Coordinated Community Planning
"Beyond
Cape Wind"
Stakeholder Process
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Next
Meeting: 02.09.07 - CIREC Steering Committee & Renewable
Energy Action Plan Development
01.19.07
Development of the Cape & Islands
Renewable Energy Action Plan - summary to come
01.05.07
Organizational Planning for CIREC - summary to come
12.13.06
Recommendations
for Patrick-Murray Transition Team
12.04.06
Key
Points from 12.01.06 Stakeholder Visioning Session
12.01.06
Visioning for Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Action Plan:
Presentation
08.06
- 11.06
Voting Energy Campaign
06.05.06
Summary
& Next Steps from Ocean Energy Brainstorming Session;
Attendee List
05.19.06
Ocean
Energy Brainstorming Session: "Process & Prompts"
Presentation
05.19.06
Brainstorming
on the Role of Ocean Energy Technologies in the Energy Future
of the Cape & Islands: Meeting Overview
02.01.06
Stakeholder Forum for Cape Cod Regional
Policy Plan
09.22.05
"Shaping Cape Cod's Energy Future"
Conference
09.14.05
Mission Statement for Process
Participants:
"Our goal is to accelerate progress toward a sustainable
energy future for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.
We will consider energy supply, delivery, and use from all
perspectives, address common challenges relating to our reliance
on fossil fuels, and define shared goals relating to efficiency
and renewables. We will initiate activities and develop tools
for informing, shaping, and changing decision-making at the
individual, local, and regional levels. By working together,
we will make a difference."
08.12.05
Summary
& Next Steps from 06.22.05 Meeting
06.22.05
Meeting
Agenda, Discussion Topics
& Attendee List
05.27.05
Knowledge
Brief Topics, Selection Process & Survey Results
Survey
"Priority Issues for Knowledge Briefs"
05.05.05
Summary
& Next Steps
from 04.14.05 Meeting
04.22.05
Cape
Codder Article
04.14.05
Meeting
Agenda
& Attendee List
04.14.05
Initial
Survey Results
& Systems Representation
Survey
"Energy
Present/Energy Future - Issues & Options"
03.31.05
Media
Release
Contact:
Chris Powicki, 508.362.9599, chrisp@weeinfo.com
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Many economic, environmental, and social issues that face Cape
Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket influence—or are
influenced by—energy supply and use (see Sample
Connections). Because Cape & Islands residents, visitors,
agencies, organizations, businesses, and communities rely on energy,
they all have a stake in how these issues are addressed: Everyone
is an energy stakeholder.
To address economic development, cost of living, air quality, water
pollution, sprawl, public health, climate change, affordable housing,
and other energy-related challenges, local stakeholders need to
be exploring the tradeoffs among energy supply and use options in
an inclusive, organized, comprehensive, and transparent way.
The "Transitioning from the Energy Present to the Energy Future
Initiative" was launched by participants in the Cape &
Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative (CIREC) to engage energy
stakeholders in coordinated and collaborative planning activities.
Click on the links below for more information:
Objectives & Activities
Coordinated Planning Progress
Objectives & Activities
The overarching goal of the "Managing the Energy Transition"
initiative is to maximize the local benefits and minimize the adverse
impacts associated with energy supply and use in the Cape & Islands
region. Community planning objectives are listed below:
1. Maximize participation by and input from the public
and other stakeholder groups
2. Develop and communicate visions of the energy future
3. Analyze and communicate information about the relations
between current energy supply and use practices and diverse regional
and local issues
4. Establish a base of facts, opinions, and goals relating
to the technology, policy, and resource development options associated
with a sustainable energy future
5. Develop an energy technology and resource development
strategy and create and implement a "Renewable Energy Action
Plan"
Under the umbrella of CIREC, these broad community planning objectives
are supported and complemented by a range of targeted activities
addressing the following topics:
- Outreach and education on energy issues and options, including
green power purchasing, municipal wind projects, green building,
consumer aggregation, etc.
