2023 LEAP Projects

Here’s a sample of LEAP’s 2023 activities: 

  • On Saturday, April 15 the 15th LEAP Energy Fair was held at the Crossett Brook Middle School gym and attracted 70 exhibitors and more than 600 visitors. This fair is the largest such gathering in Vermont. Attendees at this free event toured displays and spoke with experts about solar power, heat pumps, weatherization, green building, electric vehicles, pellet stoves, biomass, and many other topics. They also used the free electronics recycling. (The 2024 LEAP Energy Fair will be held at CBMS gym, Saturday, April 13, 2024 from 9 AM to 3 PM.  Please come join us!)

  • Alayna Howard and Kit Walker from LEAP gave presentations about energy efficiency and climate change to students at the Brookside Primary School, and then many students designed related posters that were displayed at the April 15 LEAP Energy Fair.

  • Each year Waterbury in Motion (a LEAP program) helps organize two Walk & Bike to School Days with Brookside Primary School and Crossett Brook Middle School.  At each event, up to 200 children and adults gathered at Rusty Parker Park. LEAP provided a free breakfast — bagels, fruit, OJ, coffee, muffins, cider.  After breakfast, the children and their chaperones biked, walked, or scootered to their respective schools. This year’s events took place on June 7 and September 13.

  • On June 28, LEAP’s Duncan McDougall joined Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, Representative Becca Balint, and EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan at SunCommon in Waterbury on a panel discussion to discuss the Solar for All program as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • On August 15 we hosted yet another LEAP Electric Vehicle Fest. This year, more than 175 people attended the exciting gathering at Crossett Brook Middle School. Attendees were able to tour 19 all-electric or plug-in hybrid EVs, and hear from Dave Roberts, the coordinator of Drive Electric Vermont, about the many advantages of driving an EV, the latest vehicles, and their ranges, and incentives. There was also an array of electric lawn appliances and a riding electric mower. To learn more about electric lawn equipment, visit mowelectric.org. Drive Electric Vermont has an excellent fact sheet listing all the EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs currently available in Vermont, with their price, range, tax credits, lease prices, and listing which are available in all-wheel drive. Learn more at driveelectricvt.com

  • On November 10 LEAP held a free Button Up Weatherization & Home Heating Workshop at the Steele Room in the Municipal Complex.  The free event drew 30 attendees who learned how to tighten up their home to save fuel and money. A senior energy consultant from Efficiency Vermont spoke about: the most common ways homes lose energy; DIY steps you can take to tighten up your house; energy audits and how they work; energy-efficient heating systems such as heat pumps; loans and incentives to help get the work done; and rebates for those affected by recent flooding. To learn more about ways to tighten up your home and save energy visit efficiencyvermont.com