towns on the Cape
& Islands.
For an overview of wind energy on the Cape & Islands, click here.
For more information on wind projects in other communities, click here.
For the status of community wind projects in other towns, click here
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For information on the energy situation on Martha's Vineyard,
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This page was last updated Wednesday February 18, 2009
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