ICARE

Vote YES for the Wind Turbine Project!

2008-05-14T23:26:00.004-04:00

The Wind Turbine project was approved unanimously at the May 13 Town Meeting with over 600 residents in attendance.

Now is the time to support energy in Ipswich that is economical and clean.

Please vote YES to support the Wind Turbine Project on the Town ballot election on May 20th.

For more information on the project, download:

Frequently Asked Questions

Salem News: Wind turbine proposal generates growing interest in Ipswich

2008-03-19T17:04:00.002-04:00

Published: March 19, 2008
Source: Salem News
By Steve Landwehr

IPSWICH — It's a rare selectmen's meeting that attracts an audience of more than a few people. When one does, the folks are usually there to gripe about something.

So it's notable that a score of people showed up for Monday's presentation on another proposal to build a wind turbine generator on Town Farm Road. It was essentially a reprise of the introduction to the project the School Committee took in early this month.

Utilities Director Tim Henry and Electric Light Subcommittee member Jim Engel weren't there to ask for anything more than a consensus that the board favored further exploration, which they got.

The generator would be built and operated by the Light Department, which would also provide most of the money. However, the School Department has the opportunity to obtain an interest-free, $1.6 million bond that would make the project more affordable for the Light Department.

Engel characterized the schools as investors in the project whose payback would be in the form of lower electric bills. The Light Department would benefit by selling excess electrical capacity to the grid.

Like the School Committee, the selectmen expressed their support and got a round of applause from the audience for their effort.

Wind power Field Trip to Hull, MA - April 19th

2008-03-17T15:27:00.005-04:00

An educational tour of three wind turbines in Hull, MA will be hosted by ICARE.

The field trip will take place on Saturday, April 19th. The bus will depart from the rear parking lot of the middle school/high school at 7:30 am and return at 1:00 pm. Highlights of the tour will include:

Hull 1 – a 660 KW turbine commissioned in December 2001 which produced 1,597,367 kilowatt-hours in its first year of operation

Hull 2 – a 1.8 MW turbine commissioned in May 2006 which produced 4,088,000 kilowatt-hours in its first year of operation

Weir River Estuary Turbine – a residential scale turbine erected at the local nature center with support from the Light Department and the Town

The tour will be guided by Andrew Stern, a nationally-recognized municipal wind power expert. Andrew will discuss the economics of the Hull turbines, give evidence of broad public support, and update us on the status of additional, proposed turbines in that town. There will also be plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Please make a reservation at 356-4919 or at ICAREevents@gmail.com to get a seat on the bus!

Link to Hull Wind's website

Press Release
from a recent BU energy symposium where Andrew Stern was a panelist.

Decreasing energy use, or finding a renewable source, can also help relieve this heavy burden on available utilities. Andrew Stern, president of New England Wind Power, Inc., described how the town of Hull, Mass. increasingly relies on wind power for its electricity. A wind turbine, installed in 2001 at the town’s high school, provides enough energy for about 250 homes --three percent of Hull’s electricity needs. The $780,000 turbine paid for itself in five years through saved energy costs and government incentives. A second turbine, added in 2006, sits on a landfill, and wind now provides 11 percent of Hull’s electricity. Plans to install four more offshore wind turbines will make Hull entirely reliant on wind-generated electricity in the future. “It really does excite the community,” said Stern. “Today we have a 95 percent approval rate. With a project like this, it is really the community involvement that counts.”

Chronicle: Talks on Wind Turbine Continue

2008-03-17T11:08:00.003-04:00

Andrea Bulfinch
March 13, 2008
Source: Ipswich Chronicle

Ipswich - The joint Ipswich School Department and Municipal Light Department wind turbine project is still in the beginning stages, but moving forward with success.

Jim Engel, who is on the IMLD Board of Directors, gave a presentation before the School Committee last week asking for their consensus to move forward with plans to build a wind turbine on Town Farm Road in conjunction with the town. It was not necessarily a vote in support of the project itself, as that would be premature, the presentation documents state.

A unanimous vote to move forward with defining and refining the project was received.

"The committee was very appreciative of the presentation, Superintendent Rick Korb said.

Engel said there is plenty of enthusiasm surrounding the project.

