By Alex Malm
During the Nov. 1 Londonderry Town Council meeting the Council heard from Josh Bourdon and Jeff Moulton from the Derry Net Zero Task Force.
Bourdon said that they created the task force with a goal of having all of the Town owned buildings and the School District buildings running on renewable energy by 2025.
Bourdon explained that they added people to the task force from different boards and departments so that when decisions are made there are not any surprises.
He said that by this time next year the municipality should have met its goal and then they are going to work on the school buildings.
Town Councilor Deb Paul said that when she heard about what they were doing in Derry she was hopeful they would be able to come to Londonderry and present to them.
“When I heard about this project that you’ve been doing for a long time I thought it was great and to see it be so successful I couldn’t wait to invite you in here because I think that Londonderry can do that,” Paul said.
It was explained by Moulton that when they first started off they collected energy data to determine what buildings were underperforming when it comes to energy.
He said that over the years they have been able to implement different things like going from oil to natural gas, converting to LED lights, and having a pilot solar field at their transfer station which has led them to seeing significant savings for energy.
They also recently finished a request for proposals for a new solar field which will completely put all the Town Buildings on renewable energy and will save the Town about $3.5 million dollars. They expect to have that solar field operational by 2023.
Bourdon said that they were waiting for Gov. Chris Sununu to sign legislation which will allow them to expand the size of solar fields.
“That legislation is key,” Bourdon said.
Bourdon said that they also want to help communities across the state replicate what they are doing which is why they went to the Town Council meeting saying that they are willing to answer any questions they have about what they have done or give them advice if they go forward with it in Londonderry.
Following the presentation Town Council Chairman John Farrell asked the Council if they thought it was something they should explore more.
The other council members agreed and Farrell asked Town Administrator Kevin Smith, along with staff to look into what they can do for it.
He said that they can then discuss it again at a future meeting and invite Bourdon and Moulton to come back.
The next Londonderry Town Council meeting is slated for Nov. 22 at 7 p.m.