Steve and Janice gave us a tour of their solar array, which they installed in the spring of 2005. The 2.5 kilowatt DC system provides more electric power than they currently need.

Over a potluck dinner, we discussed the following topics:

• Tom and Joanne Rich mentioned that they know someone who is in the final stages of editing a documentary relating to energy use. This led to a discussion about whether we might think about sponsoring a regular film series, since the films we have shown in the past have seemed like a good way to raise awareness and reach new people. (See below for more discussion on this.)
• Recycling update: DVD copies of "Taking the Mystery out of Recycling" have been distributed to libraries in Athol, Orange, New Salem, Royalston, and Warwick. The North Orange and Phillipston libraries would also like copies. Also, the new Athol transfer station is under construction and may be in operation by early 2008.
• Steve and Janice are working on organizing a roster of speakers on energy topics for the Garlic and Arts Festival on Sept. 15 and 16.
• There was no update on what the regional energy consortium based in Greenfield has been doing lately. We will try to find out more about what is going on within that group.

Fall and future movies
North Quabbin Energy will sponsor two films about energy in the fall:

• "Kilowatt Ours" on Thursday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. at the North Orange Library
• "The Power of Community" on Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m. at Wheeler Memorial Library in Orange

We also discussed plans for a future ongoing film series beginning in 2008. We will begin to generate a list of possible films to show, and may explore the possibility of hosting them at different libraries around the North Quabbin region. A proposal was made to schedule films in January, March, and May 2008 to begin with.

Town energy committees
Athol Brian volunteered for this committee but it seems that it is not at the point of being officially convened yet. He will keep us posted on any progress. David Ames has expressed interest in perhaps having PV panels installed on the new police station.
Warwick After the committee presented the energy audit of the town hall, the selectboard voted to re-lamp the building. The committee plans to work on wall insulation and appliances next.

Energy expo
There has been no word yet about the planning process for the combined spring home/energy/outdoor show. Cathy will contact Steve Raymond at the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce to see what is happening. Cathy, Pat, and Tom expressed interest in being involved in planning the event, with the hope that others would also want to be involved.

MREC building projects
We will organize an energy audit for the Millers River Environmental Center building. Tom Rich will make sure this is okay with Dave Small. [Post-meeting update: Dave has given us the go-ahead to do this.] Brian will contact the electric company to set up an audit as soon as we've obtained a copy of the MREC electric bill from Dave. After the audit is done, we will work on some small projects, perhaps including new ballasts for the lighting, etc. We also need to get a sense of how much regular use the building gets - i.e. how many hours per day or week are the lights actually turned on?

Other business
We talked about the possibility of working with the Aubuchon Hardware store in Orange on promoting and selling energy-related items in future.

Next meeting
We will hold a brief meeting at 6 p.m. before the Oct. 4 film in North Orange, just to update each other on what is happening with these various projects.

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