Henry MacLean
With the onslaught of this 2017 hurricane season in full swing, many Miltonites are wondering how they can individually have greater impact on the effects of climate change. Al Gore’s new film, Inconvenient Sequel, Truth to Power makes it clear that the costs of renewable energy is dropping drastically and this energy shift will be one of the key ways we get a handle on these increasingly devastating effects of climate change.
To that end, the Town of Milton has just partnered with Sustainable Milton to bring a new Solarize Milton Challenge (SMC) to the Town modeled on the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC). The program typically saves each homeowner between 25 to 30% on the costs of a solar installation. About 60 Massachusetts communities have now participated in the program directly while another 24 have partnered in some way.
Following the Board Of Selectmen August 28th hearing with Sustainable Milton (SM) members, Town Administrator Michael Dennehy appointed the new Town Chief Procurement Officer, Arlyn Zuniga to join Sustainable Milton as the Town's liaison for this Solarize Milton effort. Working with fellow SM members Laurie Macintosh, Patrick Morgan and Philip Genereux, a Request for Proposals will be going out to Mass Solar Companies later this month.
Please drop by the Sustainable Milton table at Celebrate Milton to register your interest in this program. A marketing plan is being developed by the SMC to engage a number of groups in Milton with the goal of signing up as many households eligible for solar in the coming 4 to 6 months.The minimum number of household to get this off the ground will be about 30, but we hope to push it over the 100 home marker hit by our neighbors Quincy and Dedham. There is also an opportunity for Commercial projects which we will be sharing more material on at Celebrate Milton as well. See you on October 1st!