|
Welcome to the Fall Edition of our Southern Tier Clean Energy Communities (CEC) quarterly newsletter!
The purpose of this newsletter is to keep municipalities, elected officials, and others in the counties of Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins informed about the great work being performed in the Southern Tier to make our communities more sustainable and energy efficient. As coordinators, our focus is NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities initiative and other energy-related activities taking place throughout the region. We are available to assist you, your local government, and your community as you implement clean energy actions, save energy costs, create jobs, and improve the environment.
The Southern Tier region now has 21 officially designated Clean Energy Communities! Work continues with many other municipalities seeking designation and advice on energy usage. CEC coordinators are available to function as your municipality's energy advisor. If you have any questions regarding energy usage, or if you're interested in joining the movement towards becoming a Clean Energy Community, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Katherine Herleman, and Terry Carroll - CEC Coordinators for the Southern Tier
|
|
This past summer was a busy time for the Clean Energy Communities program in the Southern Tier. In addition to several new communities achieving Clean Energy Communities designation, we saw a huge influx of communities getting involved - we now stand at over 61 communities with at least one action approved! That ranks second among all regions statewide, just behind Central New York! We’re proud to see so many new communities deciding to pursue at least one of the actions, and we’re happy to see that even after two years, the program continues to reach new heights!
With all of that said, we still recognize that there are many communities that are still looking for a way to get involved. That’s why we would like to announce a new pilot program we’re testing out within CEC: Energy Action Plans. Cornell Cooperative Extension is teaming up with a local engineering firm,  Taitem Engineering, to educate communities on some basic steps they can take to reduce their energy use and save money for their residents. The hope is that by giving a community a tailored Energy Action Plan, we can help municipalities take their first or next steps towards greater energy efficiency or the adoption of renewables. Any community can be part of this program, but we will prioritize working with those that have passed a benchmarking resolution.
The way the program will work is this: a community will notify their CEC coordinator that they’re interested in getting an Energy Action Plan. The coordinator will then work with municipal officials or community members to gather some basic information, such as how many building the municipality has, what their current energy usage looks like, and what the goals for the municipality may be. Once that information is collected, a Coordinator will visit the municipality to walk through the buildings and collect more information and take pictures. All of this information will then be given to Taitem to conduct an analysis of the buildings and they will work with coordinators to develop some basic next steps a municipality can take to pursue their energy goals.
|
|
|
|
Clean Burn Furnace in Southern Tier Municipal Garage
|
|
|
If your municipality has an aging heating system and your board wants to explore options, or if your town or village have always wondered what getting a solar array may do, than this program is here to help you. Over the next couple of months we will slowly be discussing this program with communities around the Southern Tier, but if your municipality is interested, please let us know and we will give you more details on the program and how we plan to roll it out!
|
|
|
|
Ariel view of the Town of Franklin in Delaware County, NY
|
|
|
Congratulations are in order to Franklin, one of our latest designated Clean Energy Community in the Southern Tier! Located toward the northwest corner of Delaware County, Franklin is one of our small rural communities with a population of just under 2,500 - demonstrating that even our smallest communities can become designated.
Their supervisor, Jeff Taggart, worked for several months with our former colleague/coordinator Tara Donadio to accomplish four actions: Benchmarking, the Unified Solar Permit, Code Enforcement Training, and Clean Energy Upgrades. The latter of these, Clean Energy Upgrades is an action that is accomplished when a community reduces their building emissions by 10%. Franklin accomplished this with brand new LED lights in their town garage, leading to a total decrease in electricity usage of just over 30% and CO2 reductions of 14.6%!
One of the best things about Franklin installing LEDs is that in addition to saving energy, it’s also going to save the town a bunch of money! Talk about win-win! The town is now eligible to apply for a $5,000 grant from NYSERDA through the Block 3 categories.
The story of Franklin getting designated is one that we’ve seen a number of other municipalities follow, and really demonstrates that almost any municipality can participate in this program. Franklin took on items that are feasible for nearly everyone - Benchmarking, Code Enforcement Training and the Unified Solar Permit - and then found an action that worked with what the town wanted to do anyways - save money! Across the Southern Tier we’ve seen more and more municipalities look towards converting their interior lights to LEDs, taking advantage of NYSEG programs that can cover up to 70% of the cost.
If you're interested in following in Franklin's footsteps, think about what your municipality has done already, what they want to do in the future, and then give us a call to help figure out how you can get there!
|
|
|
Clean Fleets
Electrical Vehicles and Charging Stations: Some Options to Consider!
