image description — The town would have to determine which circuit to tie into if it moves forward with a photovoltaic array. This shows the 18C BERKSHIRE circuit.

Dalton Green Committee Aims to Obtain Data for Town Solar PV Arrays

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:29PM / Saturday, March 30, 2024Print Story | Email Story

DALTON, MASS. — The Green Committee is working to obtain information from Eversource to inform the possibility of developing solar polar photovoltaic arrays in town.

The committee approved using $250 during its meeting last week for a pre-application to Eversource. This application will provide data that will inform how to develop a solar PV array in town.

The efforts to develop PV arrays is supported by the state Department of Energy Resources' Green Communities initiative and has been part of the town's master plan since 2016.

One of the master plan's goals in the infrastructure section is to improve the town's energy efficiency.

To minimize the tax impact of this goal, one of the objectives is to "support the development of solar farms on town property to reduce the cost of electricity for the town."

Upon submitting a pre-application, Eversource is required to send back a range of data within 10 business days otherwise it's free.

The town needs to determine how much it can load the two circuits available. There are two lines that come into Dalton — 18C BERKSHIRE and 19A DOREEN.

According to a Eversource representative, the company cannot provide that information without submitting the pre-application.

Eversource's DC Hosting Capacity map does not have all the information needed to inform future projects and is inaccurate because it represents people who submitted applications but may not have a live PV array, Green Committee member Todd Logan said later.

The Green Committee will use the Senior Center as a mock location for a 375-kilowatt solar array in its pre-application because the two circuits border the center. The 18C BERKSHIRE circuit is located on High Street and 19A DOREEN on Glennon Avenue. Dalton would have to determine which circuit to connect to.

Since the Green Committee is not proposing building a solar array on the land in front of the Senior Center, this gives the town "the opportunity to figure out which circuit would be best suited for an income generating and power generating PV array," Logan said.

The pre-application will provide data, including the substation transformer rating, the substation's circuit voltage and name, the phase available near the site, and the distance from the phase service if it's a single phase.

It also includes standards for the interconnection of distributed generation, including information on aggregate connected facilities that have not yet been interconnected, the interconnecting customer's network types and nearby feeders, and potential system constraints that may impact the proposed facility, among other things.

Tags: green committee, photovoltaic, solar array,

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Pittsfield Council Revisiting DEI Office Restructure

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:11PM / Tuesday, October 13, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The conversation about the DEI office renaming that was halted by a charter objection will resume on Tuesday.

The City Council will discuss a request from Mayor Peter Marchetti to restructure the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

It proposes to rename the DEI office to the Office of Equity, Access, and Opportunity and merge the Human Rights Commission and Affirmative Action Committee into an Equity, Access and Opportunity Commission.

The Ordinance and Rules Subcommittee supported the changes in August, and in September, Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham delayed the vote with a charter objection.

Pittsfield's City Code prohibits charter states that "if a single member present objects to the taking of the vote, the vote shall be postponed until the next meeting of the city council." It also stipulates that at least four members must object if it is an emergency measure.

Cunningham also submitted a petition, which was referred to O&R under Rule 27, to replace the DEI Office and the Human Rights Commission with an equity, access, and opportunity coordinator in the Department of Community Development, with formal complaints and Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action functions assigned to Human Resources.

At the last meeting, he spent more than an hour querying the mayor and chief diversity officer about functions and effectiveness of the department, wanting more quantitative data. Cunningham proposed an ordinance that he says keeps Pittsfield's commitment to equity, access, and opportunity, "refocuses it on measurable results for our residents, and delivers it at a fraction of the current cost."

Under this petition, the equity, access, and opportunity coordinator would be a $60,000 to $80,000 per year position.

The DEI Office's fiscal year 2027 budget was about $200,000 after cuts during budget season; $106,700 for the chief diversity officer and $58,000 for the administrative assistant. The coordinator would be appointed by the director of community development and the mayor.

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