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| brown and waiting for spring |
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| The new poles lined this section of Upper Union |
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| The sun tried its hardest to burn through the clouds |
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| The new poles lined the solar farm |
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| solar panels working but you'd hardly notice |
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| new utility poles on Mount St |
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| renovated barn on Mount St |
The cloistered sisters of Mount St. Mary’s Abbey liken themselves to stewards of nature, and as part of that commitment, they live a pastoral lifestyle.
U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III on Monday joined students, faculty, staff and alumni of Dean College for an afternoon ceremony to recognize Veterans Day.
The Better Business Bureau issued tips today to avoid making donations to scamming solicitors or poorly managed relief organizations in the wake of the devastating typhoon that hit the Philippines over the weekend.
I am writing to alert all those of you who may have dealings with the Town of Franklin (Or other town governments), solar companies with promises, and National Grid. Not so long ago Franklin granted a permit to a solar company to install a farm which would grant all sorts of electrical benefits to the town. I am a supporter of solar energy. The word at the time was that it would be kind to the land and would connect to the Grid through the Union St. Industrial Park. Very soon after all the large roadside trees were cleared from the site.
This project may be great for the town but not for the Franklin residents who live on Mount St. In order to connect the solar farm into the electrical grid, National Grid has decided to run the 23 thousand volt power line along Mount St, which already has three power lines crossing it, one twenty three thousand volt line and two one hundred and fifteen thousand volt power transmission lines. This decision was made and the work started without notifying any of the residents on Mount St about this additional power line. Other routes for this new power line are available which would not increase the harmful electromagnetic radiation exposure to the Mount St residents. Running this type of power line along a street by itself would not normally be a hazard, but combined with the effects of three other power transmission lines already crossing it greatly increase the risk of health related issues including cancer. Perhaps the residents of Mount St in Franklin don't Matter!http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/solar-farm-update.html
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| solar panels |
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| fencing completed, juniper bushes added |
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| more solar panels to install |
National Grid, the town’s primary electricity provider, still has to perform some final safety and security checks, he said.
The town will purchase the energy generated by the farm at a reduced rate.
Kearsarge will begin work on the remaining 3 megawatts in the next 60 days. The complete farm will power about 70 percent of the town’s municipal and school buildings, according to Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting.
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| solar farm in July 2013 |
Kearsarge Energy, a renewable energy firm founded in 2009, approached town officials last fall with a proposal to construct the 6-megawatt farm on land owned by Mount St. Mary’s Trappistine Abbey.
The farm would provide the town’s municipal buildings and schools with 60 percent of their power.
In the deal, Franklin would receive net metering credits through the farm. With net metering, the town would offset electrical usage by generating its own electricity, and, in this case, it would be reducing the amount of electricity purchased from National Grid.
The sisters of Mt. St. Mary's Abbey lead a simple life, and they plan to use the latest green technology to keep it that way.
The Cistercian community of 52 women grow most of their own food, adopting a vegetarian diet out of a philosophy of frugality and austerity. They use a solar-powered electric fence to hold their sheep and alpaca, and sustain their physical needs by making and selling candy.
In 2006, Sister Mariann Garrity replaced all of the incandescent bulbs at the abbey (about 200 light fixtures) with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights.
This summer, the Cistercians of the Strict Observance at Mt. St. Mary's Abbey are getting further swept up in their efforts to conserve, putting a 40-meter-tall wind turbine in the field beside the sheep pasture, in the middle of their 580-acre property, which is split between Franklin and Wrentham.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
