Whately Energy Committee Eyes June Grant Deadline for Building Decarbonization Study

Other Committee · Meeting of March 9, 2026

Whately Energy Committee sets sights on a $15,000 Green Communities technical assistance grant due June 5. The two-member committee, meeting March 9, voted to approve minutes from its previous session and agreed to pursue a technical assistance award — capped at $15,000, or $25,000 if engineering documents are included — to fund a formal decarbonization study of town buildings including the elementary school and town offices. The committee noted that a 2015 energy audit by Bart Bales had focused mainly on lighting and is now largely outdated.

Mark Rabinski, the regional Green Communities representative, is to be invited to a future meeting to advise on the application before questions are due to CommBuys by May 15. On community power aggregation, the default 100 percent renewable rate stands at 14.20 cents per kilowatt hour, above Eversource's current basic service rate of 13.7 cents — though an Eversource rate adjustment is expected August 1.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of March 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.