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Chelmsford committee reviews school solar upgrades, EV charger issues and fire‑station geothermal grant
Summary
At its April 22 meeting the Clean Energy and Sustainability Committee reviewed school roofing and solar updates, flagged visibility and pricing issues with new public EV chargers, and noted a Climate Leader grant for geothermal and solar at Roberts Field fire station plus an AMP battery grant application for McCarthy Middle School.
Chelmsford’s Clean Energy and Sustainability Committee on April 22 heard updates from Chris Haley, the town’s sustainability manager, on multiple clean‑energy projects including school solar work, public electric‑vehicle chargers and grant applications for battery storage and fire‑station geothermal.
Haley reported that McCarthy Middle School is scheduled to replace its roof and update its solar array and that South Row School will receive a new roof with an updated solar installation. Haley said the town applied for an AMP grant to install a solar battery at McCarthy that could back up the school for up to two days; he described the planned unit as roughly 12 by 20 feet and sited near the Vietnam Veterans memorial. Peter Spawn suggested the town note the battery project in the municipal newsletter.
Committee member Badhri Uppiliappan raised a concern about the new public EV chargers near the library, saying they lack a visible indicator light that passing drivers can use to see whether a stall is available. Uppiliappan also reported a recent discrepancy between the price observed at a public charger (about $0.20 per kilowatt‑hour) and the expected $0.30 per kilowatt‑hour; Haley said the app appeared to show the corrected price and that he would investigate administrative settings and how quickly the app refreshes charger availability and pricing.
Haley announced the town received a Climate Leader grant to fund geothermal plus solar at the Roberts Field fire station and solar at the other station. He said the AMP battery, if funded, would be intended to provide nighttime power and charge during the day so the school could be powered for short outages.
The committee asked staff to follow up with technical details and documentation at a future meeting, including (per members’ requests) copies of prior feasibility work on building electrification for town schools. Haley said he would look into the charger‑app behavior and administrative settings; Peter Spawn and others recommended public notifications for major projects.
The committee adjourned after scheduling follow‑up on the projects and grant applications.
