NORWICH — Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Edward Pepe informed council members of the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities, and how the city would benefit from becoming one.

Pepe said joining the Clean Energy Community would make Norwich eligible for grants that are meant to be used for improving energy efficiency in the city.

"We're looking at this because if you do this, if you become part of this Clean Energy Community, you're able to apply for grants to help upgrade and make energy efficient improvements," he said.

The grants can range from $5,000 plus upkeep, to $70,000, according to Pepe, although most commonly fall around $10,000.

In order to join, however, Pepe said Norwich would need four "high impact actions" geared toward energy improvement.

"So one of them we already did. LED street lights. So we've got that in the bag. That's good; so we need three more," said Pepe. "One that I think would be pretty straightforward is benchmarking, which is we keep track of how much energy we use in all the buildings."