Town is recipient of Clean Energy Award

Three members of the Redding Clean Energy Committee accepted a Connecticut Clean Energy Award on behalf of the town at a March 18 ceremony. From left are Susanne Krivit, committee chairman, David Lewson and Mike Gorfinkle.

Redding was among 19 Connecticut municipalities honored on March 18 at the Connecticut Clean Energy Awards Luncheon. At a ceremony at The New Haven Lawn Club, the municipalities, along with two companies and one university, were all presented with awards in recognition of their support of clean energy.

CCEF President Lise Dondy and Director Bob Wall presented the awards, and speaker Jerome Ringo, president of the Apollo Alliance and former chair of the National Wildlife Federation, gave the keynote address. Redding Clean Energy Committee members David Lewson, Mike Gorfinkle, and Susanne Krivit represented Redding at the luncheon and accepted the award on behalf of the town.

Commenting on the awards, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said, “With the CCEF awards presented today, we celebrate a significant commitment by communities state wide. The amount of clean energy they have collectively committed to purchasing each year would power annually over 10,000 houses — an impressive figure and one that demonstrates that, at a local level, we can all take meaningful steps in making a real difference in our energy future and in our environment.”

Among the communities recognized, in addition to Redding, were neighboring towns Newtown, Westport, Weston, and Ridgefield, all of whom had reached specific thresholds in residential sign-ups as well as making municipal commitments to purchase 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010. As a result of reaching these thresholds, each of these communities has been awarded free photovoltaic arrays (solar panels). So far, Redding has earned a 3 kW array and has plans to install it at Redding Elementary School.

Redding currently has 115 (or 4.2%) households signed up for the clean energy option available through Sterling Planet, and the Redding Clean Energy Committee is looking for additional sign-ups. Under the program, residents who participate in the plan pay an extra 1.1 cent more per kilowatt hour for electricity, which amounts to $7 a month extra for an average home.

The committee plans to be at the Redding Earth Day event on April 27 and will have a table set up outside the Community Center for the town budget referendum on May 6. Anyone wishing to sign-up may do so at www.sterlingplanet.com or contact Susanne Krivit, chairman of the Redding Clean Energy Committee at La for more information.

Susanne Krivit submitted this article on behalf of the Redding Clean Energy Committee.

The Redding Pilot