Checking In with Wellesley's Power to Save

Over the summer, Wellesley environmental groups set out to get 400 households around town to sign up for energy assessments. 

The Power to $ave campaign, which launched earlier this year, set out not only to get those 400 assessments slated, but to connect those homeowners to resources so they can save energy and money by making improvements. 

National Grid, a partner on the program, has teamed up with the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant to co-sponsor the program. According to a press release from the National Grid, the utility company has performed over 470 assessments in town since 2012--and completed energy-saving installations at more than 100 Wellesley homes.

The campaign launched in the latter half of March, and hit one-third of its goal in April. By June, the campaign had hit 60 percent of its goal. The Sustainable Energy Committee (SEC) posted a board charting the campaigns progress is at the Wellesley Free Library.

For more information on scheduling an energy assessment call the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant customer service line at 781-235-7600 or visit the Town website sign-up page. 

"Like the last time, it's going to be a viral, grassroots community effort." SEC chair Ellen Korpi told the Board at a Selectmen's meeting in March.

Power to Save follows up from last year's initiative, the Power to Choose program, for which over 1,030 Wellesley residents volunteered to be a part. National Grid spokesperson Keith Giannini told Patch in an email that the MLP has doubled its purchase of renewable energy through the voluntary program. Over the last year, the town has gone from 2.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh)  to more than 8 million kWh. 

All three of the colleges in Wellesley also signed on to the campaign. However, Babson College is at the top having purchased more than 1 million kWh of renewable energy--and committing to double that renewable energy purchase over the next 12 months. 
 
National Grid tells us that more than 4.5 percent of the power purchased in Wellesley came from renewable sources and, with Babson College’s increased commitment, the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant expects to reach 5 percent by June 2014.