West Chester Area Clean Energy Future (CEF) recently unrolled its Residential Module as part of our clean energy campaign! We hosted two public meetings on May 20th and June 3, 2021 (find recordings on the Past Events Page). The May 20 meeting was hosted by West Goshen Township where Supervisor Ashley Gagné kicked things off. On June 3, West Whiteland was the hosting municipality and Supervisor Joshua Anderson gave opening remarks. Attendees in the Zoom meeting and viewing via the Facebook Livestream included residents from across the West Chester Area.
The meeting commenced with a presentation from the CEF Steering Committee on what homeowners and renters in the West Chester Area need to know about renewable energy for their home and personal uses. The presentation outlined some key tips and guidance for reducing home energy, electrifying power sources, and transitioning to cleaner energy sources. After the presentation, participants were given the opportunity to join one of three breakout rooms, featuring expert speakers on selected reduce, electrify, and transition topics!
For our REDUCE room, Mike Schneller from PECO talked about Home Energy Assessments! (learn more at PECO Energy Assessment page). Please contact Mike Schneller (Michael.Schneller@clearesult.com or 215-370-2866) with any questions about the PECO Home Energy Assessment and the special West Chester Area CEF promotional discount.
For the ELECTRIFY room, Kelly Flanigan from PennEnvironment and Morgan Folger, Environment America's Clean Cars Campaign Director presented on electric vehicles in PA!
Finally, for the TRANSITION room, Meenal Raval and Bryan Hutchinson from Solarize Greater West Chester gave the basics on how to purchase renewable energy for your home! (learn more and watch the case study video at Solarize/GWC).
During the presentation there were 5 short polls that attendees participated in. Here are the results:
What is keeping me from making my home more energy efficient? |  |
What is keeping me from electrifying my heating |  |
What is keeping me from choosing an EV for my next car? |  |
Why don’t I buy electricity from renewable energy sources? |  |
Why haven’t I considered rooftop solar? |  |
This is great feedback from West Chester residents illustrating what the barriers, or perceived barriers, are to taking action on transitioning our community to 100% renewable energy. The up-front costs are often the first stumbling point. The CEF campaign will work on developing financing options and helping everyone to understand the “costs over time” of making a change vs the status quo. Going forward, watch for CEF engagement at community events, organizing meetings with Homeowners Associations, organizing workshops on energy with renters and landlords, urging local employers to add EV charging facilities for employees and more. We’ll do as much as our volunteer capacity allows.
All in all, the meeting and community discussion was productive.
Thanks for everyone’s participation. If you have any questions, suggestions, or are interested in joining the CEF review or outreach teams, please contact CEF.