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NORTH MARSHFIELD — Len Bicknell angled his new garage toward the sun two decades ago, making room for the solar panels he planned to slap on top. He couldn't afford the expensive panels until several months ago, however, when the company with seemingly the most to gain from big electric bills stepped in to help pay for them.
NStar, like other utilities, is confronting soaring demand for energy and has launched an aggressive effort in one little seaside town to find ways to ease that pressure, doling out money for solar panels, "smart" thermostats and energy audits to cut power usage by 8 percent during peak hours.
If it fails, it may be forced to spend millions upgrading substations.
As part of its two-year project, NStar helps residents of Marshfield purchase solar panels, offers free energy audits and installs "smart" thermostats that the utility can remotely control and rein in air conditioner use.
For Bicknell, who couldn't afford the $30,000 solar system, participation was a no-brainer. NStar's program and tax credits helped knock down the cost to about $10,000. Since he installed them in September, they've pushed his NStar meter backward at times, generating more power than NStar is supplying.
It will take years for Bicknell to recoup his investment, but he figures rising fuel prices will only bring that break-even day here faster.
"At some point, people say, 'I can make an investment that can cut (my electric bill) in half,'" Bicknell said. "Why wouldn't people do it?"
So far, NStar has completed more than 800 energy audits and placed solar panels at five commercial buildings and 27 homes. That's four times more than any other community in NStar's service area in the eastern half of Massachusetts in 2008, despite Marshfield's small size.
NStar has also installed "smart" thermostats for free in 240 homes and 80 businesses.
Other utility companies have cut deals with business owners who let them put solar panels on their roofs. Utilities have also signed agreements with residents who voluntarily allow them to regulate air conditioners during certain hours of the day.
Mark Farber of Photon Consulting, a solar energy consulting firm, said few, if any, have tried to integrate green measures and market them to one town.
NStar could push more consumers to install less popular green technology, like the "smart theromostats" people reject because of loss of control, by packaging it with incentives for expensive, green technology and selling it all under a banner of improved efficiency. The overall approach is a major change in an industry that's long focused on supplying energy, not selling less of it, Farber said
"It's a pretty remarkable change of culture," said Farber, who serves on an advisory board for the Marshfield project. "They're not just feeding energy to us. They're becoming potentially the network manager."
Marshfield, a town of 24,000 about 30 miles south of Boston, wasn't chosen because NStar was partial to its salt air or fertile shellfishing beds. Instead, the town's growing energy needs were making the same demands on its system that NStar knew many other communities would soon make, said Penni-McLean Conner, NStar vice president of customer care.
If demand falls in Marshfield, the utility can expand the program, said NStar spokesman Michael Durand.
The "Marshfield Energy Challenge" was launched in April last year by NStar and its partner, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the state's economic development agency for renewable energy, which is splitting the project's $4 million cost.
Consumers aren't required to participate in one part of the program to benefit from another.
Marshfield resident Christine Fortin and her husband agreed to install the "smart" thermostats, in part because NStar offered free insulation upgrades as incentive. New insulation ultimately wasn't possible because of the design of their beach side house, but Fortin, who also has new solar panels on her roof, has few worries as she heads into her first summer without total control of her air conditioning.
"We're all about saving money and saving energy," she said.
