New Leadership for a Changing Energy Landscape
BACKGROUND:
MS Environmental Engineering (Tufts University)
Sustainability Coordinator - Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP)
Teacher - high school physics, engineering, chemistry, environmental science (2012-2022)
Environmental Engineer - ENSR Consulting and Engineering (1990 - 2000)
Co-Founding Director/Chair - HOBBES Inc. (Hands-On Boat-Based Education & Science) (2000 - present)
For the past 120 years, the Marblehead Municipal Light Department (MMLD) has demonstrated its commitment to providing reliable and affordable electricity to our town. MMLD is now making decisions in a rapidly evolving energy landscape with new technologies, urgent concerns about rising greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing grid vulnerability. I am running for re-election to a second term on the Light Commission because I bring a valuable skill set and important perspective to help MMLD meet its present and future challenges.
As a nonprofit community-owned electricity provider, MMLD is exempt from many of the state’s regulatory requirements, which gives it a unique opportunity to be innovative. In this rapidly changing energy landscape, my vision is to help MMLD become a leader among municipally-owned electric companies as it integrates local solar and energy storage technologies and eliminates carbon-based fuels from our energy supply. Unlike investor-owned utilities, MMLD has the capacity to design its programs and services to meet the needs of all Marbleheader residents and ratepayers.
As a fourth generation Marbleheader with family roots dating back to the early 1900s, I am vested in our town’s long-term energy stability and security. Married with two grown children, my husband and I recently designed and built a net zero energy house (take a video tour from recent Green Homes Tour). We feel so fortunate to live in this beautiful town and strive to give back to our community as an expression of our gratitude.
My new role as Sustainability Coordinator for the Town of Wellesley’s Municipal Light Plant has provided key insights into how to maximize economic return from sustainability initiatives such as battery storage, peak demand management, and electrification. As an educator, I understand the importance of being able to communicate complex concepts and collaborate with people who hold different points of view.
As Light Commissioner I bring energy, insight, vision, and experience to help MMLD thrive in today's changing energy environment. I draw on a diverse background of engineering and science and have developed expertise over the last decade in electricity generation and supply issues and emerging technologies. As your Light Commissioner I will continue to focus on strategic planning, fair rates, and system resiliency.
Since being elected to the Light Commission in 2020, I have:
Established an MMLD Strategic Plan committee
Established an MMLD Sustainability committee
Attended annual MMWEC and NEPPA (public power agencies) conferences
Joined the Green Marblehead Committee, which is helping the town achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040
Participated in 50+ webinars on public power challenges and opportunities
Served on the MMWEC sub-committee responsible for transitioning its energy efficiency program into a full-fledged decarbonization program for its members
As an MMLD Commissioner I will focus on
FAIR RATES, STRATEGIC PLANNING
and SYSTEM RESILIENCY:
Fair Rates
Our Light Department does a great job keeping the lights on, and our rates are lower than some large investor-owned utilities. But among 41 municipal light plants across the state, we rank 39th in terms of rates.
We can do better, by promoting energy efficiency initiatives to lower energy costs for individual households, and by managing peak demand. Shifting customer energy use away from peak periods when we are forced by the market to use the most expensive and dirtiest power has reduced customers' electric rates up to 25% in some towns.
Customers need to be aware of the impact of the timing of their energy use, and given tools to help manage it. Beefing up the department’s communication channels will be critical to accomplishing this.
One proven strategy for addressing high energy costs is to implement time-of-use rates structured to incentivize customers to shift to off-peak power. Time-of-use rates allow the department to fairly allocate the true cost of energy to customers, which can vary by ten-fold over the course of the day. Shifting demand from the costliest, dirtiest fuel lowers costs for the department and helps keep rates down for all customers.
Strategic Planning
The energy landscape is changing rapidly – decreasing demand due to improved efficiency and more solar energy; increasing demand due to more electric vehicles and more conversions to all-electric heating and cooling systems; and the opportunity for redistributing demand due to battery storage. These changes, in combination with more extreme weather and hotter summers, are putting new demands on our aging grid infrastructure.
According to our new distribution manager, due to 25-35 years of deferred maintenance the light department’s distribution system of poles, wires and transformers is “crumbling” and is not ready for a growing demand. Because we have not prepared for growth, customers are facing potential blackouts as systems fail.
The light department needs to understand projected demands on the grid, and our infrastructure needs to grow to match demand. We have a daunting task ahead, and currently there is no capital maintenance plan or demand forecast model to address this. Without a model to inform investment, we will constantly be plagued with rate hikes, supply chain issues, and construction delays.
My highest priority if I am re-elected is to complete a five-year capital plan to address long-overdue system maintenance and increasing demand from the shift to electric cars and all-electric heat pumps.
The Barnacle, March 2018
System Resiliency
In 2018 extreme storm damage cost the town $1M in repairs – extreme storms, sea level rise, increased coastal flooding, we know, are a direct consequence of climate change and Marblehead is not immune.
More extreme weather and hotter summers are putting new demands on our aging grid infrastructure. To protect against intensifying storm damage and grid outages, in addition to hardening the grid, we need to expand local solar generation and energy storage, and diversify electric supply lines into Town.
The Light Department needs a plan to address existing and emerging threats to our energy supply including severe weather and related climate change impacts, cyber and terror attacks.
This plan should include analysis of our aging grid infrastructure, and a strategy to deploy smart grid technologies, to harden critical high-risk locations, and diversify generation and distribution capabilities.