News

Springfield energy committee tries to address plan concerns

By JEFF EPSTEIN
[email protected]
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The town energy committee met Thursday to make changes to its proposed energy plan and to address concerns raised in earlier public hearings by the planning commission and select board.

The energy plan is, among other things, an attempt to qualify Springfield to receive “substantial deference” under section 248 of the public utility law. It’s all part of the state government’s plan for getting 90 percent of Vermont’s total energy from renewable sources by 2050. Municipal energy plans are controlled by the state Public Utilities Commission and must meet state criteria.

However, Springfield officials want to use this document to achieve some local goals as well. For example, at the March 25 select board meeting, Selectman George McNaughton had raised concerns that Vermont’s energy conservation goals could be interpreted as caps that would that disallow high-energy consumption by industry. This, he said, might be a disincentive to the very businesses Springfield is trying to attract.

Char Osterlund, co-coordinator of the energy committee, said such a restriction was not intended, but agreed with McNaughton that the goals could be misunderstood. To address those concerns, Osterlund and Jason Rasmussen from the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, acting as a consultant to the energy committee, shared suggested drafts of new language at Thursday’s meeting.

“The energy targets … themselves are not goals for the town; targets are not intended to serve any regulatory or policy function,” reads one of the new sentences added during Thursday’s meeting. To be even more explicit, the committee added a new paragraph to make it clear that Springfield wants economic growth. It includes this sentence: “These energy targets are not to be construed as a limitation on Springfield’s economic growth.”

The committee made several other additions, deletions, and changes to the language of the energy plan. However, most of it remains as the select board and planning commission saw it. Those bodies will get the new draft soon, and because of the changes they will likely have to conduct a new set of public hearings.

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