Clean Energy Task Force Reaches For Permanent Position

By Kendra Bobowick

“I asked myself, why is the parking lot lit up?” selectman Paul Mangiafico wondered aloud, questioning why a school’s lot was illuminated, but not in use recently. These and other thoughts surfaced Monday as selectmen listened to the Clean Energy Task Force chairman’s request.

First Selectman Joe Borst clarified, “You’re asking for a formal committee?”

“Correct,” said Dan Holmes.

Not satisfied with its ad-hoc status, Clean Energy Task Force members appealed for more this week, starting the process with the Board of Selectmen.

Mr Holmes was concise. “Since we have reached goals we have set out to achieve as an ad-hoc — as a group, we want to ask if we could form a full-fledged commission.” Hoping to continue assisting with Newtown’s clean energy future, Mr Holmes also suggested, “We could broaden our scope of knowledgeable people — we’re laypeople,” he explained. Conservation, however, is “an important enough conversation” that he hoped the selectmen would favor his intentions.

Selectman Herb Rosenthal first commended members for helping the municipality more than fulfill the state incentive to purchase 20 percent of its energy through renewable sources by the year 2010. Task force members in the past year had raised that challenge, hoping to land Newtown at the head of the line. They requested a 26 percent purchase — then more than any other municipality in Connecticut.

Thanking them for their work and accomplishments as a task force, he soon supported their request. “I am in favor, considering the country today and how energy affects budgets, business …” said Mr Rosenthal.

Soon endorsing the request, the board asked that Mr Holmes make an appointment to address the Legislative Council. Recalling a presentation that the task force members gave to the selectmen in the last 12 months, Mr Mangiafico advised, “You made a great presentation to us, you should do it for the council. In it is the meat of what you want to accomplish.”

“We’re prepared to present to the council,” said task force member Ted Kreinik. Monday he also provided a detailed sustainable energy sheet to selectmen for review. The structure the document suggests “mimics” other boards and commissions. Referring to his document and anticipating selectmen’s responses, he said, “We’ll make changes as you see fit.”

Regarding the puzzle of sustainable and green energy, he said, “There is no silver bullet, it’s a lot of little things.”

As the conversation ended, Mr Rosenthal said, “I think we should recommend to the council to form a Sustainable Energy Commission.”

“That’s wonderful, thank you” said Mr Holmes. Mr Kreinik later stated, “We look forward to presenting it to the Legislative Council and meeting with them and then moving forward.”

Mr Kreinik’s Sustainable Energy Commission outline — several pages long — explains, “During the several months of the Task Force’s existence, the members also identified and agreed upon a number of other related functions which the Task Force could undertake on a continuing basis to encourage energy efficiency, energy conservation, and the purchase of electricity by individuals, businesses, and organizations from clean energy providers.

“However, the Task Force determined that in order to undertake these functions and support a longer term approach to these efforts, it should be structured in a more permanent manner. To accomplish this structure, the Task Force is proposing to move from a Task Force to a Town Committee. The proposed name which the Task Force feels is more in keeping with the breadth of its new goals is the Sustainable Energy Commission.”