• Get Engaged
• We Want to Hear from You!
• Meet with Sustainable Stow on Saturday, August 30th
• Time is running out for federal clean energy and energy efficiency incentives
• Hudson Light & Power Completes Reliability and Capacity Project

The Energize Stow newsletter strives to provide you with practical information you can use to make Stow a more sustainable community. We would love to hear from you about what you would be interested in reading or learning about. Please email us at GreenAdvisory@stow-ma.gov with your ideas. Thank you!

Sustainable Stow will have a table at the 4th Annual Assabet Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival. Held at the First Parish Church in the center of Stow (353 Great Road) on Saturday, August 30th, from 12:00 to 4:00pm. This fun event is for the whole family with games and prizes for the kids, five different food trucks, ice cream, beer, and nonalcoholic drinks plus lots more. 

We will have a table close to one of the entrances. It will be a time to meet members and learn what we are doing. There will be information about what you can do for the environment and your pocketbook as well as the incentives available to help. There will also be a signup sheet to join Sustainable Stow and receive the Energize Stow newsletter. 

If you are considering a clean energy or energy efficiency project or product, you may have heard that the recently enacted federal “Big Budget” will discontinue some federal incentives. Here is a summary.

• For electric vehicles, the federal tax credit will end on September 30th.
• For most home energy efficiency and clean energy projects, the federal tax credit will end on December 31st.

Here is more information on the impact of the federal budget on the EV tax credit and here is information on the impact for home energy efficiency and clean energy. Since this change was recently enacted, it may not yet be reflected on some sites.

None of these changes at the federal level impact state and local incentives. For electric vehicles, the state’s MOR-EV program provides significant savings. For homes which use gas heating, the Mass Save program is available for home energy efficiency and clean energy improvements. And for all residents, there are generous rebates from our electric utility, Hudson Light & Power. Also consider the savings in switching from gasoline, fuel oil, or natural gas. With one of the lowest electric rates in the state, you will save on energy costs by switching from fossil fuels to electricity. The Stow Green Advisory Committee’s webpage has a list of available incentives.

If you are considering purchasing a heat pump before the federal tax credit is discontinued, ensure it uses the new refrigerant.(called R-32 or R-454B). These refrigerants are more efficient and less harmful to the environment. All heat pumps manufactured after January 2025 must use these refrigerants. But some installers may have an inventory of heat pumps using the old refrigerant (called R-410A). Here is more information on the change.

For the first time in over fifty years, the Hudson Light & Power Department has interconnected an additional transmission line to provide enhanced reliability and increased supply capability; a significant milestone to support both the local and regional electric grid transformation efforts. This new underground transmission line comes as a benefit to the communities of Hudson and Stow in particular at a pivotal time in meeting the ever-growing demand for the already reliable, affordable and clean electric energy supplied by Hudson Light and Power.

The additional transmission line marks the completion of a broader effort identified by ISO New England, the regional grid operator, to strengthen the resiliency of the region’s electric transmission system against extreme weather, increase capacity, and improve reliability for customers. This project will provide decades of additional reliability and capacity to support the Department today, and well into the future.

In addition to the construction and interconnection of the new underground transmission line, Hudson Light & Power reconstructed its high voltage substation into what is known as a six-position ring bus which affords the ability to power the entire distribution system with any of the three separate transmission lines through an uninterrupted failover capability. With the completion of the substation construction, Hudson Light & Power becomes the only Municipal Utility in New England that has the ability to deliver transmission level energy from two separate Transmission Owners (Eversource and National Grid) but also the ability to flow energy bidirectionally through the Hudson Light & Power Substation to and from both of our interconnected transmission lines.

Now that Hudson Light & Power has secured substantial and robust transmission level capacity into our electric distribution system, we have the confidence and technical capability to continue to invest in our electric distribution system ensuring we can deliver affordable, resilient and environmentally responsible electric energy for decades to come.

Justin Connell - General Manager Hudson Light & Power