Parishes go solar; Diocese plans environmental conference

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press
Two diocesan parishes, one in Charlton, the other in Rutland, are benefiting from the use of solar panels on parish property at no cost to the parishes.
In fact, the owners of the solar panels sell the electricity generated to the electrical grid and the parishes benefit financially.
In Charlton, St. Joseph Parish leases seven acres near the church to Zero Point Development Inc. and Pro Tech Energy Solutions, which uses it as a solar farm.
“It’s a win-win situation,”  said Father Robert A. Grattaroti, pastor. “It’s good for the parish, good for the environment and a good use of the land.”
He said the parish finance committee had discussed what to do with the land a couple of years ago.
They considered housing, but the housing market crashed. He said the area is partly ledge, which might have made it more difficult to develop.
He and Deacon Peter Faford said the parish wanted to reduce the cost of electrical energy it used. One step was to install LED lighting in place of the lights the parish was using. This lowered the electric bill considerably, Deacon Faford said.
A major saving has come with the leasing of the parish land for the solar panel farm. Deacon Faford said there were talks with neighbors to resolve any problems they might have had with the solar panel installation.
The land is leased for 20 years and the parish gets about $28,000 a year, he said. It also gets a reduction on its electric bill. Zero Point Development and Pro Tech Energy Solutions pays taxes on the land and takes care of any maintenance on the solar panels. There is no cost to the parish.
If, in the future, Zero Point Development and Pro Tech Energy Solutions no longer wants to use the land, there is a $50,000 escrow account that will be used to remove the panels and restore the land to its original condition, Deacon Faford said.                                                                                                                                                  The Zero Point Development and Pro Tech Energy Solutions website states that there are 4,140 solar panels which generate 1,743,000 kilowatt hours per year.
That can offset about 1,430 tons of carbon dioxide, said to be a cause of climate change. That would equal the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from burning 146,000 gallons of gasoline or burning 1.42 million pounds of coal or driving 3.15 million miles in an average passenger car, according to the website.
These estimates are approximate and are not being used for emission inventory or formal carbon foot-printing exercises, according to the website. These estimates were calculated using the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator provided by the EPA in January 2018.
In Rutland, St. Patrick Parish leases space on the parish center roof behind the church to Sunrun, which installed solar panels. Father James M. Boland, pastor, said Sunrun maintains the solar panels. There is no cost to the parish.
The parish benefits by having its electric bill at the pastoral center reduced by about 25 percent, according to Father Boland and Deacon Brian E. Stidsen, who worked on the project. He said the panels were installed three or four years ago when Father C. Michael Broderick was pastor. Father Broderick now is pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Leominster.

Diocese plans environmental stewardship conference

The Worcester Catholic Environmental Stewardship Conference, sponsored by the Worcester Diocese, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., Sept. 23 in the Hogan Campus Center at the College of the Holy Cross.

The conference is a response to Laudato Si’, On the Care of Our Common Home, Pope Francis’
encyclical on the environment.  The program is titled “A Call to Action for Catholics on Environmental Issues.”

Scheduled speakers and their topics are:
“Why is this a Catholic Issue?”
Father William Campbell, vice
president of mission at Holy Cross.

“Scarcity and the Economics of Pollution,”
Dr. Katherine Kiel, professor of economics at Holy Cross.

“Environment and the Role of Government,”
Matthew Beaton, secretary of energy and environmental affairs,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Bishop McManus will open the
conference with prayers and comments.  A panel discussion among parish leaders will follow the presentations.

To register for the conference visit: https://environment.worcesterdiocese.org/worcester-conference