Those watching the Town Council meeting Tuesday night saw a very enlightening and information presentation by Blue Wave Capital on their proposal to develop a solar energy project that would benefit the town and reduce its energy costs.
John DeVillars, Blue Wave managing partner (whom many in Winthrop will remember as the head of the state EPA under former Governor Dukakis), and Aidan Foley, project developer, delivered a rather scientific look at the future of solar energy and how it will improve the environment. The bottom line to this well-prepared proposal (the result of the efforts of our ever-forward thinking town manager, James McKenna) was that there would be a savings of $2.1-$2.7 million over the next 20 years for the town of Winthrop.
DeVillars, who holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, said that six communities in Massachusetts are already on board with Blue Wave. We feel this is certainly a proposal that the Town Council should take a look at because those are significant savings to be realized for our town. More importantly, this is a plan that uses renewable energy and will reduce greenhouse gases, a goal to which we as a community should be dedicated.
We commend James McKenna for bringing to light (pun intended) this potential project for our town and placing it before the Council for its review and possible endorsement.