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Showing posts with label Solar energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solar energy. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Massachusetts Solar for All Website Now Live!
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Finance Committee takes a 'deep dive' (sorta) into the Faculties budget (audio)
FM #1116 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1116 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares the Finance Committee meeting held on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
They met as scheduled to get an update on the State revenue forecast, take a “deep dive” into the Facilities budget, and get an update on grants for Town and School over the past 10 years.
6 Finance Committee members participated; 4 in Chambers (Chair Conley, Hamilton, Riley & Nagel), 2 participated remotely (Keophannga & Sansoucy)
Quick recap:
State revenue forecast for FY 2024 not meeting expectation, no cuts yet per Governor, does likely mean less revenue for next years budget although local aid is usually one of the last to get affected, something to stay tuned into
Budget hearings for May 2024 were confirmed as May 6 for General Government, May 8 for Public safety (Police, Fire, & Dispatch) and DPW (water, sewer, storm water) and Schools on May 15. Proposed meeting calendar to be updated with this decision
Deep dive into Facilities
Discussion on the list of facilities provided, yes it is facilities not just the buildings
Extended discussion on the Upper Union St solar farm which we don't own but for which we own the electrical output and which leads to credits on the Town electrical bill that are used for multiple other electrical improvements, upgrades
This turned into a discussion on the heating efficiencies of some buildings; FHS for example was built with better insulation and the walls are R40, vs. the 3 middle school complex buildings are rated R19. This means the heating cots for those buildings are higher due to the less efficient (i.e. insulation factors)
While mentioned in passing that the Master Plan Committee has a subcommittee on facilities, and the Schools are working on their long range comprehensive facilities plan, there were no further details added at this time. Members of the School Committee and Central office were present but did not get to provide any additional info
The 10 year projection of expenses across the buildings was split evenly between Town and School per Chair Conley. It was not discussed how these expenses would be funded. It was mentioned that the Facilities budget is the first to get hit when a budget shortfall is needed to be adjusted for. Projects get postponed until funding is available (hence the listing of projects that exists, some of which have been awaiting for some time)
Discussion on the 10 year report of grants received by the Town and Schools. These made for interesting reading although some of them are not purely "grants" (i.e. the cable access fees are included, they are present due to the accounting for them). One quick take away from the grant report is that the Town has been quite successful over time in obtaining grants and while they will continue to do so, the grant amounts are not sufficient to really make an impact on either the Town or School budget. Averaging approximately 4 million (combined Town & School) on a $150M budget is respectfully valuable but “small change”
The meeting recording runs about an hour & 20 minutes, so let’s listen to the Finance Committee meeting Dec 13, 2023. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1116-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-12-13-23
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Agenda -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/dec_13_2023_fin_com_agenda.pdf
Watch the Franklin TV video available for replay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4WDEAYIeJU
Public Property & Building, aka “the Facilities Department”
i. FY24 Public Property & Buildings Budget
ii. List of Town Owned Buildings
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/list_of_town_owned_buildings_0.pdf
iii. December 2020 Kaestle Boos study on school facilities current conditions
iv. Franklin School Department Redistricting Analysis
https://www.franklinps.net/district/redistricting-analysis
v. Comprehensive School Facilities Planning Subcommittee
https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/pages/subcommittees-and-liaisons
vi. 10-year Capital Facilities Plan
b. Grants discussion
i. Ten-year municipal grants history
ii. Ten-year school grants history
My notes captured via Twitter during the meeting and found in 1 PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vn59WoX94X8yvI0CFWCqw1X6A9m5ePjd/view?usp=drive_link
Link to Finance Committee => https://www.franklinma.gov/finance-committee
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda for meeting Dec 13, 2023 |
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Finance Committee takes a 'deep dive' (sorta) into the Faculties budget (video)
The Finance Committee met as scheduled on Wednesday, Dec 13, 2023. The Franklin TV video is available for replay -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4WDEAYIeJU
6 members participated, 4 in Chambers (Chair Conley, Hamilton, Riley & Nagel), 2 participated remotely (Keophannga & Sansoucy)
Quick recap:
- State revenue forecast for FY 2024 not meeting expectation, no cuts yet per Governor, does likely mean less revenue for next years budget although local aid is usually one of the last to get affected, something to stay tuned into
- Budget hearings for May 2024 were confirmed as May 6 for General Government, May 8 for Public safety (Police, Fire, & Dispatch) and DPW (water, sewer, storm water) and Schools on May 15. Proposed meeting calendar to be updated with this decision
- Discussion on the list of facilities provided, yes it is facilities not just the buildings
- Extended discussion on the solar farm which we don't own but for which we own the electrical output and which leads to credits on the Town electrical bill that are used for multiple other electrical improvements, upgrades
