Westport Named Part of Nationwide Energy Revolution

Westport's green initiatives have landed the town in the publication Powering Up America, a new report in multimedia website/e-Magazine form that highlights local people and communities using innovative methods to cut energy use.

The town was one of nine communities mentioned in the report, which was presented to a caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. by Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) to promote energy efficiency legislation.  

Read more about the Capitol briefing here.

Powering Up America was commissioned by the New Haven-based Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, an agency that funds projects that advance solutions to problems in the fields of art, environment, and learning disabilities.  

"One of the most underreported stories in America is that the transition to a new energy economy is real, it's here, and it's working -- including in towns and cities you might not expect," Steward Hudson, President of the foundation, stated in the report.

"Powering Up America tells this story by going beyond the Beltway, beyond numbers and data, to introduce us to real people making real progress in Powering Up America's new energy economy."

The report highlights Westport's estimated $353,000 per year in energy savings, thanks to the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Home Energy Challenge. Fourteen other Connecticut towns participated in the state program, but Westport residents went further than others to reduce their energy consumption through completing energy efficiency upgrades for their homes.

Westport had a head start in leading the charge toward reducing energy waste. The town's Clean Energy Action Plan was developed in 2006, accompanied by the formation of Westport's Green Task Force. The goal was to improve building efficiencies in Westport's many large, older homes and structures.

David Mann, chair of the Green Task Force, credited Westport's strong showing in the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Home Energy challenge to "outreach by religious congregations and other civic-minded groups, including the Westport Historical Society and the League of Women Voters, all of which helped contact residents who might otherwise not have thought to investigate their homes' energy use," according to the report.

You can download the report by clicking here.