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Our Mission

The Edgartown Energy Committee has a two-fold mission:

• To assist Town government and town residents in reducing energy use and energy cost, saving tax dollars and out-of-pocket costs by town residents.
• To assist Town government in utilizing solar energy to power municipal buildings and produce income from the sale of renewable energy.

Additionally, our mission mitigates the effects of climate change by reducing the release of greenhouse gases generated by fossil fuel burning. In this way, our town can make a contribution to reducing climate change. More detail is provided in the Committee’s Mission Statement.

Energy Actions Report to the Town of Edgartown

The Energy Committee released an Energy Actions Report in early 2024 to the Selectboard and town residents that details what the Town has accomplished in saving energy and energy cost, as well as producing renewable energy from its solar fields. The report, which is seven pages long in easy-to-read language, is subtitled “Overview of Edgartown’s Commitment and Actions to Save Energy, Reduce fossil Fuel Use, and Provide Renewable Energy for a Sustainable, Resilient Future.” It can be read or downloaded at this link.

Leaf Blower Bylaw

Responding to the public disturbance caused by gasoline-powered leaf blowers, the Town’s Climate and Energy Committees, working with the Vineyard Conservation Society and other Island towns, developed a Town bylaw, approved at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, limiting their use in order to reduce noise and air pollution and to save energy. Quieter, pollution-free electric leaf blowers will replace gas-powered models according to an annual schedule.

Electric Vehicle Charging

If you’re looking for a charge for your EV or plug-in hybrid, four charging spaces are available at the Town’s Park and Ride lot in the Triangle. The chargers are Level-2, meaning that they will charge an EV battery at about 20-25 miles per hour of charge. Just plug in your vehicle and run errands at nearby shops and offices. In about 45 minutes, you’ll have added a round trip to Vineyard Haven (16 miles) to your battery!

Energy Reports

Project Updates

• The Town has received a grant to cover the cost of heat pumps at four town buildings. Thanks to a grant of $217,674 from the Green Communities Competitive Grant program and accompanying incentives of $93,167 from Cape Light Compact, heat pumps for heating and cooling will be installed at the Highway Garage and Shellfish-Harbormaster-Dredge building at the Highway Department campus on Meetinghouse Way, as well as at the Harbormaster North Wharf building and the Chappaquiddick Fire Station. The project will save about 18.2 metric tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases per year, which is about the amount released by burning 2,000 gallons of gasoline. Replacement of fossil-fuel burning equipment with heat pumps is expected to be completed by June 30, 2025.
• The Town is pursuing a plan for a microgrid on the Highway Department campus. With $50,500 in funding from the DOER Energy Efficiency Competitive Block Grant program and Cape Light Compact incentives, an engineering plan for the Highway Department Campus microgrid is being developed. The microgrid will include solar panels on building roofs and canopies, battery storage to store and release energy, a connection to the Eversource grid, and a backup generator. Microgrid equipment will supply the lowest cost energy at any given hour to power the campus buildings and also distribute excess energy through the grid to purchasers seeking renewable energy. When line power goes out, the system will use incoming or stored energy to meet the resilience needs of the campus indefinitely.
• Construction is planned for a new solar field atop the closed Meshacket Road landfill. The solar field will provide up to 4 megawatts of clean electric power to the northeastern power grid, and will yield about 5 gigawatts of energy per year – enough to meet all the energy needs of about 150 Massachusetts homes. By leasing the surface of the closed landfill to Ameresco, a Massachusetts-based solar developer, the Town will receive payments of about $14.4 million over the 24-year lease period. Construction should begin in early 2026.
• Edgartown’s Green Community Designation Grant is supporting school lighting and wastewater pumps. By joining the Green Communities program, Edgartown received a grant of $132,000 for energy savings measures at town buildings. The funds went to two projects. First was a replacement of lighting fixtures at the Edgartown School with dimmable LED units, at a cost of $88,000. The new fixtures allow teachers to change light levels depending on the activities in the room and the daylight entering. The second was a contribution of $44,000 toward the replacement of six pumps at a cost of about $420,000 used at the Town’s Wastewater facility with much more energy efficient ones. Taken together, the replacements are saving enough energy to power about 9.4 average Massachusetts homes for a year, as well as save the Town about $54,000 in energy costs each year.
• The Edgartown School’s building energy control system has been replaced, thanks to an incentive from Cape Light Compact. The new system is expected to save about $46,000 per year in fuel oil costs, and was fully paid for by Cape Light Compact energy savings incentives. The new system monitors temperature, humidity, and CO₂ concentration in each classroom and is an important step toward automated heating and cooling with heat pumps.

 Useful Energy Links

Consumer Oriented Links: 

Cape Light Compact:
https://www.capelightcompact.org

How to purchase “Green energy” through Cape Light Compact: https://www.capelightcompact.org/clcgreen/

Information on purchasing Solar PV on MV:
https://www.capelightcompact.org/solar/

Rebates on Heat Pump Technology through Cape Light Compact: https://www.capelightcompact.org/heating-and-cooling-rebates/

Eversource-Report/ Check on outage:
https://www.eversource.com/cg/customer/reportoutage

Mass Save-Energy Savings Opportunities:
https://www.masssave.com

Mosaic Financing for Solar PV:
https://joinmosaic.com/homeowners/

Community Links:

Car charging stations on Martha’s Vineyard: https://www.plugshare.com/directory/us/massachusetts/vineyard-haven

Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority Electric bus initiatives:
https://www.veic.org/clients-results/case-studies/martha-s-vineyard-offers-reliable-and-clean-transportation-through-electrification

https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/maintenance/fuel-systems-fueling-equipment/press-release/21222997/arup-marthas-vineyard-transit-authority-launches-renewable-energy-microgrid-for-new-electrified-electric-bus-system

Chappy Environmental Committee: https://chappaquiddickislandassociation.org/news/2021/3/2/chappaquiddick-climate-work

Island Climate Action Network (ICAN):
https://islandclimateaction.org

Mothers Out Front:
https://www.mothersoutfront.org

Edgartown Energy Committee Site:
https://www.edgartown-ma.us/departments/energy-committee