- Energy Coaches
- Heating and Cooling
- The Plan
- About PREP
- …
- Energy Coaches
- Heating and Cooling
- The Plan
- About PREP
PETERBOROUGH RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT
PREP - Leading Peterborough to a 100% Renewable Energy Future
- Energy Coaches
- Heating and Cooling
- The Plan
- About PREP
- …
- Energy Coaches
- Heating and Cooling
- The Plan
- About PREP
What is PREP?
At Peterborough's 2021 Town Meeting residents voted overwhelmingly (with 74% in favor) to pass a Warrant Article committing the town to transition to 100% renewable sources of electricity by 2030 and for all other energy needs by 2050. The Peterborough Renewable Energy Planning (PREP) Team was appointed by the Peterborough Select Board to research and write a general action plan to meet this goal.
The Plan was completed by the end of 2022 so PREP now stands for the Peterborough Renewable Energy PROJECT because our current mandate is to guide the town in the implementation the Plan. Our first priorities are to setup an infrastructure to support Peterborough's move to our 100% sustainable future.
PREP is committed to continue to work with transparency and inclusivity, keeping in touch with Peterborough citizens throughout the process via community input events, informational talks, this web site, and updates in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript newspaper.
The Team is composed of volunteer Peterborough residents and members of the Peterborough Town staff.
Meet the Team
(In alphabetical order)
Trisha Cheever | Town of Peterborough Energy and Community Planner
Trisha is new to the Monadnock region but relocates here from the Seacoast. Her enthusiasm for renewable energy and climate justice is rooted in her upbringing in Revere, MA where she was part of starting Revere Environmental Voice (REV). Through REV, Trisha and other residents advocated for solar panels, water-bottle refill stations, and for the planting of native horticulture to promote a more sustainable city. Trisha received her BS in Geography and Urban Studies from Worcester State University (WSU). During her time at WSU, she became Vice President of the Geography Club that facilitated outdoor hikes, trail clean-ups, and worked closely with 350Action for the school’s annual sustainability Fair. Most recently, Trisha completed her MS in Geo-Information Science from Salem State University where her studies were focused on the intersectionality of climate change.
Beyond its natural and historical resources, the enthusiasm residents have for their town and the passion they have to create a renewable energy community is what drew Trisha to Peterborough. In her free time, you can find Trisha hiking mountains, snowboarding, mountain biking, and running many miles to gear up for her next marathon.
Dori Drachman | PREP Co-Coordinator and Liaison to the Community Power Team
Dori led the initiative to pass Peterborough's 100% Renewable Energy warrant article in 2021. She serves on the Peterborough Energy Committee and as Co-Chair of the Board for the Monadnock Sustainability Hub (the Hub) where she worked with the organizing group for the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire. In 2019, Dori led Solarize Monadnock in Peterborough. In a previous life, she was an elementary school classroom teacher and then a teacher/naturalist with the Harris Center. She co-founded a charter school in NC. Dori lives at Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm, a cohousing community that values sustainability where she has a solar array on her home and an electric bike.
“The climate crisis is the most urgent issue of our time. I’m grateful to live in a town that supports this important work."Helen Fairman - HeatSmart+ and Outreach
Helen is a business-to-business marketing consultant who has worked exclusively in the clean energy space for the past twenty years. Most recently, she was chief marketing officer for BlueWave Solar in Boston and in the past has worked both in-house and as a consultant for companies, business trade associations, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and Greentown Labs. Other clients include companies in solar, grid planning and interconnection software, commercial building energy efficiency & the internet of things, HVAC technology, and related industries. Locally, she serves on the board of the Friends of Peterborough Recreation Projects (FPRP) where she co-leads the dog park subcommittee, and as an alternate on the Peterborough Recreation Committee. She graduated from Harvard.
“I am committed to protecting the natural beauty of NH and beyond for future generations by working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally and globally.”
Geoff Frank | Outreach
Geoff has lived in Peterborough for six years since retiring from working as a computer scientist at a not for profit research institute in North Carolina. He believes that fighting climate change is one of the most important actions we can take for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. He is a member of
the Outreach team.
Jean Foster | Outreach
Jean has been an environmental justice activist for 15 years with groups such as 350MA, Mothers Out Front, and more recently the Fridays for our Future youth climate strikes, and Extinction Rebellion. Jean lives in Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm, an environmentally sustainable cohousing community where she is happy to have rooftop solar panels provide most of her electricity.
Before retiring, Jean worked in the tech industry wearing many different hats such as system administrator, technical communicator, user centered web and UI designer, and usability and accessibility consultant.
“I believe that addressing climate change is our most pressing task to ensure that our grandchildren and their children inherit a liveable planet.”
John Gillies | Outreach
John worked for twenty years doing outdoor education for the Colorado Outward Bound School and spent twenty years working in county government administering adult and child protection programs. He has a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. John and his wife recently moved here from Colorado to be closer to grandkids.
“Direct action to address the climate crisis is a personal priority of mine.”
Bob Haring-Smith | PREP Co-Coordinator
Bob has lived in Peterborough since 2017, after retiring from a career spent largely as a math and computer science professor or in IT support at various universities. He worked previously on the Solarize Monadnock and Peterborough Energy Action campaigns, as well as providing volunteer help for Peterborough Players, the Monadnock Chorus, the Peterborough Town Library renovation project, and the Monadnock Summer Lyceum.
“I believe that fighting climate change is one of the most important actions we can take for the benefit of our children and grandchildren.”
