25 Cities and Towns Designated as Green Communities

BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that an additional 25 Massachusetts cities and towns have been designated by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) as Green Communities, committing to an ambitious renewable energy agenda to reduce energy consumption and emissions. With today’s designation, more than half of the Commonwealth’s municipalities have earned their Green Communities designation and 68{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of residents live in a Green Community.

The 25 new Green Communities are now eligible for grants totaling $4,3 million to complete renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in their communities. Since the program began in 2010, DOER’s Green Communities division has awarded over $65 million in grant funding to the Commonwealth’s cities and towns through designation and competitive grant rounds.

“The Green Communities Program helps the state achieve a renewable energy portfolio, while preserving taxpayer resources,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “With more than 68{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of residents living in a green community, the program continues to be a successful model for state and local governments working together to achieve impactful progress and responsible savings.”

The 210 Green Communities range from the Berkshires to Cape Cod and are home to 70{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of the state’s population in municipalities as large as Boston and as small as Rowe. All Green Communities commit to reducing municipal energy consumption by 20 percent each, and this new group of twenty-five cities and towns have committed to reduce their energy consumption amounting to savings of 296,968 MMBtus in five years, energy use equivalent to heating and powering nearly 2,302 homes, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 23,630 tons, equivalent to taking 4,975 cars off the road.  

DOER awarded funding for projects in the following newly designated Green Communities:

Municipality                    Grant