There’s just one shop in Connecticut dedicated to giving visitors young and old, a hands-on learning experience to discover energy-efficient, renewable energy ideas, and solutions—and now it’s located in North Haven.

Before moving to the Target Plaza at 122 Universal Drive North, the Energize Connecticut Center was previously housed in Orange for 13 years and known as the SmartLiving Center before it closed last June.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Klee and town officials including First Selectman Mike Freda were on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony at the recent entertainment-packed June 13 grand-opening.

“We worked to bring this concept to North Haven in an effort to help promote the latest in energy efficiency solutions through educational tours [and] interactive displays, and how to achieve cost savings for our residents and our businesses,” Freda said.

The center is a professionally staffed facility for visitors of all ages and focuses on the role energy plays in our daily lives. Interactive displays illustrate energy sources, electricity generation, and unique fun ways to use energy efficiently either at home, in business, or in the community.

This resource center is designed to help everyone in the area make smarter energy choices. The center also promotes energy-saving products and services with representatives on-site to talk about Energize Connecticut programs for homes and businesses.

Marissa Westbrook, manager of Residential Energy Services for the United Illuminating (UI) Company, and Mitch Gross, spokesperson for Eversource (formerly called Northeast Utilities), spoke to the Courier about the new Energize Connecticut Center.

Westbrook explained the unique aspect of the center, saying, “It is essentially part science museum and part resource center,” and teaches “both residents and businesses about energy and energy efficiency. So there is something for everyone.”

According to Westbrook, school tours have already become popular at the center, and kids are enjoying the interactive ways to learn about energy itself and energy saving sources.

Westbrook also shared the reasoning behind the move to North Haven.

“First and foremost, we wanted to move it to a larger, more central location in the state in order to service both the UI customer base and Eversource customer base,” she said.

The store is operated as a partnership between both utilities, Gross explained, adding that programs are managed under the brand Energize Connecticut.

Gross said that visitors can expect a center that “is educational, interactive, informative, and free—the ideal combination! It’s also an opportunity for a little entertainment, and to learn a lot about energy, how it’s made, and how you can save energy and money.”

Energize Connecticut is an initiative of the Energy Efficiency Fund, the Connecticut Green Bank, the state, and your local electric and gas utilities, with funding from a charge on customer energy bills. Information on energy-saving programs can be found at energizect.com.

Contact Jaki Lauper at j.lauper@shorepublishing.com with North Haven news ideas.