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On Tuesday the Energy and Sustainability Committee met and reviewed a proposal for an LED lighting retrofit project across several town buildings. They tackled two issues. First, the incentives available from Eversource aren’t as lucrative as they have been historically. Second, the cost of the project came in above what they had previously approved.
Sudbury’s Combined Facilities Director, Sandra Duran, explained that incentives have been declining in recent years, and noted that there have been warnings that the incentives will eventually go away altogether. Here’s the analysis that was presented:
There was some discussion about attempting to negotiate with Eversource, or getting the contractor to negotiate further. But it was unclear if there was any opportunity to negotiate the incentives based on comments from Duran. As things stood in the proposal, the payback on the investment would be between two and four years for most of the buildings included. That’s derived primarily from the forecasted monthly savings on ye olde electricity bill for each building.
As for the money, the committee had previously approved $98,000 for the project. To do all the buildings, they would need to approve another $51,000. That would complete the project at the Goodnow Library, Fire Department Headquarters, Police Department Headquarters, Town Hall, the Flynn Building and Fire Stations 2 and 3.
Ultimately the committee voted unanimously to approve an additional $55,000 from their available funds, and proceed with the project as scoped. The $55,000 provided a little wiggle room in the budget in case anything changed on the ground during execution. Most members agreed that the added cost was reasonable and the project was worthwhile, even if the incentives are underwhelming compared to prior years. But it was Member Olga Faktorovich Allen who delivered the argument that seemed to give the committee full confidence in proceeding:
“If the fifty thousand will remain in our account, it’s emissions that we’re not avoiding, every day. Right? And why? If we have the resources for it, let’s just get it done.”
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