Government » Climate and Sustainability

Newton Energy Commission

Font Size: + -
Share & Bookmark, Press Enter to show all options, press Tab go to next option
Print

Commission Members

Philip Hanser, Chair
Edison Almeida
Michael Gevelber
Stephen Grody
Reihaneh Irani-Famili
Jonathan Kantar
Jon Slote, Vice Chair
Jay Snyder, Vice Chair
Rachel White
Ann Berwick (ex-officio)
Sam Nighman (ex-officio)

 Newton Energy Commission Fact Sheets

NCCE Residential Electrification Recommendations to the City Council May 2025

Garland Road Electrification Pilot Project May 2025

The Newton Energy Commission (formerly Newton Citizens' Commission on Energy) Charter can be found here. The Bylaws can be found here. 

The Energy Commission meets monthly, and addresses the actions Newton must take to meet the goals of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, which requires the elimination of most green house gas emissions by 2050.

In response, the Energy Commission prepared the 2019 Citizens Action Plan (CCAP) and submitted it to Mayor Fuller in May 2019.

This website, by Peter Barrer, has the current state of Newton's gas leaks

Gas pipes-Jun 2023

Gas explosion-May 2023

To Mayor re. BERDO-February 2022

NCCE’s Residential Recommendations  

Response to EDC Letter January 2022

Energy Commission Members 2024

Signed MOU with Utilities Oct 2020

Memo on Zoning and Climate Action Plan Nov 2020

Proposal for Committee on Climate Action Jan 2021

To City Council Regarding IPCC Report Aug 2021

Recommendations for Meeting GHG Emission Goals for Residential Sector, April 12, 2023

Letter to the Mayor re: Residential Sector Emissions, April 12, 2023

Letter to the Mayor and City Council re: gas explosion on April 6, 2023

Meeting Documents

2026:

2025:

2024:

  • January 2024: Meeting summary here
  • February 2024: Agenda here, Meeting Summary here
  • March (April 3rd) 2024: Agenda here
  • April 2024: Agenda here
  • July 10 2024: Agenda here
  • July 31 2024: Agenda here, Meeting Summary here
  • Sept 4 2024: Agenda here, Meeting Summary here
  • Sept 25 2024: Agenda here, letter to ZAP here
  • October 30 2024: Agenda here
  • November 20, 2024: Agenda here, Meeting Minutes here
  • December 2024: Agenda here

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

 The Newton Climate Change Listening Project

In a City with aggressive climate goals, educated people, and above-average means, why is the adoption of climate-friendly actions so low… and how can we influence it? To address this question, three Newton residents decided to actively engage Newton residents to better understand their:

  • perceptions about climate change;
  • favored communication channels;
  • actions taken to date; and
  • barriers to taking further action.

They also wanted to know what residents thought about the City’s activities. With the support of the Newton Citizen’s Commission on Energy, the “Newton Climate Change Listening Project” was launched in March 2022, consisting of two parts: an online survey followed by facilitated listening sessions in May.

183 people took the survey; and 14 people participated in two listening sessions. The results of survey and listening sessions were presented to the Mayor on May 31st. Here we present the slide deck as presented to the Mayor, with appendices that further detail the methodology. Please see video here.