Wareham may see its Water Pollution Control Facility go "green" in the near future if the Board of Selectmen approves a program that guarantees savings to towns for making their facilities more energy efficient.

Water Pollution Control Facility Director Guy Campinha and Eileen McHugh, Municipal Energy Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, discussed the program with the Board of Selectmen at its March 27 meeting.

Performance contracting brings private energy companies, for example Siemens or Honeywell, into town to do an assessment of a facility -- in Wareham's case, the sewer plant. The company then provides an estimate of the savings that could be obtained by installing energy-efficient equipment, Campinha explained after the meeting.

The energy company must guarantee a determined amount of savings that would be recouped over a period of time -- usually 20 years.

The state takes an advisory role throughout the process, which includes scrutinizing contracts and "making sure it is done right," Campinha said.

The town would ask a number of energy companies to provide estimates for the upgrade.

"You would be selecting the energy company…that provided the best payback for the job," McHugh said.

Selectman Ellen Begley raised concerns about the start-up costs of such a program.

For example, in order to select an energy company to provide an estimate, the town must put out what is called a "request for qualification," or RFQ, which sets a minimum number of qualifications a company needs in order to be selected for the program.

The town may need to hire a person knowledgeable with the RFQ process in order to ensure that the best company is selected. That trained person could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000, McHugh explained.

The energy company would not charge for its initial assessment of energy-efficient savings, Campinha said. But it would charge anywhere from $60,000 to $160,000 for the "official" assessment, McHugh said.

The cost of the official assessment would be applied to the total cost of the project if the town went forward with the plan, but would have to be paid to the company even if the town did not go through with it.

Of the 160 municipalities in Massachusetts that have participated in the program, McHugh said she knew of only a "handful of towns that have backed out, and only a couple of them have had to pay" the fee for the official assessment.

If Wareham did not obtain the savings that the energy company guaranteed, the company would be required to pay the difference, Campinha said after the meeting.

After reviewing the program, the Board of Selectmen agreed to continue to discuss the idea in future meetings.