Similar status reports will be going in front of the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee and the project will be on the warrant at Town Meeting. Voters will be asked to approve the town's borrowing the anticipated $2.6 million balance of the project's cost, according to Utilities Director Tim Henry, after use of the school's Clean Renewable Energy Bond of $1.6 million. That bond is a no interest program but must be used by December 31, 2008 or the money is lost.

Engel's presentation states that the collaboration between the School District and IMLD to construct the turbine at Town Farm Road has benefits. The schools bring the no-interest loan. The IMLD would manage the turbine.

"The Light Department's expertise is important to this," Engel said.

Plus, the Town Farm Road site has known permitting requirements and wind data is available. The collaboration will result in a well defined project.

The School District's share of the project output will offset the kilowatt hours billed to the schools. The IMLD share will reduce the kilowatt-hours purchased from the grid.

On Monday, Engel will present the status report to selectmen during their weekly meeting and answer their questions on the project.

"We think we have a good project," he said.

Boston Globe: Ipswich wind turbine plan will go before voters

2008-03-13T15:45:00.006-04:00

IPSWICH - Residents will decide this spring whether Ipswich becomes the first municipality in the region to harness the wind as an energy source.
Source: The Boston Globe

David Rattigan
March 2, 2008

Ipswich wind turbine plan will go before voters

IPSWICH - Residents will decide this spring whether Ipswich becomes the first municipality in the region to harness the wind as an energy source.

At the School Committee meeting Thursday, proponents will present details of a $3 million-plus wind turbine project that would supply the town and its schools with electricity.

"I see this as a tremendous opportunity for the town and schools to really collaborate and cooperate on a common concern - that is energy usage and our reliance on fossil fuels - and what a great way to begin to reduce that reliance," said Rick Korb, superintendent of schools and a member of the subcommittee working on the turbine project. "It will also be a great educational tool for the kids of Ipswich and the community. It's really what I like to call a win-wind."
Pending approval from the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, residents will vote on the proposal at Town Meeting in May. The turbine would be built on Town Farm Road and stand approximately 300 feet high.

Several communities and school districts have discussed wind turbine projects, including Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Lynn, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rowley, and the Pentucket Regional School District, which includes Groveland, Merrimac, and West Newbury. Among private entities, Varian, a semiconductor manufacturer in Gloucester, has received permission to build two turbines, and Mark Richey Woodworking in Newburyport is evaluating the possibilities, according to Don Bowen, a consultant on the Ipswich project.

The Ipswich turbine would be funded in part by a $1.6 million no-interest loan awarded to the schools through the federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program. The School Department received the news that it is eligible for a loan to finance a smaller schools-only turbine project earlier this year, and Korb began a discussion about combining the school project with a town proposal.

Korb said he anticipates the turbine will produce the majority of energy needed for the high school-middle school building. In a typical year, energy costs at the town's four school buildings run from $350,000 to $400,000, he said.

Jim Engel, a member of the committee that will make the presentation to the School Committee, said that while the savings for the schools will be substantial because of the low-interest loan, he does not expect significant savings on the municipal side. What it will do, he said, is address the the town's mission to reduce reliance on fossil fuel.

If approved, the project will join a list of energy initiatives that have made Ipswich arguably the "greenest" municipality in the region, as illustrated by a growing recycling program, the schools' districtwide five-year capital improvement/energy-conservation plan, and the purchase of hybrid vehicles for municipal use.

"There is an opportunity here to exhibit community leadership, in taking a stance to reduce consumption of oil, and to look at noncarbon-related means of generating renewable energy," said Bowen, a principal with the engineering firm Meridian Associates Inc. of Beverly.
Thursday's meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the high school-middle school on High Street.

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

ICARE March - April Activities

2008-03-13T15:00:00.000-04:00

Monday, March 17, 2008 BOS meeting - Town Hall, ELD Wind Turbine Presentation

Tuesday, March 25th, 7:30pm - ICARE meeting at Town Hall.

Friday, April 4th : Wind Tour at Hull, MA - Tours start at: 9am,1pm,2pm at Hull

Saturday, April 12th; 7:30- 12:30pm - ICARE Road trip-Wind Tour at Hull, MA for Ipswich, MA