New Milford presents draft Community Energy Plan that prioritizes EVs, solar and residential efficiency

The Borough of New Milford on the evening's agenda heard a public presentation of a draft Community Energy Plan developed by the Environmental & Energy Commission (EEC) with consultant Envision Green and technical support from Sustainable Jersey.

"We have prioritized actions that New Milford is most likely to achieve in a 3‑ to 5‑year window and a 5‑ to 10‑year window," said Amanda Neslet, founder and CEO of Envision Green, who presented the plan and described a 90‑page draft available online. Neslet said the EEC selected 27 of 41 recommended actions from Sustainable Jersey's template and laid out priorities across six strategies.

The plan identifies on‑road vehicles as New Milford's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and recommends targeting commuter behavior, municipal fleet efficiency and public electric‑vehicle charging to reduce emissions. "A majority of emissions in New Milford comes from on‑road vehicles," Neslet said, and the plan calls for outreach on transitioning to electric vehicles and increasing public transit use.

Tracy Woods, technical assistance director for Sustainable Jersey, described community solar as a state program that allows large off‑site solar arrays to deliver bill credits to subscribing residents. "Community solar is a game changer for people who couldn't get solar on their own property," Woods said, noting the municipality can act as a trusted messenger to counter misleading marketing and fraud.

Presenters walked council through specific strategies the draft prioritizes: installing public EV chargers, performing a municipal fleet inventory to identify retirement or replacement opportunities, evaluating on‑site municipal solar projects and promoting community solar subscriptions for residents who cannot site panels at home. The plan also emphasizes residential energy efficiency outreach and targeted programs for low‑ and moderate‑income households.

Panelists cited data included in the draft: New Milford's commuting patterns (about 63% commuters; roughly 14% work from home), a residential sector responsible for a significant share of electricity and natural‑gas consumption, and an existing municipal estimate of roughly 10,000 vehicles with about 4.59% currently electric. The plan includes resources and suggested state and utility programs to pursue for incentives and financing.

Councilmembers and the mayor asked technical questions about how community solar subscriptions work and what financing models are available to homeowners. Woods explained the difference between outright ownership (with renewable‑energy‑credit value over time) and power‑purchase agreements that require little or no upfront cost but typically provide smaller lifetime savings. Neslet said the EEC will collect public feedback and return to the council for plan adoption; Councilwoman Sanders (EEC liaison) indicated the next step will be a resolution to approve the plan.

The borough will also explore specific implementation tasks, including municipal enrollment in fleet‑efficiency tracking tools, resident outreach campaigns, feasibility studies for on‑site municipal solar and assessing where public chargers would provide the most benefit. The EEC asked the council for feedback and signaled the plan would move to a formal approval step after the public comment period.

Next step: the council will be asked to consider a resolution to adopt the final Community Energy Plan after the commission incorporates public feedback.