The Green Miles' Hometown Saving Big with Clean Energy

My birthplace of Fall River, MA is combining clean energy and new efficient lighting to collect some huge savings:

THUMBS UP to Fall River city and school officials who celebrated the completion of the first phase of a multi-phase energy initiative that will pay off in the form of big energy and environmental savings. At Silvia Elementary School, a 76-killowatt solar panel was installed by Ameresco Inc., which has built, owns, and maintains four such systems at school buildings and the sewage treatment plant. In all, the first phase is expected to save the city more than $2.7 million during the life of the contract.

The project is being funded with $862,000 in stimulus funds and contributions from local utility companies. The city receives fixed utility rates as part of the contract. Over time, Fall River’s “solar” system is expected to consist of 2,624 solar modules, producing 750,000 kilowatt-hours annually.

It's a vastly less polluting and much more attractive way to power the city's future than the giant new cooling towers that just went up at a coal-fired power plant across the Taunton River in Somerset. Read more about the project at SolarDaily.com.