Energy Advisory Committee

LED Streetlight Conversion
Professional Services RFQ

Q&A 7/24/2017
RFQ Issued - Friday June, 30, 2017
Pre-bid Meeting - Wednesday July 12, 2017 CANCELLED
Submission Deadline - Due by Friday, July 28, 2017
Proposals Submitted:
- RealTerm Energy Proposal
- Tanko Lighting Proposal
Selected Consultant - RealTerm Energy

The Town is currently working with CMP to purchase existing streetlights and installation is expected in the winter of 2019/2020.

About the Energy Advisory Committee

The Energy Advisory Committee is a seven member volunteer committee. Members of the Committee are appointed by the Town Council to three-year terms.

The purpose of the Energy Advisory Committee (EAC) is to: advise the Town Council on issues related to energy conservation and efficiency in municipal operations; reduce the town's spending on electricity, fuel, and heating while decreasing overall greenhouse gas emissions; and make Windham residents aware of opportunities to increase residential energy efficiency through public education efforts.

Committee Charge

Meetings

Energy Committee meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 pm in Conference Room 2 at the Windham Town Hall. If the Monday is a holiday recognized by the Town of Windham, there will be no meeting.

The Energy Committee currently has no meeting scheduled and has not convened since August 2016.

View Meeting Agendas

Members

Mark Morrison, Council Liaison (non-voting member)
David Foster Term: August 2024
Nathan Glaude Term: August 2024
Nikki Becker: August 2025
(4) Vacancies

The Energy Plan

The Windham Energy Plan consists of two parts. First, the Energy Plan itself, which includes a summary of the town's energy usage with goals, priorities, and recommendations. Second, the energy inventory, which is a detailed accounting of the town's energy use and expenditures for 2009. This data is the benchmark from which the town will measure progress toward implementing the energy plan.

Town Energy Plan, Adopted July 2010

Town Energy Inventory - 2009

Municipal Building Energy Audits

The Energy Advisory Committee is coordinating the work required for energy audits of town buildings. These "decision grade" audits will allow town officials to make decisions on energy improvements to facilities that will have the best payback and greatest impacts on electricity and fuel use.

Library Energy Audit - March 2011

Town Office Energy Audit - October 2011

Public Safety Building Energy Audit - November 28, 2011

North Fire Station Energy Audit - January 30, 2012

Solar

East Windham Fire Station

156 solar panels were installed on the East Windham Fire Station on Falmouth Road in October 2013. The goal of the 40kW photovoltaic power project is to generate enough power to offset electricity used at this station and the North Windham Fire Station.

Monitor the historical performance of the system (2013-2021) online: Sunny Portal

Update: The system's solar inverters were updated through a phased installation between 2020-21.

Therefore, there is a new portal to view the current system production: Current Sunny Portal

Since infrastructure replacement occurred in a phase approach, there is overlapping data between the two portals from 2020-21.

Enterprise Drive Closed Landfill

We are excited to further our sustainability efforts and bring the environmental and financial benefits of solar power to our communities. Partnering with South Portland-based ReVision Energy, we have installed a 504-kilowatt grid-tied solar project in Windham, which sits on our capped landfill and is comprised of 1,344 solar panels. It generates 684,892 kilowatt-hours (kWhs) of clean electricity for our municipality every year, offsetting over 617,000 pounds of carbon pollution. This is the equivalent of removing 105 gas-powered cars from the road or growing 8,000 tree seedlings for 10 years.

When the sun is shining, the ground-mounted solar project produces electricity that is either used in real-time by our community or fed back to the grid where it benefits our town (and earns us credit). The installation was sited and built on a closed landfill, granting new value to otherwise unusable land. We also worked with ReVision to source local rocks from Windham and Gorham quarries to use as ballast for the sizeable solar ground mounts. By using local bedrock rather than carbon-intensive concrete, and building our solar project on an unserviceable landfill, this project creates an opportunity for us to increase the environmental benefits of our solar transition, and further decrease our town’s carbon footprint.

This project was financed through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which means the Town of Windham paid no upfront fee to install the solar panels. Instead, an investor (in this case, ReVision Energy) paid for the upfront cost while the town pays for the power generated from the project each month, rather than paying for power from the grid. After some time, the town can buy the system from the investor at a significantly lower price and own all the solar power generated outright.

To see what our town’s system is producing, both today and across its lifetime, access the energy portal: PowerDash | Town of Windham Landfill