Grassroots Group Works To Educate People On Clean Energy

ORLEANS – So you’re interested in clean energy and reducing your carbon footprint. Where do you start?

For many, that can be the hard part. But a new grassroots collective wants to give people and businesses the tools they need to go green. 

Representatives from the Orleans energy and climate action committee, the Orleans Climate Action Network and the Cape Light Compact have joined together as the energy navigators. Their goal is to educate people about the various clean energy initiatives that are available locally, as well as what opportunities residents and businesses can explore on their own to move toward clean energy.

Members of the group set up a table at the Orleans Farmers Market on the last three Saturdays in August, where they stood ready to answer any questions they might have about solar, electric vehicles and the various clean energy initiatives being undertaken by the town.

“There’s so much information out there, and some consumers are sorting it out on their own and they have questions. And they just want someone to talk to,” said Martin Culik, a member of the energy navigators who spent nine years on the board of the Cape Light Compact.

Culik said friends and neighbors in the community regularly approach him with questions about solar, heat pumps and other energy related issues. He’s also seen significant buy-in from residents on Compact programs, including one offering low-interest loans for solar this past winter.

“To make a good decision, you need good information,” he said. “You need to have resources. You need to know somebody or find a way to answer your questions, and that is what this is all about.”

John Londa, who chairs the energy and climate action committee, said not every program or incentive will work for everyone. But regardless of who you are or what your living situation might be, there’s a program for everyone. The key, he said, is finding the right fit.

“There’s no sense talking to somebody who lives in an apartment or a condo about putting solar on,” he said. “It’s probably not happening. But there are other programs like community solar. We’ll give them a one page sheet that they can handle and say ‘OK, this is community solar. Here’s how you get it.’”

Londa, who lives in a condominium, said through Community Solar, which is run through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, he saves 15 percent on his annual energy bill.

“Maybe you spend $2,000 a year, that’s $300 back in your pocket,” he said.

The navigators’ educational push comes in the midst of a flurry of clean energy activity in town. The town last month was ready to go out to bid for three municipal solar projects at the wastewater treatment facility wastewater treatment facility and the public works headquarters. Voters authorized a $5 million debt exclusion for those projects in May.

In November, the energy and climate action committee is preparing to bring an article seeking reconsideration on the adoption of a specialized energy code, which members say is the last step for the town to be recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources as a “climate leader community.” An initial article seeking adoption of the specialized code failed narrowly with voters at the fall town meeting in 2023. 

Londa and Culik both said education is paramount as the town and energy advocates continue their pursuit of clean energy alternatives in town.