- This turned into a discussion on the heating efficiencies of some buildings; FHS for example was built with better insulation and the walls are R40, vs. the 3 middle school complex buildings are rated R19. This means the heating cots for those buildings are higher due to the less efficient (i.e. insulation factors)
- While mentioned in passing that the Master Plan Committee has a subcommittee on facilities, and the Schools are working on their long range comprehensive facilities plan, there was not further details added at this time. Members of the School Committee and Central office were present but did not get to provide any additional info
- The 10 year projection of expenses across the buildings was split evenly between Town and School per Chair Conley. It was not discussed how these expenses would be funded. It was mentioned that the Facilities budget is the first to get hit when a budget shortfall is needed to be adjusted for. Projects get postponed until funding is available (hence the listing of projects that exists, some of which have been awaiting for some time)
- Discussion on the 10 year report of grants received by the Town and Schools. These made for interesting reading although some of them are not purely "grants" (i.e. the cable access fees are included, they are present due to the accounting for them). One quick takeaway from the grant report is that the Town has been quite successful over time in obtaining grants and while they will continue to do so, the grant amounts are not sufficient to really make on impact on either the Town or School budget. Averaging approximately 4 million (combined Town & School) on a $150M budget is small change
My notes captured via Twitter during the meeting:
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| Franklin, MA: Finance Committee - Agenda for meeting Dec 13, 2023 |
Monday, November 13, 2023
CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification"
Consider the author's point of view: "Michael S. Giaimo is the director of the northeast region of the American Petroleum Institute"
"You may have missed it, but there is a pervasive movement afoot to electrify everything: cars, trucks, buses, homes, offices, stoves, and appliances. It may sound easy, but it is a massive undertaking rife with challenges. Policies seeking to simultaneously electrify our transportation system, our homes, and commercial buildings will require an upfront investment of billions of dollars in preparing and expanding the power grid to accommodate this increased demand for electricity. That is just for starters.When policymakers discuss this issue, they focus on the perceived benefits of decarbonization but consistently gloss over the process and associated challenges. When they consider mandatory electrification, among the questions they leave unanswered are: How much power is going to be needed to preserve reliability? Where is that power coming from? How is the power going to get where it needs to go? And how much is this all going to cost?Let’s start with the question about the amount of power needed. According to the 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) – the region’s demand for electrical power is projected to increase by a quarter over the next decade – and that prediction might be understated."
Continue reading the article online ->
Reports referenced in the article are also available via Franklin Matters:
- 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report) (Yes, it is an Excel file) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dlwPUid6Fi6Kuwa44n4ItREbYO1qE71I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=101938843903614700481&rtpof=true&sd=true
- NationalGrid outlook -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dn0UzxmP5c8wWb7LwtIS_e9xIykVbac-/view?usp=drive_link
- Eversource outlook -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e170UznBm4OHedajXqOaAor5fVpyQAQu/view?usp=drive_link
Stay tuned into the "Making Sense of Climate" podcast series as we have these discussion about how we are going to get where we need to be. It will only happen with a concerted effort on the part of all involved -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
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| CommonWealth Beacon: "Let’s be honest about cost, challenges of electrification" |
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Making Sense of Climate #28: Catching up on climate news, touting action as antidote to despair (audio)
FM #1022 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1022 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, July 13, 2023.
In this episode we cover multiple topics as we caught up on what has happened since our prior recording. Links to the articles we talk of are located below.
Briefly
Climate challenges are here, when will it be recognized that change is required?
Solar, agrivoltaics, home wind turbines, nuclear
ISO New England & grid intersections
Energize Franklin, action is the antidote to despair
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.
The conversation runs about 42 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted McIntyre as he helps me ‘make sense of climate’
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Links to articles referenced:
Temperature records -> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/tuesday-was-worlds-hottest-day-on-record-breaking-mondays-record
Solar power roof maps -> https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/07/06/solar-power-rooftop-map-technical-potential-climate-goals
Electrical grid interconnections (ISO New England to ISO New York, etc.)
Shift in thinking about nuclear -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/shift-in-thinking-on-nuclear-power/
Agrivoltaics -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrivoltaics
Home wind turbines -> https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/11/home-wind-turbine-renewable-energy/
Power cell efficiency ->
Turbine efficiency -> https://www.vernier.com/experiment/rev-12_turbine-efficiency/
** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
 |
| Making Sense of Climate #28: Catching up on climate news, touting action as antidote to despair (audio) |
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