Town Initiatives

New Electric Vehicle Charging Station at Village Park

Using funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Town of Williston installed a new Level 2 electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) in the parking lot of the Village Park. The Williston Energy Committee has been promoting electric vehicles since the Committee's inception in 2022, through Energy Fairs, the EV Ambassador program and by developing a community wide plan for EV charging infrastructure. The installation of this EVCS represents a major implementation step, as it is the first public charging station located in the Village.

There are a few simple rules the town requests drivers abide by:

The charging fee is $0.23/kWh. After the first four hours of charging, a “loitering fee” of $2/hour is charged.  

The charging station interface is managed and maintained by SWTCH. EV drivers have the option of charging their car using the SWTCH mobile app, web-based charge app, or complementary tap-and-go RFID charge card.  More information about the charging interface can be found at https://swtchenergy.com/drivers.

Note: If you’re having a hard time getting strong cell reception, you can request a complimentary SWTCH Charge Card – allowing you to tap any available SWTCH charger to start charging. You may also initiate the charging session as soon as you re-establish your cell connection (i.e., you don’t have to be standing next to the charger to initiate the session). 

You can request a RFID charging card by:

Need other support? SWTCH is available 24/7 at 1-844-798-2438 or at support@swtchenergy.com. 

Town of Williston Energy Plan

Williston Energy Plan  In fall 2020 the Williston Selectboard adopted a comprehensive energy plan as an amendment to the Town Plan. This detailed document provides a number of pathways for the Town to consider implementing to shape the community’s energy future and curb the impacts of climate change. In addition, the plan contains provisions for renewable energy facility siting in Town, which will receive substantial deference when any facilities are considered by the State Public Utilities Commission. Developing the plan was made possible by many months of dedicated work by the ad hoc Energy Plan Task Force, Planning Commission and town staff providing support.

The Energy Committee is revising the Energy Plan starting in winter 2024. The schedule for discussing proposed revisions and completing the Draft Plan is as follows (dates and topics subject to change):

·   March 27 - Enhanced Energy Plan - Building Energy Usage

·   April 10 - Enhanced Energy Plan - Land Use, Renewable Energy

·   April 24 - Enhanced Energy Plan - Consumption and Recycling, Agriculture

·   May 8 - Enhanced Energy Plan – Siting Policies

·   July 10 - Enhanced Energy Plan – Community Energy Profile (CCRPC)

·   July 24 - Enhanced Energy Plan – finalize and transmit to Planning Commission

Meetings are held in person at the Williston Town Hall Annex at 7878 Williston Rd. and online at Zoom Meeting ID 819 3748 5934 on www.zoom.us/join or call (646) 558-8656. Public participation is welcomed. For the complete meeting schedule, go to https://www.town.williston.vt.us/ , Public Records and Documents/Agendas and Minutes/Energy Committee. 

The Draft Plan is available for viewing at https://bit.ly/Williston_EnergyPlan2025

Town Building Energy Retrofits

In 2008 the town contracted with the firm Buildng Energy to complete a pro-bono energy audit for the Town Hall. The efficiency improvements recommended by the audit totaled roughly $65,000. But the audit stated those investments would pay for themselves over time by reducing gas and electricity costs. Williston received a $12,000 grant through the Vermont Community Climate Change Program to fund thermal and lighting retrofits at the Town Hall. This funding supplemented $15,000 the town had already set aside for these improvements. The work, completed in 2009, included reinsulating and air sealing the attic, replacing office and meeting room lighting with LED fixtures, and replacing the exit sign lighting with LED bulbs. The lighting retrofits resulted in a total annual energy savings of 4,582 kWH and an annual carbon emissions reduction of 3.6 tons. It was estimated that removing the fiberglass, re-insulating with blown cellulose, and performing all air sealing measures would save between 17% and 24% of the natural gas consumption annually. The average CCFs used for the 5 years prior to retrofitting was approximately 1,774 CCFs.  During the year following the retrofits, 951 CCFs were used. The thermal improvements resulted in a 46% savings – double what had been anticipated! This is the equivalent of 5 tons of carbon emissions avoided annually. As shown in the figure below, the energy savings have continued since then.

In fall 2010, Building Energy conducted audits for the other historic municipal buildings including the Town Hall Annex, Library and Old Brick Church. Energy efficiency improvements since then are listed as follows:

The Williston Energy Planner has established an energy usage benchmark for municipal buildings including the Town Hall, Town Hall Annex, Police Station, Fire Station, Public Works Garage and Library. Energy usage and emissions are tracked using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager platform. A current report is available at this link.

Municipal Solar Arrays

The Town of Williston benefits from two solar arrays installed on town property, a 147kW solar tracker array located in the meadow behind Town Hall and the other a 112kW rooftop array located on the Public Works garage. The combined production of both arrays is nearly 325 megawatts annually, enough power to offset 80% of electricity used in municipal buildings. The combined lifetime generation of both arrays exceeds 3,000 megawatts, which has avoided the emission of 2,417 tons of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), equivalent to carbon sequestered by 36,259 tree seedlings planted and grown for 10 years. 

Town Hall Solar Tracker Data    In 2018 the Town purchased 25 solar trackers located behind the Town Hall at 7900 Williston Road. The net metering credits produced by the solar arrays allow the Town to save on its monthly electricity bill, while contributing renewable solar energy to the grid.  The energy produced by the trackers is updated daily in real-time. Visit the website linked above to explore the data. 

Public Works Garage Rooftop Solar Data    Shortly after the Public Works garage was constructed in 2016, the town leased space on the roof to Peck Electric (now iSun) for a 112kW solar array. Through a net-metering agreement, the town received 10% of the total credits for the energy produced by the array for a period of 7 years. The town purchased the array in October 2023 and now receives 100% of net-metering credits.