In addition to celebrating Newtown’s recent renewable energy milestones, members of the Sustainable Energy Commission (SEC) are encouraging residents to review home energy saving options before federal tax credits expire later this year.

SEC Chair Damian Bednarz said there are currently two major federal tax credit programs available for homeowners: Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit and Residential Clean Energy Credit.

Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit provides up to $3,200 annually for qualified energy efficiency improvements, and covers 30% of qualified expenses.

Residential Clean Energy Credit is available for investments in renewable energy for people’s homes, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, fuel cells, or battery storage. It also provides 30% credit with no annual maximum or lifetime limit.

Both major tax credit programs are set to expire on December 31. A full list of these tax credits is available on the SEC’s website, gogreennewtown.com/residential-energy.

Bednarz said these savings can range from a $2,000 savings on a heat pump system to 30% credits on a solar roof. He added that these are pretty significant savings, but people need to get to installation by December 31 to take advantage of these programs.

“That’s why there’s this kind of emphasis of ‘get going on this,’ because it takes a while because you want to interview contractors. You want to know what’s best for you before you make a decision like this,” Bednarz said.

To Bednarz, encouraging residents to take advantage of these programs is a larger part of SEC’s goal to support renewable energy use, energy efficiency, and energy conservation programs, and inform residents about cost effective, renewable energy use.

“If you got a boiler that’s gonna go or if you have a home heating oil system that needs to be replaced, then you’re in this kind of very unique window right now where federal tax credits are expiring at the end of this year,” Bednarz explained.

He said if people are able to take advantage of these affordability credits, then it can make a major difference. Not only will they save money and reduce their carbon footprint, but they will also be supporting the sustainability market in Connecticut.

Since the state and federal incentives to take advantage of that window are closing and it takes time to get contractors out and permitting done, Bednarz said SEC’s message to residents and commercial entities in Newtown is “don’t wait, make a plan.”

For people who want to pursue these credits but do not know where to start, Bednarz encouraged them to reach out to SEC through the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of its website, gogreennewtown.com.

Before anything else, Bednarz encouraged people to look through and check with the IRS and CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection to make sure they are within the range of annual income to qualify and to know what they qualify for.

He said residents can also connect with nonprofit organizations such as Rewiring America, which offers consultations and informational webinars. Rewiring America’s website, homes.rewiringamerica.org, even offers a savings calculator, where people can enter their household information and see what energy programs they are eligible for.

Bednarz said he understands there are people who want to pursue these credits but are unable to due to financial struggles or lack of time.

“But like anybody else for any kind of product, you want to get a deal if the deal exists,” Bednarz said. “If it doesn’t work in your timeline, if it doesn’t work within your budget today, there will be opportunities going forward. It’s just that, like any savings opportunity, it should be carefully considered.”

Milestones

SEC members are celebrating a major milestone: Newtown recently surpassed 100% renewable energy to its public buildings.

More specifically, Public Works Director Fred Hurley noted they are in the middle of completing a few projects that would actually put Newtown over the 100% goal.

By the end of 2025, all of Newtown’s public facilities (schools, fire houses, municipal buildings, etc) will be powered by renewable energy — reaching a total 113% following the completion of two remaining solar roof projects.

“That just doesn’t happen overnight,” Bednarz said.

In addition to these projects, Hurley said he wants to emphasize “the other leg of the stool,” which is conservation.

“The reason we’re over 100% is that over the last decade is because the schools and the town have been able to reduce their electrical consumption by between 2-3 million kilowatt hours a year,” Hurley said.

While these programs seem less exciting on a surface level, they account for large savings. Hurley said a major portion of Newtown’s electrical conservation has been relamping all the schools and public buildings with LEDs from incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.

That in itself accounted for literally millions of kilowatt hours saved over the years, according to Hurley.

He said these initiatives trace back to Dominick Posca, who served as Newtown’s director of facilities in the 80s and 90s. Posca did things that Hurley said were not necessarily “ballyhoo.” This includes changing a boiler for a more efficient boiler or changing fuel mix so they could switch between natural gas and diesel depending on which fuel was cheaper at the time.

“So a lot of things were done out of sight of the public that saved money and saved energy. So the mentality was there from the very beginning to look for programs and ways to reduce consumption and become more efficient,” Hurley explained.

Bednarz said that Hurley has maintained that culture ever since he became public works director. Hurley had to search out and identify where the town could find pools of money and resources for those programs.

Bednarz emphasized that they did not go asking for resources. Instead, he said they identified the cost savings and affordability opportunities within these energy programs and sought them out. Specifically, they utilized grants and resources to make these savings happen for the town.

Kathy Quinn, the current vice chair of SEC, said she is excited to see how much the town has benefited from these programs. She has been involved in SEC since its start in 2007, becoming the commission’s chair in 2011 before stepping down earlier this year.

Quinn said SEC’s goal in the past was to do whatever they could using available programs to encourage residents, businesses, and the community itself to reduce energy usage, bring down costs, and promote the use of clean energy sources. In Newtown’s case, Quinn said that clean energy source is mostly solar.

For Bednarz, who took over Quinn’s position as SEC chair, he saw joining the commission as an incredible opportunity to volunteer his time and experience. Beyond that, he saw the benefit of creating a space “where you can educate and do outreach for residents.”

He added, “This way, they know that the town is involved in the community and is addressing both affordability and resiliency at the same time.”

Bednarz said the first efforts to deploy renewable energy on Newtown public facilities started back in 2007 with Reed and then the wastewater treatment plant. Now, Newtown has been able to conserve energy use, bringing it down from 12.5 million kwh a year to 10 million, saving $400-500,000 annually.

“This is the result of years of dedicated engagement and collaboration between State and municipal entities and industry to partner on grants and funding vehicles that are benefiting all residents today,” Bednarz said.

For more information about the Sustainable Energy Commission, visit gogreennewtown.com.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.