Ridgefield is one of 14 communities around the state participating in a special challenge to increase its use of clean, renewable energy.

Working with the Clean Water Fund, the towns will strive to build local coalitions, work with municipal leaders and train local volunteers to get more than 10 percent of their households and businesses to reduce their energy use by at least 20 percent.

The project, called the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge, "includes a comprehensive portfolio of tools including an innovative online platform, an on-the-ground clean energy community corps to spread the word about the program, financing help to assist homeowners with energy efficiency measures and clean energy installations, and rewards to communities for reaching their goals," according to a release.

Ridgefield is participating along with Bethany, Cheshire, East Haddam, East Hampton, Glastonbury, Lebanon, Mansfield, Portland, Wilton, Weston, Westport, Wethersfield and Windham, which all together have nearly 100,000 households.

The project will be implemented by a partnership comprised of nine public, private, academic and nonprofit organizations and state funds: AFC First Financial, Clean Water Fund, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, Earth Markets, Efficiency 2.0, MIT Field Intelligence Lab/Empower Devices, SmartPower and the Student Conservation Association.