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ELIOT, Maine — Like many towns in New Hampshire, Eliot has decided to take the Carbon Challenge, a Granite State-based effort to save money, reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions in the home. Eliot is the first town in Maine to take the plunge.
Eliot Energy Commission Chairwoman Jenny Isler said the municipal government has completed an energy inventory and is taking steps toward reducing municipal energy usage; but municipal use accounts for only about 2 percent of total usage in most towns, she said.
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For details on the Carbon Challenge in Eliot, call Jenny Isler at (207) 809-3102 or e-mail [email protected].
“That leaves 98 percent that is up to us as residents, if we’re concerned about (carbon dioxide) and greenhouse gas emissions,” she said. “This is a campaign for residents to look at energy use, their carbon footprint and to find easy ways to control that, find ways they can save some money — to look at some changes they can make at home that can make a difference.”
All residents need to do is to go online to MyEnergy Plan.net and create a personalized energy plan to help them save money by taking simple steps at home, she said.
“MyEnergyPlan.net is the best tool I’ve seen because it fits each family’s needs — you want more information, it’s all there,” she said. “It shows you exactly how much you can expect to save with each action.”
The program was created by a Portsmouth nonprofit, Clean Air-Cool Planet, along with computer assistance from the University of New Hampshire, she said.
“It allows us to capture all the Eliot data, so we’ll be able to share with residents how much residents have pledged to make.”
Isler said, as families realize savings and make improvements, “they can revisit their MyEnergyPlan.net account and track the changes over time. This allows for excellent measurement and can really show a difference.”
The Web site also connects households with financial incentives to assist in funding home energy projects, she added.
“The typical home wastes a lot of energy, sometimes without our even realizing it,” she said.
In fact, of the families that have taken the carbon challenge over the last three years, energy use has been reduced by an average 16 percent, saving over $700 per year per family, she said.
“I heard about a resident who had an electric dog fence; you don’t think about that,” she said. “But the dog only goes out at 7 in the morning and at 5 at night, so she put it (the fence) on a timer. She saved a ridiculous amount of money.”
The challenge goes on for three months — September through December — but Isler said she expects to continue with programs in the schools.
Eliot’s Energy Efficiency Carbon Challenge is funded and supported by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.