Chelmsford's Clean Energy And Sustainability Committee Gets $20K Grant

CHELMSFORD, MA — Chelmsford's Clean Energy and Sustainability Committee (CEAS) on Tuesday learned it was chosen as a recipient of a $20,000 grant to support energy efficiency education and literacy efforts in town.

The Community Education Grant comes from the sponsors of Mass Save, which is a collaborative of Massachusetts' electric and natural gas utilities, including National Grid and Eversource.

During this round of funding, $279,200 in grants was distributed to 21 organizations. There was a particular focus on organizations looking to make clean energy education initiatives more accessible to all communities.

The CEAS was set up to advise the Chelmsford Select Board on strategies to achieve the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and to assist in some of the initiatives, including those based around education.

"The committee will be spearheading an educational campaign to increase community engagement awareness in our goal for a sustainable future," Christopher Haley, sustainability manager for the Town of Chelmsford, told Patch.

Badhri Uppiliappan, chair of the CEAS, told Patch that the committee's education campaign will spread the word about how to improve energy efficiency and inform the public about the advantages of electrification of heating using heat pumps.

The committee will be looking to engage the student population, businesses and low-income residents, Uppiliappan said.

Ruth Georges, the supervisor of equity, strategic partnerships and workforce development at Eversource, said Mass Save was excited to hand out grants that will increase access to energy efficiency education, especially in Environmental Justice Communities.

"This pool of partners works in diverse communities, are mission based and care about the quality of life of our customers," Georges said. "This joint partnership will launch programs and outreach education campaigns from the North Shore to Western Massachusetts. As a collective, this partnership will support making a positive change in increasing each community's investment in creating a clean, energy-efficient environment for all."