Worcester, MA

Background

The City of Worcester in the heart of Massachusetts and New England – has transformed itself into a progressive and vibrant city with an active, diverse culture. A growing community of over 182,000 people, Worcester has had a long-standing commitment to climate protection, energy efficiency and sustainability. Examples include the City’s curbside recycling program (1993), its resolution to join the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (2003), its Clean Energy resolution (2005), its membership to Local Governments for Sustainability – ICLEI (2006), its adoption of a Climate Action Plan (2007), its designation as a MA Green Community (2010), and its recently launched Worcester Energy program – www.worcesterenergy.org (2012).

The City will reduce energy usage and intensity by 20% over the next three years, primarily through the implementation of a $26 million energy efficiency and capital improvement project to upgrade 92 municipal facilities, including public school buildings. In addition to creating local jobs and saving approximately $1.4 million in energy savings annually, this project will reduce municipal carbon emissions by more than 6,000 tons annually. The City of Worcester also plans to reduce energy use beyond the initial 20% by 2020 through other planned efficiency projects, as well as the implementation of several solar arrays.