Clean Energy Advocates Press Ahead Following No Vote On Code

ORLEANS – For the second time since 2023, town meeting voters last month said no to an article seeking adoption of a specialized energy code. But for advocates, the work to advance green energy initiatives continues, even if plans to adopt the code may be put slightly to the side.

The specialized energy code, if adopted, would have solidified the town’s status as a green leader community, which would in turn put it in line for substantial grant funding from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. The code would have required that all new construction in town be wired for electrification and include a small solar component to help offset fossil fuels. 

But opponents to the code at the special town meeting raised concerns over what its adoption would ultimately cost property owners. Others expressed uncertainty over whether the grid is strong enough to withstand the changes that would come with adopting the code. The article failed 304-245. 

“I was very hopeful,” John Londa, who chairs the town’s energy and climate action committee, said of the vote. “I think this makes a lot of sense for the town. So I’m a little disappointed.”

The select board during its Nov. 19 town meeting recap also weighed in on the code’s failure to pass. Board Chair Kevin Galigan, who spoke as a private citizen at town meeting in favor of adopting the code, said town staff made considerable efforts to educate voters on all of the articles ahead of the fall session, including through public forums and information sessions. Despite that, he blamed misinformation that was shared during discussion of the article on town meeting floor that steered voters away from supporting the article.

“There was one individual with incorrect information that swayed a bunch of the meeting, and that was irresponsible,” he said.

Galligan made reference to a speaker at town meeting with a “three-ring binder.” That speaker was Ben Zehnder, a local zoning and land use attorney who argued that the specialized code would apply to all properties in town if it were to be adopted. Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil said according to MDOER, that is not true, and that it would only apply to new construction in town. Reil said the information cited by Zehnder was tied to language in the state’s stretch energy code, which the town has already adopted.

But despite the two no votes against adopting the code, Galligan said advocates in town remain committed to further supporting the code and the town’s other clean energy efforts.

“We’ll get there,” he said.

Londa, meanwhile, said efforts to push the specialized code could take a back seat to other clean energy objectives that are being prioritized by the energy and climate action committee. 

“Given two defeats, I don’t see this coming back in the near term,” he said. “On the other hand, we are continuing to work through our municipal decarbonization plan.”

The committee is working on developing a municipal decarbonization plan for the town, which will lay out ways of moving “municipal operations from where we are currently to net zero by 2050,” Londa said. “So it’s a long runway.”

Other clean energy projects are already underway. Those include the installation of electric vehicle chargers in Depot Square, which Londa said could be ready for spring, as well as the creation of a policy outlining how electric vehicles will be phased into the town’s vehicle fleet. Efforts to outfit the town’s wastewater treatment facility, water treatment facility and public works building with solar are also underway, Londa said.

But failure to adopt the specialized code comes at the expense of a state grant of up to $1 million that the town otherwise would have been eligible for to fund those and other initiatives. Londa said other grant opportunities exist, but the funding is considerably less.

“We’re still a green community,” he said. “We still have access to green community grants, but the scale of those is much, much smaller. If we decided we wanted to convert a municipal building to all-electric, those are expensive projects.”

Michael Herman of the select board on Nov. 19 noted that voters can say no to the specialized code now, but that the conditions set out in the code likely will become the standard in the future. 

“But we’ll have missed out on all the financial benefits along the way,” he said.

Galligan said while fear and uncertainty may have eclipsed facts in discussion of the specialized code at town meeting, officials and advocates need to continue to put their best foot forward to educate people about the code and the benefits of clean energy, the pursuit of which he said is “the right thing to do” for the town.

You’ve got to get to people in a way that they can truly trust that this is in the best interest of the town,” he said. “When there is any doubt cast, people are going to say ‘I’m not ready.’ But that really is the beauty of this little form of government we have.”

Note: This article has been edited to give more context into how The Chronicle arrived at identifying the speaker referred to in Galligan’s comments