RESIDENTIAL: The Energy Roadshow kicked off on October 30th, the same day we launched the new Montgomery Energy Connection website. We have two more events scheduled for Thursday, November 14th and the 21st at the Germantown and Olney libraries respectively. If you have questions about switching to renewable energy, energy scams, or rebates and incentives, this is the event for you! Come attend an event and fill up your goodie bag with energy information. Find out more here. 

RESIDENTIAL: As summer comes to an end and the leaves (and temperature) continues to fall, Pepco has created a quick, checklist of six things you can do to make your home more comfortable and keep money in your pocket. As the temperatures drop, your energy use tends to rise. Don’t let cold weather surprise you on your first winter energy bill by implementing a few of these simple tips.   Not sure where to start? Visit pepco.com/waystosave or call them at 1-866-353-5798. Their experts can point you in the right direction to fall into savings this season.

COMMERCIAL: You reduce and recycle like a fiend. You have a compost bin in your kitchen, and you carry a metal straw in your purse. You obviously take carbon footprint reduction seriously – but does your hair salon? Most of the hair color, color tubes, foils, papers, plastics containers, glass, and cans your stylist uses ends up getting tossed in the trash – along with the all the hair trimmed from your head that ends up on the floor. Stuffed into plastic trash bags, most of it ends up contributing to the mountains of waste made each year. Sweet HairAfter, a full-service salon in Kensington, is doing its part to change that, read more.

CLIMATE: On October 24, the County’s two newest climate planning workgroups—Community Engagement and Education and Climate Adaptation and Sequestration—convened for the first time. These workgroups are developing recommendations and prioritizing actions for the County to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and adapt to an already changing climate. The members of the two new workgroups complement the work of three existing climate planning workgroups—Buildings, Clean Energy, and Transportation.  Members of the public are welcome to attend climate planning workgroup meetings. Upcoming meeting dates are posted on the County’s Climate webpage.   

The Montgomery County Energy Team receives tons of newsletters and articles every day, and these are a few articles that we wanted to share this month. These articles range from  county, state, national and international stories, we hope you find them as interesting as we did. 

Apprentice Program: The state’s Registered Apprenticeship program aims to help employers stymied by labor shortages to find and train qualified employees, while offering workers 18 or older an alternative pathway to college, www.marylandmatters.org

Clean Energy: Which Americans are willing to pay extra for clean energy? A poll of 2,000 registered American voters found that 47% of respondents said they would be willing to pay more for clean energy, www.electrek.co

Communication: Montgomery County’s new Community Engagement and Education Workgroup is looking for ways to better communicate with local communities about climate change. The group met for the first time Thursday, October 24^th, www.localdvm.com

Education: Countless studies have been released about the benefits and opportunities of putting solar panels on commercial and residential buildings, but educational buildings have been an untapped resource so far, www.renewableenergymagazine.com

Electric Cars: Europe's switch to electric cars is accelerating. Honda is advancing its plans by 3 years, Honda (HMC) said that the accelerated timetable reflects its confidence in green technology and regulatory changes that have upended the industry in Europe, www.cnn.com

Jobs: For the second year in a row, energy efficiency is America’s fastest-growing energy industry — accounting for about half (76,000) of the sector’s entire job growth in 2018 (151,700) — now eclipsing 2.3 million American workers, www.e2.org

McDonalds: McDonald's said that 380 megawatts (MW) worth of renewable energy would be produced, while the power will not be routed directly to McDonald's restaurants or offices, the electricity would add to the total renewable energy available to the grid, www.natureworldnews.com

Nuclear: The challenge of finding and funding a final repository for radioactive nuclear waste has not been solved by any of the countries employing nuclear power in Europe or the rest of the world, www.cleanenergywire.org

Reduce Waste: Trying to save money? Cutting down on any of these wasteful practices will trim expenses and help the planet, too, www.thestreet.com

Solar: More than 200 mayors are urging Congress to extend solar tax credits for five more years, saying the federal tax breaks have helped create jobs and spurred investment in local economies, www.routefifty.com

Solar Roof: Tesla announced its third iteration of the electricity-generating house-topper will be cheaper, easier, and faster to install than its predecessors called Solar Glass Roof, www.wired.com

Waste at Work: Kaitlyn Dickie was kind enough to step in front of the camera to show us a few simple changes like bringing your own coffee cup, avoiding takeaway trays, and bringing your own grocery bags to the store can help you prevent A LOT of waste, www.pelacase.com