Waterfront Festival this Saturday

12:00-5:00 PM along the Chester River
Historic Chestertown, Maryland's Eastern Shore

River cruises aboard the 46-foot RV Callinectes, sailing, kayaking, colorful cardboard boats, pony rides, good food, family fun, Scales & Tales, Fishmobile, Touch Tank, prehistoric fishing techniques and artifacts, watershed ecology exhibits, and live bluegrass music all afternoon. River cruises and activities in Wilmer Park are FREE and open to the public. The rain date is October 2nd at 1:00 PM.

* 12:00 - 2:30 PM - Chester River cruises, sailing and kayaking from the College dock
* 1:00 PM - Pony rides
* 2:45 PM - Parade of cardboard boats
* 3:00 PM - Cardboard boat races
* 3:30 PM - Tug o'war tournament
* 4:00 PM - Awards and Prizes

Fifth Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta
3:00 PM
Wilmer Park
Have you ever sailed on schooner Sultana, kayaked around Eastern Neck, raced with the rowing club or toodled up the Chester River on a powerboat? Now it's time to captain your own cardboard vessel.

Register your team, design a boat, follow the rules and guidelines, then paddle your seaworthy craft into maritime history at the 5th annual Cardboard Boat Regatta on September 24th. Take home hundreds of dollars in prizes or just aim for the Titanic or People's Choice award. Any way you sink or float, it's great fun on the Chester River. Hurry, deadline for registration is September 23, 2011. Go to http://ces.washcoll.edu/news/waterfrontfestival/cardboardboattips.php for boat-building tips or email jfairchild2@washcoll.edu to register.

All cardboard boats go on display at 12 noon on race day. Captains and crew meet at 2:30 PM, the popular boat parade begins at 2:45 PM, and the race starts at 3:00 PM sharp along the Pavilion in Chestertown's Wilmer Park. The regatta is open to businesses, schools, youth groups, groups of friends, and non-profit entities desiring to build a boat and team spirit. Participants must be at least 12 years of age and a resident of Kent or Queen Anne's County Maryland. In case of foul weather, the race will be postponed to October 2nd at 1:00 PM.

The cardboard boat race is a signature event of the Chestertown Waterfront Festival that runs from 12:00-5:00 PM on September 24, 2011. Activities include cruises aboard the 46-foot Callinectes, sailing, kayaking and canoeing on the Chester River, good food, family fun, exhibits on watershed ecology, pony rides, songs by Rebecca Pitre and bluegrass by Chester River Runoff in Wilmer Park. Events are organized by the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College, with sponsorship by Chesapeake Bank and Trust and the Van Dyke Family Foundation. The Festival is free and open to the public. In case of foul weather, park activities will be cancelled. For information contact 410-778-7295.

Dr. John Seidel in Chestertown Spy Futures Study

View the great video of Dr. John Seidel, Director of CES, courtesy of the Chestertown Spy.

Climate Action Coordinator Briggs Cunningham in Kent County News

Support generated for 'aggregate' metering, Seen as a boon for alternative energy programs

By CRAIG O'DONNELL
codonnell@thekentcountynews.com
Published: Thursday, June 30, 2011 4:36 PM CDT
CHESTERTOWN — There could be an aggregate meter in your future.

To be precise, “aggregate” metering is when electrical use by some institution or group, no matter how many physical wires to separate electric meters there are, all goes into one big bucket for billing purposes.

At the moment that can’t be done in Maryland. Briggs Cunningham said last week that aggregate metering is important for solar power on farms, by businesses and by local governments, especially in rural areas.

Businesses and governments and other institutions with multiple locations have many meters. Some buildings use a lot of juice and some use a little.

Cunningham, Climate Action Coordinator at the Washington College Center for Environment & Society, said the current Maryland regulations limit how much solar electrical energy an installation can generate to, roughly, the amount used at a particular electric meter plus a little.

The Maryland Public Service Commission, which controls electric utilities, is taking comments on a decision it plans to make in the near future on whether to allow aggregate metering. The state’s net metering regulations allow generating power for on-site use and selling excess power back to the electric company. But as they stand, they force users to have a separate wind, solar or other alternative energy installation for each meter.

One piece of the puzzle is in place: Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a law in May 2011 which requires power companies to buy back excess power at the retail rate, not the wholesale rate.

With it, for example, one large group of solar panels at the Chestertown wastewater plant could be designed to generate enough power to offset the use by town hall, the water plant, and at the wastewater operation.

Without it, Chestertown would have to install and operate three or more separate systems.

One large set of solar panels somewhere in the county on school property could be designed to offset the electricity consumption of multiple school buildings.

Without it, the school board would have to fund solar panels for every individual school and office building.

