UU church reduces its carbon footprint with solar panels
Madeleine Hepting from PennEnvironment welcomes visitors Thursday afternoon to see how the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley has worked on ‘Greening the Sanctuary.’
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Rob Lewis, building and facilities chair for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley, explains various environmentally friendly steps church members have taken.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Thursday’s presentation included this image that shows progress being made as workers install solar panels on the church roof.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Visitors and church members stand in the parking lot of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley, where solar panels on the church roof are easy to see.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
When church folks talk about “power from above,” many of them are referring to a Supreme Being.
But for members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley, “power from above” might also mean the sunlight that streams down onto 40 solar panels they’ve installed on the roof of their historic church building, which stands near the entrance to Frances Slocum State Park, off Mt. Olivet Road in Kingston Township.
By opting for this environmentally friendly way to generate electricity, the UU members are pleased to be following one of their seven principles, the one that calls for “Respect for the Interdependent Web of All Existence.”
“They’re living their values as stewards of the earth,” organizer Madeleine Hepting from the PennEnvironment advocacy group said early Thursday afternoon as church leadership, including members of the congregation’s “Green Team,” prepared to lead a tour.
Church members hope “to inspire others to do the right thing,” Rob Lewis, UUCWV building and facilities chair, said. “We need to act as individuals and congregations, to demonstrate what responsible, ecological actions look like.”
Not that it was easy. Going solar was “a long and winding road,” Lewis told Thursday’s gathering, explaining how the church, years ago, in response to an energy audit, insulated the building, which reduced the need for heat by about 10%.
There was more to come.
The church replaced its out-dated, oil-fired furnace with a high efficiency, gas-condensing boiler and added electric heat pumps, further reducing the need for energy. Next came a new metal roof, to facilitate the installation of solar panels.
While they had raised money for the new furnace, new roof and other improvements, church members were grateful they did not have to pay upfront for the solar panels. Instead they partnered with the Honesdale-based, member-owned Clean Energy Co-Op, which financed the purchase and installation.
Under the terms of a 25-year power purchase agreement, Co-Op director Jack Barnett explained, the UU congregation pays 11.5 cents per kilowatt hour to the Co-Op for all the electricity generated on its roof. Any surplus power goes to UGI, which pays the church.
Other aspects of the UUCWV’s “Greening of the Sanctuary” which Green Team leader Brian Dugas described on Thursday, included installing a playground and walkable labyrinth that can be used by the community, planting a vegetable garden near the church and maintaining a larger, community garden on a quarter acre at The Lands at Hillside Farms.
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