- Deployment of solar, wind, bioenergy, and ocean energy technologies
- Workforce development, job creation, and capacity building within
the clean energy cluster
- Advocacy, policy development, and other approaches supporting
transformation of local energy markets on behalf of energy efficiency,
renewable energy, green building, and sustainable design
Coordinated Planning Progress
In 2003, CIREC received grant funding from the Massachusetts Technology
Collaborative (MTC) to support community planning activities. Subsequently,
individuals and organizations with diverse backgrounds, perspectives,
and objectives were invited to serve on the Cape & Islands Sustainable
Energy Stakeholder (SES) Committee (see Stakeholder
Invitation). The committee was formed
- To engage stakeholders throughout the region in considering
energy supply and use from a comprehensive perspective
- To catalyze expansive, inclusive, and transparent public inquiry
processes
- To inform individual, local, and regional planning, policymaking,
and decision-making
About 30 people agreed to serve on the committee, including representatives
from organizations and agencies with specific interest in energy
or with strong recognition of energy's importance to everyday life
and this region's future (see Initial
SES List). As a first task, SES committee members were asked
to review and provide comment on this website as a tool for encouraging
coordinated planning and informed decision-making throughout the
region. Many individuals offered encouragement and provided data
and information resources. A representative of the Cape Wildlife
Center, for example, contributed factual information on the interactions
between wind turbines and wildlife, supporting creation of a "Wind
Energy" page highlighting the possible environmental tradeoffs
associated with the development of regionally abundant wind energy
resources.
Comments from Cape Light Compact staff and officials were the most
important ones received, in that among the many helpful clarifications
were some questions about the "true costs" of present-day
energy supply and use options (see Cape
Light Compact comments). Under a follow-on grant from MTC to
CIREC, SES committee members and other individuals and organizations
contributed to the initiation of a "Beyond Cape Wind"
community planning process (see box above for documents relating
to this process). The process, managed through CIREC, was developed
in early 2005 with technical assistance from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology-U.S. Geological Survey Science Impact Collaborative
(MUSIC). It began when Cape & Islands energy stakeholders
were asked to complete an online "Energy Present/Energy Future"
survey and provide thoughts on what issues should be addressed and
what goals should be pursued through coordinated planning.
Responses from energy, environmental, consumer, economic development,
business, agency, other constituencies, and the general public were
applied to develop an initial modela systems representationillustrating
how electricity and fuels are supplied to, purchased by, and used
by consumers on Cape Cod, Marthas Vineyard, and Nantucket
(survey
results/model). In addition, the model displayed the interconnections
among energy systems and diverse economic, environmental, and social
issues. Once further developed, it will allow users to evaluate
possible options for managing these interconnections through technology,
policy, and market interventions.
Survey responses, facilitated meetings, and follow-on surveys also
were employed to identify the 10 highest-priority true cost
considerations to be addressed by transitioning away from present-day
energy supply and use practices:
1. Effects of Fossil Fuel Combustion on Air Quality & Public
Health
2. Possible Impacts of Global Climate Change on Local Communities
3. Contributions of Fossil Fuel Combustion to Nutrient Loading in
Groundwater & Surface Waters
4. Impacts of Energy Costs on Affordability & Competitiveness
5. Contributions of Fossil Fuel Combustion to Mercury Concentrations
& Fish Contamination
6. Effects of Fossil Fuel Reliance on Species & Habitat
7. Economic Costs of Externalized Impacts
8. Social Ramifications of Externalized Impacts
9. Economic Effects of Relying on Energy Imports
10. Contributions of Stationary & Mobile Sources and Local,
Regional & National Sources to Environmental Quality Problems
To promote discussion of solutions, the "Shaping
Cape Cod's Energy Future" conference was organized by CIREC
participants in September 2005 under funding from Cape Cod Economic
Development Council. In early 2006, at the urging of CIREC participants,
the Cape Cod Commission convened stakeholders to discuss expanded
roles for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and emissions reduction
in Barnstable County's Regional Policy Plan. In May 2006, an ocean
energy brainstorming session was conducted to review issues and
options relating to community-based siting and development of large-scale
offshore wind, tidal, and wave energy projects.
In 2006-07, CIREC activities being pursued under a new MTC grant,
in-kind support, and additional funding sources include a survey
of candidates for regional, state, and federal office; outreach
to local decision-makers; a series of regional forums; and other
strategic planning activities geared toward development of a Cape
& Islands Renewable Energy Action Plan. This website is
being used to collect and organize information, knowledge, and tools
and to communicate findings. Follow-on support is being sought for
outreach, analysis, synthesis, and reporting activities.
For more information contact
Chris Powicki, 508.362.9599
President, Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative
Principal, Water Energy & Ecology Information Services
Last updated 01.07.07