The initial meeting of the Renewable Energy Committee of Local Economy Network was held on July 27, 2009 at the Fairfax Coffee House. In attendance were: Colin Williams, Rebecca Macleod, Leigh Jenkins, Ed Meuller and Elise Woods.

Colin has agreed to be the committee’s point person.

The focus of the meeting was to create a mission statement and a set of initial goals. The mission statement derived is as follows:

The mission of the Renewable Energy Committtee is to educate members of the community about producing renewable energy and to provide resources to make alternative energy accessible.

Goals:

1. Lay the groundwork for a Regional Power Cooperative to create local generation of electric power by:
   1. Investigating Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) whereby large electric companies enter into long-term agreements with businesses/individuals to produce renewable energy (solar, wind, biodiesel, etc.) so the power company can meet its legally mandated renewable energy requirements. See http://www.californiasolarcenter.org/sppa.html for a document on this subject.
   2. Investigating how hydroelectric generating equipment could be put in the Cacapon River to generate electricity (no need for a dam).
   3. Investigating how to create a local/regional Power Cooperative to be the business entity for this endeavor.
   4. Investigate buying solar electric equipment in bulk to reduce the cost and sell to coop members at cost plus expenses.
   5. Rebecca noted that there is a $50 million pool of federal grant funds that just became available for this type of project.
   6. There is also loan money available from Rural Development funds that might be used for this purpose.
2. Provide education and resources through existing committees of Local Economy Network and other venues.
3. Explore opportunities to engage local investors in local renewable energy projects.
4. Encourage developers and builders to incorporate sustainable building practices.
5. Encourage local government to choose renewable energy sources for building improvements and to supply emergency services with power to operate equipment during a power grid outage (to replace gasoline/ diesel generators).