Energy Projects & Resources

Electricity and heating are two large expenses in any municipal budget. The Sustainability Department has been monitoring the Town’s energy use since 2014. The municipality, including the School and Wastewater Departments, utilize over 4MWh of electricity each year collectively (as of 2018).

Ways in which Falmouth has reduced the electricity load over the years includes:

  • Building two LEED certified buildings—The Police Department (2009), and Elementary School (2011)
  • Purchasing all of the streetlights from the utility, and converting them to municipally owned LEDs
  • Upgrading municipal interior lighting to LEDs
  • Working to site a large scale solar system on the Town’s  capped landfill (expected timeline of construction fall 2021).

Ways in which the Town has improved efficiencies in heating include:

  • Converting all of the oil boilers and furnaces to more efficient propane boilers (2009)
  • Integrating more efficient natural gas to municipal buildings when available; and,
  • Heating entire School Department’s heat and domestic hot water is supplied through two wood-chip boilers, saving $400,000 in heating costs, while supporting Maine’s sustainable forests and wood harvest economy.

For more project information, follow the links below:

In the Fall of 2019, the Sustainability Department worked with a USM student, Afton Trotter, on an analysis for both the streetlight and interior lighting upgrades. The final report can be found below:

 

Feed