Arlington Energy Committee
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
6:30 – 8:00 pm
At Town Hall and Online
In attendance:
Present in Town Hall: Stephanie Moffett-Hynds, Joan Nash, Mary Anne Holmes, Nick Zaiac
On Zoom: Karen Lee, Mardi Crane and guest Bob Bois of Wilmington Energy Committee
Absent: Jenny Murtagh, Alexandra Ernst
1. Call to Order: 6:32pm
2. Approval of Minutes, Jan 3 AEC meeting: Joan moved to accept; MAH seconded, no objections. Approval of Jan 24 Special Meeting: MAH moved to accept the minutes; Joan seconded; no objections.
3. Discussion of Article in VTDigger: Will Vermont meet its 2025 climate emissions requirement? Experts clash over the data; January 11, 2024. Mardi emphasized the need to be accurate and clear about the data we use for the Tracking Tool.
4. Web Page to launch Tool: Nick supplied language for the disclaimer. How will users contact the AEC for help? We need an email address which the town cannot supply due to costs. Mardi moved that we do so; Karen seconded. None opposed.
We will add an “Impact” page: what use of the tool has taught us re: reduce Arlington’s C footprint. We want to answer the question, “So, what? What is the value of all of this?”
Tracking Tool Template for broader dissemination: Joan will develop tutorial once the Tool Template is complete. Committee members should review the Template in the next two weeks to ensure clarity and completeness.
Mardi suggests that more fuel types (i.e. those not currently used by Arlington) should be added to the Template, such as pellets/biomass, propane. Committee and guest agrees that commonly used fuels should be added to increase the usefulness while noting the impracticality of trying to cover all fuel types.
Steph will find out whether the Southern Vermont Supervisory Union (SVSU) is already tracking and counting the C footprint and offsets for Arlington schools; if not, we can incorporate their data into our tool. This will also be useful for other towns.
MAH will work with a Canadian colleague to develop a metric version.
5. The Energy Fair will be June 1. Mardi offered to supply prize money for any contests. MAH will try to contact schools to learn what students are learning; might they present at the Fair? Karen, Mary Ann Carlson, and Steph continue to work on plans for the Energy Fair. There is a lot to coordinate.
6. New Business:
Town Meeting Presentation: by Steph on 3 items: the C Tracking Tool; Window Dressers; Energy Fair.
Motion to adjourn by Joan; seconded by MAH. None opposed. 7:58pm adjournment.
Minutes respectfully submitted by MAH.
TO DO:
ALL:
- Please continue work on web page
- Review the Tracking Tool Template that Joan sent to all
Steph:
- Disclaimer language
- Set up email account; or delegate to another member
- Contact Todd to determine if AEC should include the schools in calculations
- Town Meeting presentation
Joan:
- Tracking Tool Template updates as supplied by members
Karen:
- Email address
- Explanation of anomalies (e.g. impact of Covid) in data
Mardi:
- Draft of Impact page for website; what we’ve learned. Karen to assist
MAH:
- Metric version
- School contact for Energy Fair