PROVIDENCE – The City of Providence will host a clean energy fair on June 24 to promote community awareness of energy-saving technologies and sustainability practices.
Held by the city’s Office of Sustainability in partnership with environmental nonprofit People’s Power & Light and the Rhode Island chapter of the Sierra Club, the fair is the first of its kind for Providence in recent years. Energy professionals at the fair will present a series of free informational workshops about solar energy, electric vehicles, heat pumps, home efficiency, and other topics related to renewable energy and sustainable solutions.
Designed to be a family event, the fair will also feature an electric car showcase, food trucks and live music presented by the Eastern Medicine Singers. The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island, an environmental advocacy nonprofit, will offer “toxic tours” of environmentally hazardous sites in and around Providence aboard its biodiesel “EcoBus.”
Leah Bamberger, director of sustainability for the City of Providence, is slated to present the fair’s keynote address.
The event was planned as part of a community outreach effort in answer to a growing public interest in energy efficiency and green power. Earlier this month, the R.I. Office of Energy Resources released the 2017 Rhode Island Clean Energy Jobs Report, which found that employment in the state’s clean energy sector has grown 66 percent since 2014 to a current total of more than 15,300 jobs.
Lauren Vunderink, a spokesperson for the Office of Sustainability, said as many as two hundred people are expected to attend the clean energy event.
The Providence Energy Fair will be held Saturday, June 24, at the Southside Cultural Center, located on Broad Street, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event is free and open to public. Translation services in Spanish will be available for the speaking program, and childcare services will be provided for parents who wish to attend workshops.
EcoBus “toxic tours” will depart at 10:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
For more information or to RSVP to attend, visit the event’s Facebook page.
Kaylen Auer is a reporter for PBN.
