City of Newton Energy Coach, Liora Silkes, appeared before the Newton Citizens Commission on Energy last week and presented a summary of this year’s accomplishments with Newton’s 4OurFuture campaign. The 4OurFuture campaign is a City initiative designed to encourage Newton residents to take 4 energy actions — Weatherize, Heat and Cool Smart, Go Solar, and Green your transportation — to address the climate crisis and help Newton attain its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 (see City of Newton Climate Action Plan – Second Annual Status Report, September 2022).
While data for the fourth quarter of 2022 has not yet been finalized or reported, data for the first three quarters of the year show the following:
| Project Data for 2022 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
| Mass Save Home Energy Assessments | 294 | 271 | 239 | N/A |
| Mass Save Weatherization jobs | 88 | 89 | 80 | N/A |
| Heat pump rebates | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| HeatSmart heat pump installs | 12 | 20 | 16 | N/A |
| Small solar systems | 50 | 44 | 23 | N/A |
| Large solar systems | 0 | 3 | 1 | N/A |
| Electric Vehicles % Total Vehicles | 4.1% | 4.3% | N/A | N/A |
The summary report suggests that there are about 147 active or completed permits for residential projects involving heat pumps or heat pump installation and about 148 residential project permits listing the installation of EV car chargers.
The program’s goals for 2023 are to:
- Reach outside the usual network of climate activists,
- Create more marketing materials,
- Increase training of more citizens interfacing with the public,
- Attend more events, and
- Increase social media presence and physical presence around the City with more signage, stickers, and banners.
