Politics & Government

Stoughton Selected For New Energy Program

Local Energy Action Program (LEAP) to help eight communities strategize for renewable energy & energy efficiency work.

The following is a press release from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC):

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) announced on Monday that Stoughton has been selected to participate in MAPC’s new Local Energy Action Program (LEAP).

Through LEAP, which is funded with support from the Barr Foundation, MAPC will be working with Marlborough, Medford, Medway, Stoughton, and the towns served by the Reading Municipal Light Department – Lynnfield, North Reading, Reading, and Wilmington to plan for long-range energy efficiency and renewable energy work. 

Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We are thrilled to be announcing that Stoughton was selected to participate in the LEAP program,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. 

“Stoughton and these seven other municipalities stand to save millions of dollars in energy costs by working in collaboration through this program, and we look forward to helping our member municipalities to make upgrades and become more energy efficient.”

Find out what's happening in Stoughtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The town of Stoughton’s Energy and Sustainability Committee is truly excited that Stoughton has been chosen to participate in MAPC’s Local Energy Action Program,” said David Billo, Chairman of the Town of Stoughton’s Energy and Sustainability Committee.

“In 2010 and 2011, the Committee’s volunteers completed a detailed baseline estimate of Stoughton’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and look forward to putting that information to use, with MAPC’s help, to reduce energy costs in Stoughton.”

MAPC received 21 applications to the program and used a comprehensive selection process to choose a diverse group of MAPC member municipalities to participate in the first round of LEAP.

MAPC will solicit a second round of LEAP applications from its member municipalities in the Summer or Fall of 2012.

The selected communities will receive technical assistance from MAPC to plan for and launch innovative and financially-sustainable projects that reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the municipal, residential, and commercial sectors.

Both a public engagement process and the efforts of a municipal working group will be used to meet the unique needs and abilities of each participating city or town.

LEAP will have a multi-stage process. In the first stage, MAPC staff will work with municipal officials and key stakeholders to create a Local Energy Action Plan, which will include a baseline of energy use across municipal, commercial and residential sectors, energy reduction goals for each sector, and short- and long-term strategies to achieve these goals.

Once the plan is created, MAPC will work with each community to design and launch their program, including identifying financing mechanisms and funding sources to support local projects.

After two years of MAPC support, each community will have the capacity and knowledge to sustain its energy efforts moving forward.

For more information, visit www.mapc.org/clean-energy.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Stoughton