Should Southwest Harbor Be a Resilience Hub?
Rooftop solar possibilities discussed
SOUTHWEST HARBOR—Resilience hubs are popping up across the country and there may be one eventually in Southwest Harbor.
Back in January, after a duo of storms with massive storm surges, the Island Institute, the Gulf of Maine Research Institution (GMRI), and A Climate to Thrive (ACTT) held a resilience workshop for MDI towns and the Cranberry Isles. On November 12, Southwest Harbor held a workshop about resiliency and solar arrays.
But what exactly is a resilience hub? It can be a lot of things. It often involves collaboration and preparation. It also, often, involves a physical resource.
“Throughout the United States, resilience hubs are being developed by sustainability coordinators and resilience professionals all with the intent of providing a physical resource which fosters research, educates, shelters, and ensures sustainable energy during an extreme weather event or natural disaster,” writes Samuel Gaber. “These resources can be thought of as a collective and collaborative effort being undertaken by citizens, local and state governments, private sector, and federal partners to achieve comprehensive preparedness against climate change related threats.”
SOLAR ARRAYS
A step toward that for the town could be rooftop solar. Southwest Harbor, with help from A Climate to Thrive, is looking at two possible ways to bring rooftop power to the entire town during power outages. The array could potentially decrease the town’s municipal electricity costs of $27,000 a year, supporters say.
Mount Desert already has solar panels on a town garage roof. Tremont has panels on a landfill. The town’s fire department is one space that could potentially hold a rooftop array. That array could supply approximately 132.2 kW, barely 1 kW short of providing power for all of Southwest Harbor’s municipal building.
It’s also enough to power the town during outages if battery storage is used.
All of this information was part of a November 12 workshop with A Climate to Thrive and the town’s select board.
Arrays come with a cost. Initially, that’s estimated at just over $400,000. A federal tax credit (30%) would create a savings of $406,720 over 25 years. If the town didn’t use the credit, the savings estimate is approximately $285,700. All those numbers reflect the town funding the array, its connection to the grid, the batteries, and a 4.5% interest bond, with two yearly payments.
The other way would be for the town to apply for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) a federal grant of up to $2 million and that requires a 5% town match. The submission for that would be due by June 2025.
RESILIENCE HUBS
“In addition to the municipal solar analysis, the workshop will explore the concept of a resilience hub-an innovative solution designed to enhance energy security and community preparedness during prolonged power outages,” Beth Woolfolk of A Climate to Thrive said. “A resilience hub is a dedicated facility that integrates renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, with energy storage systems. This hub would serve as a vital resource during power outages and emergencies, providing essential services like communication, medical aid, and shelter.”
The hubs are part of the Department of Homeland Security’s emphasis on preparing the nation and its communities for climate threats, building off Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
“The presence of resilience hubs across the U.S. demonstrates a concerted effort to create community capacity which supports citizen adaptation, preparedness, and safety against climate change threats,” Gaber wrote.
A Climate to Thrive writes, “As communities around the globe experience climate-related impacts such as flooding, extreme heat, storm surges, and other extreme weather events, and as these impacts are projected to increase in both severity and frequency, it become imperative that resilience building measures are undertaken to ensure that everyone, and vulnerable populations in particular, are impacted as minimally as possible. Resilience building also helps prevent local emergency response teams from overburden during climate-related impacts and can preserve valuable town resources.”
There are 252 resilience hubs in the United States. One is located in Brunswick, Maine. There are also community resilience partnerships in Maine. All Mount Desert Island towns are enrolled in that program, which opens up grant and direct support from the state for those initiatives. The state program is meant to help communities in clean energy transitions, reduce carbon emissions, and increase their resiliency to “climate change effects such as extreme storms, flooding, rising sea levels, public health impacts.” The next round of those grants is December 17.
“Resilience hubs are a valuable resource that helps educate, create a point of collaboration, provide sustainable and continuous energy, and shelter from extreme weather and natural disasters,” the DHS writes. The hubs “operate under a multi-faceted platform that assist localities, states, and communities by educating vulnerable populations, providing supportive research, planning for coastal and climate threats, and establishing physical infrastructure resources to connect communities with resilience and sustainability coordinators across America.”
LINK TO LEARN MORE
Maine Community Resilience Partnership
Tremont Community Resilience Plan
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