Nearly 20 Boston Metro areas building solar PV projects
Boston communities are expanding their solar reach, as municipalities seek to reduce their electricity costs and carbon footprints, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) advances its Regional Solar Initiative.
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Richmond Court, Brookline, Mass. Credit: Thomas Kelley/Wikimedia Commons |
In fact, 17 Greater Boston cities and towns will work with BlueWave Capital, LLC and the MAPC to purchase renewable energy generated from facilities that BlueWave will develop on parking lots, school roofs, landfills and other publicly-owned spaces in the participating communities. MAPC can aggregate members to take advantage of economies of scale and greater buying power so the process is more efficient for participating communities, which include Belmont, Beverly, Boxborough, Brookline, Chelsea, Hudson, Lincoln, Marlborough, Medford, Medway, Melrose, Reading, Sherborn, Wayland, Weston, Weymouth and Winthrop.
Similar projects have been developed for more than a dozen Massachusetts cities, towns and public agencies -- including those that have made the City of New Bedford the fourth largest municipal user of solar electricity in the country. The city is also expected to save more than $1 million annually in municipal electricity costs.
The partnership will also enable cities and towns to achieve goals beyond creating new sources of renewable electricity. Such efforts include developing landfills, brownfields, parking lots and other under-utilized sites central to community redevelopment; creating alliances with municipal executives to promote community solar for local businesses and residents; collaborating with regional vocational technical schools for renewable energy training; and developing renewable energy education programs for local schools.
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http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/nearly-20-boston-metro-areas-building-solar-pv-projects/2014-07-25