Grant assists city in studying energy consumption

A member of Energy Corps is set to help identify energy conservation opportunities for the city of Whitefish, along with participating in efforts to create a climate action plan for the greater community.

The city is hosting an Energy Corps member to assist the city, the Whitefish School District and the Climate Smart Glacier Country group, which is working toward creating the climate action plan.

The Energy Corps AmeriCorps project is an initiative of the National Center for Appropriate Technology in cooperation with The Corporation for National and Community Service. The Energy Corps was created to address unmet community energy needs through a grant that provides professional staff to promote sustainable energy consumption and education.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the city to capitalize on our interest in energy conservation at a greatly reduced cost,” Public Works Director Craig Workman said.

The city will pay $10,000 and the school district will contribute $1,500 for the Energy Corps member to work for 11 months here.

Workman said the city would see a direct benefit of working with the member, whose first task would be to assist with some of the early design elements for the city’s new wastewater treatment plant.

“This person could immediately begin helping staff and our hired consultants to identify energy conservation and/or renewable energy production opportunities for this vital new piece of city infrastructure,” Workman said. “In addition, this employee would be available to assess opportunities to reduce energy use and emissions in other city operations, including buildings, equipment and vehicles.”

The Energy Corps member would work with the school district students and staff to improve energy conservation at the schools, involve students in community partnerships and help develop curriculum.

While the member will primarily focus on the city and schools, they will also collaborate with another Energy Corps member in Glacier National Park. In addition, they will participate in the Climate Smart Glacier Country’s efforts to create a climate action plan.

Climate Smart Glacier Country is made up of a partnership that includes the city, the school district, Flathead Electric Co-op, Glacier National Park and other interested residents. The group formalized this spring and has since been working since to collaborate on local solutions to climate change.

One of the areas where the group has focused is on creating a city or community climate action plan similar to what has been done in other Montana communities.

Whitefish climate activist Steve Thompson, who has spearheaded the efforts of Climate Smart Glacier Country, said while the Energy Corps member’s efforts will focus on the city, the member will be able to assist the climate group.

“We’re looking at what we can do here,” he said. “The three areas being mitigation, adaptation and education.”

The Energy Corps member would work with the climate group to enable broader community engagement in the city’s conservation and climate action plan, and to support partnership projects for the greater Flathead Valley and Glacier Park.