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THE GARDNER NEWS: Candidate Gifford visits Gardner, likes what Mount is doing with clean energy

Candidate Gifford visits Gardner, likes what Mount is doing with clean energy

The Gardner News

March 10, 2018

By Andrew Mansfield

 

GARDNER  Congressional candidate Rufus Gifford visited Mount Wachusett Community College on Friday to learn about how the college meets its energy needs without using fossil fuels.

The Democratic hopeful is a 43-year-old Concord resident who notably served as the U.S. ambassador to Denmark under former President Barack Obama.

As part of his campaign to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Gardner, Gifford is making a major push to expand clean energy solutions.

He sees doing so as an investment for a better future, not just from an environmental standpoint in order to mitigate climate change and pollution, but also to help rebuild the middle class through manufacturing.

“We can do this. We can actually be considerably more renewable than we are,” he said. “It’s not just about saving the planet. It’s about the economy, it’s about jobs.”

Gifford met with officials from the college to hear a presentation on the college’s energy initiatives for wind and solar, as well as tour the biomass facility on campus.

In attendance from the college were Vice President of Admin­istration and Finance Robert LaBonte, Vice President of External Affairs, Communications and K-12 Partnerships Lea Ann Scales, and Director of Maintenance and Mechanical Systems Bill Swift.

LaBonte gave a presentation on various renewable energy projects the college has done over the years. He said the campus was built during the 1970s energy crisis when there was a gas shortage, and because of that, it was built as an all-electric campus.

At the time, LaBonte said, the campus used over 9 million kilowatt hours of energy annually and now uses under 5 million, a dramatic difference in efficiency.

Over the last 15 or so years, the college has installed two wind turbines, put up solar panels, switched to LED lighting and installed a biomass heating facility.

Larger projects were typically financed through a combination of grants and loans, with the idea that energy savings made them worth it over time.

“I’ve never seen one of these projects that I didn’t love because every one of them is a winner,” LaBonte said.

In 2012, the college installed its two wind turbines that produce electricity, which LaBonte described as “our centerpiece and the most visible” in terms of clean energy.

He said the turbines produce 5.4 million kilowatt hours of energy annually, a small portion of which is exported back into the grid as the turbines produce more than what the college needs.

Out of the $9.5 million cost for the turbines, LaBonte said the college received a $3 million federal grant, and the rest was financed through federal and state loans for clean energy projects.

After paying off the debt service and maintenance costs, he said the college saves $250,000 annually on energy by having the turbines, and also generates $150,000 through the sale of renewable energy credits.

As ambassador to Denmark, a country known for pioneering the use of wind power, Gifford said, “I was obsessed with the concept of how we can bring Scandinavian-style clean energy to the United States.”

He thinks by investing in training and education for workers at institutions like the Mount, clean energy industries can have a greater presence locally.

“Where can those things be built, and I think they can be built here in the 3rd District of Massachusetts,” Gifford said.

He added that, in terms of energy policy, “I don’t think the answer is reopening the coal mines like our president does.”

During his presentation, LaBonte also discussed the college’s 100-kilowatt photo-voltaic array that is on the rooftop of the Haley Academic building to produce solar energy. The panels were installed in 2010.

In addition, the college’s gym building uses solar evacuated tubes to heat water.

In 2003, the college built its biomass facility for heating and cooling the campus, which LaBonte said reduced energy use by 37 percent and significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Swift runs the operation of the biomass facility and showed Gifford how it works, explaining that the facility creates energy by burning wood chips, which are a byproduct of a saw mill in Connecticut.

Instead of the facility releasing pollutants into the air as it burns fuel, it releases steam.

Gifford expressed hope that there can be bipartisan political support for pursuing clean energy.

“I think you can find people of every party that can buy into this concept,” he said.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Swift commented.

A challenge that LaBonte highlighted in expanding clean energy options is upgrading infrastructure.

Wind and solar energy projects, for example, are typically tied into the infrastructure of National Grid. At a certain point, that infrastructure reaches capacity.

LaBonte also said that while renewable sources create “a lot of good energy,” they are not as dependable as fossil fuels in terms of being able to produce consistently, as they depend on weather conditions.

Gifford cited improving the technology for solar battery storage as a key way to help with that issue.

He said he thinks the federal government has a role in supporting clean energy efforts financially through means such as tax credits and by funding research and development, and also through advocacy. He said the federal government must work with state and local governments as well as the private sector on these efforts.

Prior to serving as ambassador to Denmark, Gifford worked for the Obama presidential campaigns, and also the presidential campaign of Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

Gifford said he grew up on the North Shore and holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University.

The primary election for the 3rd Congressional District will be held in September and the general election in November.

Gifford is running in a crowded field, mostly comprising Democrats, vying to be the district’s next representative.

There are 37 cities and towns in the district, the largest being Lowell to the east. In the local area, Fitchburg, Gardner, Ashburnham and Winchendon Precincts 1A, 2 and 3 are included in the district.

The district is currently represented by Niki Tsongas, D-Lowell, who is not running for re-election this year.

 

Original article: http://thegardnernews.com/main.asp?sectionid=18&subsectionid=63&articleid=261557