Arlington Energy Committee Meeting October 5, 2020 at 7:00 pm via Zoom
Present: Stephanie Moffett-Hynds, Mardi Crane, Bryan Dalton (notes), Alexandra Ernst, Karen Jernigan, Rich Lederer (Zoom host), Karen Lee, Garrett Siegel.
Guest: BCRC Emergency Program Management Officer Allison Strohl
Next meeting: Monday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
OLD BUSINESS
Bennington Banner articles: Steph and Karen Lee have tried to contact the editor, but no response. Karen J. will try her Banner contact, cc K. Lee and Allison. We have several articles ready. Have to give the Banner first dibs since they agreed to run the series, but if they don’t respond, we can pursue other options.
GNAT TV videos: Mardi has learned to do videos with smart phone and iMovie. Steph: GNAT needs about 8 or 10 videos ready before committing to a series, but needs us to present video in their format. Karen & Mardi will call GNAT Oct. 6 to get specs from Mark Moffett. Let Mardi know if you want to do a video on your efficiency or weatherization projects. Karen J./PowerGuru is producing similar videos, via CATV, featuring people in community using energy efficiency systems.
VCRD: https://www.vtrural.org/climatecatalysts, deadline to apply for this yearlong program is Oct. 7. Steph recommends it: Many really bright, experienced people, e.g. Monique Priestley, are running this program very well, ensuring equity among varied communities around VT. It’s energizing, and an excellent way to get a monthly, 90-minute boost of encouragement and guidance for a year (meetings are virtual) and it appears to be free.
NEW BUSINESS
Window Dressers Meeting: Sunderland EC chair attended most of it. Window Dressers predicts it will be busy in 2021, if there’s a COVID-19 vaccine. Grassrootsfund.org gives $500-1,000 grants: e.g. for seed money for projects, or fees tied to our videos, or provide up-front money for households wanting to do WD windows but needing the cash. Allison convinced WD to work Bennington County-wide rather than town-by-town. WD wants to do a webinar in October; maybe designate one person in AEC as contact person. We suggested it be in November onward. Steph relayed AEC/Jean Freebern’s concern: people need to store the windows somewhere, and wonders if they are susceptible to tearing. https://windowdressers.org/community-workshops/
VECAN Summit: we’ll watch for summary of the summit.
ButtonUp Vermont:
BUV/Becca White emailed:
a) Asking anyone who can, to contribute to the fund they’ve set up to support income-qualified weatherization. (We agreed we need to learn more about how BUV and BROC income-qualified weatherization work is different, and what the fundraising is targeted for.)
b) inviting people to join BUV and Julia Leopold from the Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) to discuss why electric utilities care about weatherization. All of Vermont’s power suppliers have a challenge from the state legislature to help their customers move to cleaner energy and weatherization is a critical step in that plan. Learn about where we are in this challenge and how cold climate heat pumps, paired with weatherization projects, are a key piece of the puzzle. Register to attend the zoom here, or like Button Up Vermont on Facebook to get a notification when we go live.
Steph gets a lot of good information from BUV and Efficiency VT, and posts it on Front Porch Forum since AEC has no online platform. Alex suggested maybe What’s Happening Arlington on Facebook.
Efficiency VT Weatherization Wednesdays continue providing practical steps for people.
Education event offered by Power Guru: AEC member Karen Jernigan (VP Sales & Marketing, www.power-guru.com ) announced: Ready For Solar? A Real Estate & State of Solar Market Update w/ Special Guests, Oct 7, 2020 6:00-6:30 PM, via Zoom. RSVP to Karen, Karen@power-guru.com .
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/6064841420?pwd=bFRwTGpRTFJlOWVaRFA4TDBUSFp6UT09
Meeting ID: 606 484 1420
Passcode: 6PuPgR
She welcomes anyone wanting to give a presentation on energy issues, or suggest issues for future events.