It is not limited to solar. Any alternative source is eligible. A farmer could build and operate a system burning switchgrass, providing enough power for multiple buildings. Under the proposal, “One account would incorporate all meters, and any power generated onsite would be credited to the overall account,” Cunningham said.

Chestertown attorney Phil Hoon said he represents Dr. Henry Sears, who wants to install solar power for his agricultural operations. He said Tuesday the places where power is used, such as irrigation pivots, are widely scattered, and aggregate metering “makes or breaks the transaction.”

Hoon sent a letter favoring the policy to the Public Service Commission. “I’m in favor of it, both professionally and very much so personally,” he said Tuesday. “It’s what seems right for our society and culture and communities.”

The college is particularly interested in whether solar generation at 215 Washington Ave. can be designed to supply green power to more than just that one building, Cunningham said.

It allows small entities to achieve some economies of scale. A village, such as Kennedyville, could form a nonprofit coop. The residential meters for all members would be combined in one account. An array of solar panels at a suitable location would provide juice to households, instead of having solar panels set up, house by house.

Cunningham added, “The county is interested. They have facilities spread out all over the place. The schools are interested – their attorney is researching it for the board of ed.”

On the other side are the power companies. “They don’t want other people generating their own power,” said Cunningham. “One of their arguments is that they’re concerned about the stability of the power system, figuring out how much to generate” if there are many small providers of solar power.

Delaware’s PSC is also considering aggregate net metering rules.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council notes the Delaware regulation includes: “If a customer has multiple meters under the same account or different accounts, regardless of the physical location and rate class, the customer may aggregate meters for the purpose of net metering regardless of which individual meter receives energy from a distributed generation facility, provided the system does not exceed 110% of the customer’s aggregate electrical consumption of the individual meters or accounts that the customer is entitled to aggregate.”

“As a resident of Kent County, I’ll say it would be a good thing,” Cunningham said.

According to college spokeswoman Kay Macintosh, the college has not offered its comments to the PSC and has taken no position yet.

The Public Service Commission is still taking public comments for and against aggregate net metering.

To see the PSC web page with comments which have already been submitted, type the words “Maryland PSC meter aggregation admin docket results” into Google.

Letters should reference “Admin Docket FM41” and should be addressed to Terry Romine, Maryland Public Service Commission, 6 St. Paul St. 16th Floor, Baltimore MD 21202.

New Tree Planting Video!

MGO Program in Kent County News

On June 14, Michael Hardesty, Chesapeake Semester Program Coordinator, led an oyster planting on Lankford Creek. With the partnership of DNR's Maryland Grows Oyster (MGO) program, growers on the Chester River raise oysters from spat in cages on their docks, which are then released on protected oyster bars. Read the full article here, and find out more about CES's involvement with MGO on our oyster page.

New Chesapeake Semester Video!

Chesapeake Semester students hit the road for Journey 1, "Discovering a Sense of Place," which included a ten-day 842 mile trip circumnavigating the Bay. Students departed from Chestertown and traveled down the Delmarva and up the Western Shore of Maryland stopping at historic landmarks like Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Shirley Plantation, Historic St. Mary's City, our state capital Annapolis, Havre de Grace, and Port Deposit. Nearing the end of the journey Chesapeake Semester students, Washington College faculty and SEA members enjoyed a sunset sail on the skipjack Martha Lewis out on the Susquehanna Flats.

Climate Action Coordinator Briggs Cunningham in the Kent County News

At their Tuesday evening meeting, Briggs Cunningham of the Center for Environment & Society delivered an audit of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions during the period July 2009 to June 2010.
He said Easton's Town Creek Foundation supported it. It follows reports done for Chestertown and Betterton.
He examined electricity use by county government and schools, county fuel use and estimated gas burned by commuting county employees.
The annual electric bill was $1,009,922, and $847,600 was spent on fuel for cars, trucks and heating. He estimated 239 employees used 42,987 gallons of gas going back and forth to work. The report's suggestions focused on conservation: a no-idling vehicle policy; buying only Energy Star products; turning off computers, lights and HVAC when leaving for the day; and a summer four-day work week to cut energy use for summertime cooling.
"How would you feel about a four-day week in the summer?" Rasin asked Planning Director Gail Owings. "I think people would be pretty happy with that," she said. As long as weekenders knew the office would be closed on Friday or Monday so they could plan accordingly, it would seem to be fine, she said.
Choptank Electric bills for the public works complex, community center and park; Worton's schools and wastewater plant sprayfield; Nicholson landfill; and "Galena transfer." Two Worton Park meters have not used electricity in years but Choptank has billed $948 and $228 each in minimum annual charges.
Rasin noted Choptank's rates seem to be much higher. Cunningham said they might be negotiable, or solar power could be installed to serve the parks, community center and schools. Any excess would be sold back to the supplier.
Craig O'Donnell, Kent County News. Used by permission.
June 16 2011