Hadley committee pushes to finish school energy-efficiency work before designation-grant deadline

The Chair of the committee said the group must use its designation grant quickly and urged members to press the town contractor for concrete proposals to complete school energy-efficiency projects this summer. “I wanna get done I would like to see us use up that grant this summer,” the Chair said.

Committee members reviewed recently completed upgrades — lighting, exterior door weatherization, and air sealing at Hopkins Elementary — and described an approved Green Communities measure to install insulation above the Hopkins stage. The Chair said a partly formed AEG proposal for roughly $32,000 lacked incentives and was not sufficient to cover the town’s needs; members recommended getting a prioritized scope from EnergySource, which wrote the town’s energy-reduction plan.

A committee member noted that the next steps are practical and scheduling-related: contractors need to be contacted and a contract finalized. “Somebody’s gotta call that contractor,” the committee member said, urging the group to keep contractors on schedule and to have Chris review priorities from the town’s energy-reduction plan.

Members also received an update on retail supplier work: Select Energy was identified by Power Options as a competitive supplier and a draft contract was prepared for town-council review; counsel is reviewing contract language and Select Energy is awaiting Eversource data and final numbers.

The Chair reminded members of timing constraints: the application deadline for the next competitive grant is Oct. 9, 2026, and the designation-grant work must be completed — paid and paperwork submitted — by Feb. 12, 2027. With those dates in mind, the committee agreed to meet with the contractor (Chris) outside the regular meeting schedule to get proposals moving and to plan a fuller update at the committee’s September meeting.

Next steps: members agreed to arrange an early meeting with Chris to get prioritized proposals from EnergySource and to aim for completed work and paperwork well ahead of the Feb. 12, 2027 deadline.