Governor Deval Patrick named 17 newly designated Green Communities in a ceremony in the Great Hall at the State House in Boston on Tuesday. The group included Tisbury and West Tisbury.
The Green Communities Act approved in 2008 provides energy efficiency grants to cities and towns that meet five clean-energy benchmarks. Tisbury won a $140,925 grant and West Tisbury a $143,250 grant along with the Green Community designation. The number of participating communities throughout the state totals 103.
The two Island towns had to adopt a new zoning bylaw or ordinance for renewable energy, create a plan to reduce energy use by 20 percent within five years, and implement a new energy-efficient building code, such as the “stretch code.”
Governor Patrick said the 103 Green Communities have committed to an energy reduction that is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of roughly 13,000 homes, according to a State House News Service release.
An Island contingent attended the ceremony. It included Tisbury energy committee members Henry Stephenson and Peter Cabana, who is also the Dukes Country representative to Cape Light Compact, Martha’s Vineyard Commissioner Holly Stephenson of Tisbury, and West Tisbury energy committee member Tim Twombley. State Senator Dan Wolf and Representative Tim Madden joined them at the event.