Anne Huberman - HeatSmart+ and Outreach
Anne is a retired academic librarian and a grandmother living at RiverMead. She has previously worked with Solarize Monadnock, Peterborough Energy Action, and the Peterborough Open Space Committee. She currently works with the Peterborough Energy Committee, with the Monadnock Citizen’s Climate Lobby Chapter, and as an alternate on the South Peterborough Tax Increment Finance District.
She is an enthusiastic EV driver, has a wonderful heat pump in her lakeside A-frame, and is doing what she can to lower her carbon footprint at RiverMead.
“I believe that if we all act now to do everything we can to mitigate climate change, our grandchildren will be able to enjoy living in a habitable world.”
Ed Juengst | HeatSmart+ and Outreach
Ed has lived in Peterborough for over 19 years and has been actively involved in the community serving on the Select Board and Planning Board for several terms and on numerous town committees and as treasurer and Board member of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce. His career included operating his business providing tax, accounting, business sales and business counseling for 8 years. Prior to this he held senior management positions at New Balance Athletic Shoe in Boston and later at the company that made CCM branded hockey equipment and apparel.
“I believe that all of us must do our part to fight climate change in order to protect our planet for our children, grandchildren and future generations.”
James Kelly | HeatSmart+, Outreach, and Workforce Development
James has been a member of many non-profit boards and committees including the Peterborough Economic Development Authority. He founded and ran a world-wide strategic consulting firm and was a board member and consultant for a world-wide energy management firm. His major focus has been positive collaboration supporting sustainability. James believes that energy sustainability can best be managed in our local community.
Since retiring James spends all of his time as a volunteer in the Peterborough community.
“The 100% program is an exciting way to change the world. It is not driven by big business profitability.”
William (Bill) Kennedy | Town Liaison and Workforce Development
Bill is an elected member of the Peterborough Select Board (2021) and, as such, participates as the town’s liaison to a wide variety of committees, including the Peterborough Community Power Committee. He is also a member of the Peterborough Renewable Energy Project and oversees their activities as are related to the town. Bill also heads up PREP’s Workforce Development subcommittee.
Now retired, Bill was Chief Technical Officer of a robotics company he founded with his wife, Jeanne Dietsch in 1995. After merging their MobileRobots Inc in 2011 with another larger, commercial robotics company, he went on to teach at The Dublin School high school physics and technologies for several years before the pandemic. In previous lives, he’s also a best-selling co-author of HTML: The Definitive Guide, co-wrote a best-selling computer game, Intrigue!, and was Editor-in-chief and Senior Editor at several International Data Group computer magazines. Bill received a PhD from Loyola University of Chicago in 1980, and as a post-doc (Washington University) and assistant professor of research (University of Illinois) had published several scientific research articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Chemistry and Biochemistry.Carol Kraus | Outreach
Carol majored in Psychology in college, got an RN, and later an M.Ed. from Antioch Institute of Open Education. She is a retired RN who worked mainly in psychiatry and substance abuse, and then switched to become a Trager practitioner.
Carol has served on the SOLARIZE project, the Peterborough Energy Action Committee, and is currently on the League of Women Voters Peterborough Plus Committee which holds local candidate forums, voter drives and other public education activities. As a resident of Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm, a sustainable cohousing community most of Carol’s electricity use is produced by solar panels and the community’s heating comes from locally sourced wood pellets. (In 2008 when the community was built wood pellets were made from discarded wood; sadly this is no longer the case!)
“I still think that addressing climate change is our most important challenge. I have nightmares about the climate crisis and how it is already affecting us, our children and future generations of humans as well as all living beings on Earth.”
Jim Van Valkenburgh | Outreach
For over 25 years Jim has worked in the commercial end of alternative energy for manufacturers, distributors and dealers of solar, biomass and energy conservation products. His Peterborough home utilizes passive solar, active solar hot water, and a new 7 KW solar PV system. Jim has written multiple articles on biomass boiler retrofit projects which have appeared in the Green Energy Times. In the 1990s Jim taught a class on Practical Solar Energy at the UNH School of Lifelong Learning in Nashua.
Jim’s 8 year involvement with Froling Energy gives him a broad technical understanding of biomass heating technology.
“I want to contribute all that I can to making this a successful effort which will enable us to set and to meet realistic and attainable goals.”
Danica Melone | Town of Peterborough Town Planner
Danica started her planning career immediately after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a B.S. in Tourism, Planning, and Development and a Minor in Geography. At UNH, she was awarded the George T. Gilman Scholarship Award for “full-time students interested in protecting environment, wildlife, or other aspects affecting quality of life in New Hampshire” and the Outstanding Student Award from the Tourism, Planning, and Development degree program.
While Danica’s commitment to renewable energy and climate justice have always been a core value, it increased while working as the Land Use Assistant for the Town of Fitzwilliam where she wrote the Town’s first Solar Ordinance. From there, Danica became a Planner at North Country Council, the state’s northernmost Regional Planning Commission where her enthusiasm for energy and climate planning further skyrocketed. Up north, she became a jack-of-all-trades by working in a diverse collection of planning specialties; of notable specialty was the world of solid waste planning where her role included serving as the Administrator for the Pemi-Baker Solid Waste District. Solid waste planning, particularly in the North Country (where the vast majority of New England’s trash is sent), brought a spectacularly interesting perspective and experience.
Danica is thrilled to be working for the Town of Peterborough where the community supports transitioning to renewable energy and climate resiliency.
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