Boston City Council Hears $10 Million Eversource Grant for Public Building Upgrades

BOSTON — August 20, 2024 — Boston weighs a $10 million Eversource grant for energy efficiency upgrades at public buildings. The City Council's Committee on Environmental Justice, Resiliency, and Parks held a hearing Tuesday on docket 0682, which would authorize the city to accept and expend funds from Eversource, including rebates and equipment, for upgrades to city-owned facilities. Carlton Jones, Executive Director of the Public Facilities Department, told committee Chair Gabriela Coletta Zapata and colleagues Councillors Erin J. Murphy and Edward M. Flynn that the money would go toward air handling units, heat pumps, energy recovery units, and potentially geothermal systems, including a first test project at the John F. Kennedy School in Jamaica Plain. Jones confirmed the funds are restricted to public buildings and cannot be distributed to residents or applied to public housing. He was unable at the hearing to identify the grant's origin or provide a specific project list, and the committee said it would move the matter to a full Council vote Wednesday if that information arrives in time.