Energy and Sustainability

The City of Middletown's Energy Program has undertaken a number of projects to reduce our city's energy consumption and costs, and to promote renewable energy generation. We also support programs to encourage residential and business energy improvements. Please see below and explore the related links.

Solar for all Campaign (ended October 31, 2019)

(Residential program) Learn how easy it can be to go solar!
 

Home Energy Solutions (HES)

(Residential program) Tired of high energy and water bills? It may be time to have an energy assessment and learn how you can save energy and money in your home. 

Home energy audit and related services can show you how a smart energy home makes life better. Energy professionals will make improvements that lower your energy bills for immediate and long term-savings.

THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR, THE HES FEE IS DISCOUNTED FROM $149 TO $75. https://www.energizect.com/your-home/solutions-list/home-energy-solutions-core-services

Find out more about Connecticut Energy Programs - https://www.energizect.com/your-home

You can also access HES and HES-IE services through the City’s CHEER program. (see below)

C-PACE (Business program): C-PACE is a commercial financing program specifically for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects enabled by the City’s participation as a C-PACE town. With C-PACE, building owners can enjoy the advantages of energy upgrades immediately and pay for them over time through a voluntary benefit assessment lien, levied and recorded against the benefiting property, to be repaid along with real property taxes. It’s a safe investment that produces returns immediately and for years to come. Find out more here: https://www.cpace.com/Building-Owner

Clean Energy Task Force

The Task Force advises the Mayor and Common Council, and works with the Energy Coordinator, to conduct research, make recommendations to improve energy efficiency and conservation, avoid energy costs, promote renewable energy and reduce harmful energy-related environmental impacts in the City of Middletown. These functions shall include examining and making recommendations on technology that is currently available to produce electricity from sources other than fossil fuels that is clean, sustainable and emission-free, such as energy efficiency, wind turbines, photovoltaics, low-flow water turbines, geothermal and fuel cells.

Membership:

Anna Salo-Markowski

August DeFrance

Vincent Loffredo

Demetrius D’Alessandro

Erin Dopfel

Ed Ford

Jeff Pugliese

Jen Kleindienst

John Giuliano

Staff: Chris Holden, PE, Deputy Public Works Director

Michael Harris, PE, Energy Coordinator

Energy Coordinator

The Energy Coordinator provides administrative, analytical and advocacy services for the City of Middletown. The offices’ mission statement says, ‘provide technical competency and encourage full transparency, complete analysis, optimal sharing of project risks between parties, and open negotiations - resulting in an equitable deal for everyone – serving the greater good of sustainability; energy-, environmental-, social- and economic-justice.’

The Energy Coordinator is assigned to work in the following general areas:

- To support the mayor’s efforts to promote energy efficiency through the City, as part of the broader mission to improve effectiveness and efficiency in all areas of municipal government.

- To identify opportunities and help the City undertake “sustainability projects” that promise to reduce negative impacts on the environment and raise the quality of life and general appeal of the Middletown community, for residents, businesses and visitors.

- To improve the City’s measurement and analysis of energy consumption and expenses, and to identify opportunities to reduce consumption and costs.

To achieve progress in these areas, the Energy Coordinator needs the ability to work with the leaders and staff of all City departments. In this way, the knowledge base, resources, goals, and concerns of each department can be available and useful to other departments for purposes of trouble-shooting and long-range planning. Our City will function more effectively with greater inter-departmental communication and integration of vision.

In the short to medium term, the Energy Coordinator is working primarily in the areas of 1) electricity and natural gas consumption; 2) ”complete streets” improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists; and 3) renewable energy and electrical grid security.

City Energy Plan

The City of Middletown, through its Clean Energy Task Force, maintains an advisory Energy Plan. The plan is referenced in the City’s Plan of Conservation and Development. The Energy Plan uses the lens of a vision for 100% Renewable Energy in Middletown.

Thus, planning is focused on a means of achieving 100% Renewable Energy sometime in the future. While a 2050 deadline has been commonly considered, recently Governor Lamont has put forth a 2040 goal for 100% Renewable Energy. The City seeks to remain consistent with the larger state goals. The Energy Plan is organized around Municipal Energy issues and City-Wide issues.

The plan offers four main sections:

1. Introduction and Overview – This section describes the benefits of implementing the plan, savings, health, comfort and resiliency, and also describes the three key elements of the plan; reducing energy use, strategically electrifying heating and transportation, and developing an optimal mix of renewable generation.

2. Middletown Energy Vision and Process Overview – This section describes our long-term vision of 100% Renewable Energy, its elements and a process for moving toward that ideal. Discussion is provided regarding policy, energy tracking and management, energy reduction goals and actions, and peak demand considerations.

3. Municipal Approach – The Municipal Approach section describes the process of moving city properties in the direction of 100% Renewable Energy. Energy auditing, Screening and Prioritizing Opportunities and Bundling and Implementing Projects are addressed. Additional discussion about energy reduction and demand management is also provided. Finally, this section proposes master plan studies for both municipal and school buildings to contribute to the optimized build-out of renewable generation sources in these sectors.

4. Residential and Business Sector Approach – A further elucidation of the 100% Plan is offered in Section III regarding City efforts to encourage and incentivize efficiency and strategic electrification efforts in the residential and business sectors. Elements of this effort include benchmarking total energy use within city boundaries, outreach efforts to underserved groups, and driving the necessary activities. 

The Middletown Energy Plan includes appendices offering additional, quantitative details. It can be accessed here: [please include link to energy plan, which is attached as a PDF]

CHEER Program – CHEER is a City of Middletown program administered by the Middletown Clean Energy Task Force to help underserved communities achieve Comfortable, Healthy, Energy Efficient and Renewable aspects to their places of residence.

  Coming Soon:  CHEER Blog 

The City of Middletown has partnered with Energy Efficiency Solutions and EnergizeCT to empower residents with information on programs that save water, energy, and save residents money.

EES is a Connecticut EnergizeCT certified contractor. EES provides home energy evaluations, on the spot energy upgrades, and valuable rebates for energy saving products and home upgrades such as insulation, heating and cooling systems, windows, solar, LED lighting and more. For only a small copay, EES will provide an energy assessment and on the spot energy saving improvements. *Some homes qualify for FREE services. See if you qualify for free services at https://eesgogreen.com/hes-income-eligible/

Our lead HES provider is Energy Efficiencies Solutions. To find out more about them, click here. http://eesgogreen.com/

To Request a Home Energy Audit – fill out the form here: http://eesgogreen.com/getting-started/. Income eligible homes, use this form: http://eesgogreen.com/hes-income-eligible/

Street Lights 

Street Light Conversion Project – The street light LED conversion project kicks off in October 2019 and will be implemented through June 2020. The project is expected to save over $100,000 after paying bond costs, and will save some $300,000 per year after paying off the 10-year bond. Contact Energy Coordinator, Michael Harris, PE for more information at 860-638-4854. 

To report a street light outage, please click here: https://street-lamp.middletownct.gov/streetlamp/streetlamp/create

Important Energy Links:

Saving Money – Third Party Electric Suppliers’ Information (from Eversource): https://www.energizect.com/compare-energy-suppliers

Renewable Energy Projects

Police Station https://easyview.auroravision.net/easyview/index.html?entityId=722309

Moody School https://easyview.auroravision.net/easyview/index.html?entityId=385618

Higby Solar Project

High School Fuel Cell Project

2019 Energy Plan