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Select Board to Give Thermal-energy Materials to Utility Commission after Northfield Energy Presentation
Summary
After a presentation on Thermal Energy Networks, the Northfield Select Board said it will provide the committees materials to the state utility commission so the technology can be reviewed as a potential utility; members discussed documenting before-and-after energy use and potential grant support.
A presentation by the Northfield Energy Committee on Thermal Energy Networks prompted the Select Board to forward the committees materials to the state utility commission for review.
"We will provide these documents to the utility commission," Speaker 3 said after the presentation by Joe Wonta and the Northfield Energy Committee, adding that the board expects the commission to consider the proposal under utility rules. The manager and board members discussed the value of documenting energy use before and after any installation to support grant applications and to measure savings for private businesses such as La Pantera.
Board members noted the difference between privately owned installations and municipal systems. "When you have folks that are interested on a private level, not a municipal level, ... this will be a utility. That's the reason you're gonna go to [the] utility commission," Speaker 3 said. Members discussed technical details raised by the presentation, including system lifetime ("the system is good for 100 years"), compressor replacement cycles, and use of glycol in deep wells.
The board did not take formal regulatory action at the meeting but agreed to forward the committees packet to the utility commission and to make the materials available to the commission and the Select Board for follow-up. The board also encouraged documenting energy use at pilot sites to support future grant requests.
The presentation concluded with board members and staff agreeing to circulate the committees materials to the utility commission and include utility-commission feedback in a future agenda item.
