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This document builds upon the work outlined in the report "Recommendations towards Energy Independence for the City of Willits and Surrounding Community", focusing on two projects The city of Willits could begin immediately. The selection criteria of these projects included the substantial reduction of existing energy costs, the potential of 'innovation grants', and augmentation of the City of Willits and surrounding community in time of severe energy crisis or disaster.
[Executive summary from the proposal created by WELL and the Willits Ad-Hoc Energy Group. This and other WELL reports can be found at willitseconomiclocalization.org.
Read the full report here (PDF).]
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Executive Summary
Energy costs have risen dramatically over the past year and analysts are forecasting additional increases in the near future due to instability in various parts of the world. As energy costs escalate, those that are impacted first are those of low or fixed income. We, as the community of Willits, must work to plan for this potential crisis to ensure a strong
community in times of need.
This paper proposes 3 steps the City of Willits can undertake, potentially with substantial grants, to address the looming crisis as well as to decrease the vulnerability of the City itself (and thus the pockets of the taxpayers). These include 1) A renewable energy mix
at the water treatment plant to ensure continued operation in the event of a power grid failure, 2) The production of methane, a replacement for propane and natural gas, at the sewage treatment plant to ensure fuel for heating, and 3) the reinvestment of a small percentage of the realized energy savings (from these and similar projects) into a
community energy conservation center to provide assistance in reducing energy costs to those most in need.
