Lexington and the Sustainable Lexington Committee won the Commonwealth’s Leading by Example award for outstanding clean energy and environmental leadership in 2018. Commissioner Judson said she typically presents this award to a community she believes can act as a guiding light to other communities within the Commonwealth, but this year, she said she was so impressed by what Lexington has accomplished that she felt we should be considered an example to other communities across the nation and even around the globe!
Q: What are some of the reasons Lexington won the Leading by Example award?
A: We are celebrating the 1st year anniversary for our 2.2 MW solar project out at the Hartwell composting facility. That facility combined with the rooftop solar projects on our school buildings combine to produce 45% of Lexington’s municipal electricity demand and provide about $600,000 dollars a year of new revenue for the Town all while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 million pounds a year. It is the first of its kind in the nation, combining ground mount solar with large solar canopies that allow all of our existing composting, brush and leaf drop off, household hazardous waste operations to continue unimpeded.
Q: How is our 100% renewable Community Choice program going? A: We are also celebrating the first amazing year of our Community Choice program. You may not realize it, but over 10,000 of Lexington’s electricity customers are now getting 100% renewable electricity for less money than Eversource Basic Service. We kicked off our program with Lexington’s customers getting 100% renewable electricity for about $2 a month less than Eversource’s Basic Service electricity. Then Eversource raised their rates rather dramatically in January, and our Community Choice program kept its rates fixed. The result is that the average Lexington resident is now saving about $18.50 a month on their electricity bills – for 100% renewable electricity. Overall, Lexington’s Community Choice customers have saved over $1.4 million in the first 12 months of the program.
Q: How are we doing on improving the performance of our homes?
A: Lexington partnered with HomeWorks Energy to encourage home energy assessments, air sealing, insulation and installation of high efficiency HVAC systems in residential homes. Lexington residents made enough energy efficiency improvements as part of our Lexington Energy Challenge that National Grid awarded a grant of $41,000 to the Town!
We have now completed home energy assessments for more than 25% of Lexington’s homes and estimate that the weatherization and HVAC projects reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million pounds per year and provides about $450,000 in energy savings to Lexington residents. Stop by to find out how you can capture some of that savings!