In New York State, transportation accounts for 28.8% of our primary energy consumption and 41.3% of our greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion -- a whopping 73.8 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually! Transportation also accounts for 80.3% of our petroleum use. Enabling the use of electric vehicles in our communities can have major economic and environmental benefits, which is why NYSERDA is incentivizing participation via the Clean Fleets High-Impact Action Item.
There are many potential benefits to municipalities. Recent studies have compared the costs between electric and combustion vehicles. Maintenance costs were found to be cheaper for electric vehicles due to less wear on the brakes and fewer moving parts. Lower maintenance costs paired with lower “fueling” costs (see a detailed price comparison by zip code in this helpful Department of Energy e-gallon tool) is a win-win for your municipal fleet budget and reduces dependency on foreign oil.
Additionally, combustion vehicles produce emissions which can impact the health, well-being, and productivity of your community. Air pollution has been directly linked to a higher number of ER visits, asthma attacks, and sick days taken by workers.
If you or your municipality are considering completing this high impact action, there are rebates and incentives that you may want to consider:
In recent months, NYSERDA has unveiled their Charge Ready NY incentive as a way to help your community attract and retain visitors, customers, employees, and tenants by installing electric vehicle charging stations around your community. Eligible public parking facilities, workplaces, and multifamily apartment buildings can receive $4,000 rebates per Level 2 EV charging port they install, leading to savings of 30-80%, depending on station and installation costs. For more information, check out the NYSERDA Charge NY webpage or the NYPA Charge NY contracting webpage and also take a look at NYPA’s other EV charging station services.
For vehicles, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has just released round three of their Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) rebate. Applications will be accepted from municipalities for rebates from now through July 26, 2019. Costs incurred by a municipality, on or after May 1, 2018, to purchase or lease, for at least 36 months, a new ZEV for its fleet are eligible for a rebate of up to $5,000. Battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are all eligible.
For more information, visit the Clean Fleets High-Impact Action Clean Fleets toolkit or reach out to your CEC coordinator.
|
|
|
|
Charging Station in use in the Village of Delhi, Delaware County
|
|
|
Communities all across the Southern Tier and NYS are already seeing the benefits of adopting EV vehicles and infrastructure for municipal and public use. Communities in Broome, Chemung Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, and Tompkins Counties have installed electric vehicle charging stations and are already seeing EV’s appearing! If you’re wondering where in your community an EV station might fit, check out this site suitability tool and talk to your CEC coordinator!
|
|
|
Congratulations are in order for several more municipalities who became designated CEC communities just as our last issue was being sent out. The Village of Johnson City in Broome County, and the Towns of Newfield and Franklin, in Tompkins and Delaware Counties respectively, are the newest designated communities in the Southern Tier.
Each community achieved designated status by passing a benchmarking resolution, attending code enforcement training and adopting the unified solar permit, but then each of them took a separate path for their fourth action: Newfield participated in a solarize campaign, Franklin achieved the clean energy upgrades action by installing interior LED lights in their town garage, and Johnson City installed an electric vehicle charging station and achieved the clean fleets action. All three communities have submitted documentation to collect their $5,000 Block 3 grant, leaving our region with a possible 20 grants remaining out of the 46 available Block 3 grants remaining Statewide. Congratulations are also in order for the Town of Ulysses for becoming a certified Climate Smart Community and Tompkins County who reached Silver Level in the Climate Smart Communities! Ulysses became the 21st community overall and Tompkins County became the fourth community to reach silver status, with their application featuring more points than any other community in the state! More information can be found here while you can see both their applications on the Climate Smart Communities website: https://climatesmart.ny.gov
|
|
|
|
Ulysses Municipal Staff and Residents accepting their CSC award from DEC Region 7 Regional Director, Matthew Marko
|
|
Governor Cuomo Announces Winners of 76West Clean Energy Competition: Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the six winning companies of the 76West Clean Energy Competition, one of the largest competitions in the country that focuses on supporting and growing clean energy businesses and fostering economic development. Rochester-based EkoStinger, which manufactures under-trailer aerodynamic devices for tractor trailers that reduce emissions and save fuel, was named the $1 million grand prize winner and will expand its operations to the Southern Tier.
|
|
|
|
NYSERDA releases 2018 New York Clean Energy Industry Report: New York is leading the nation in advancing clean energy technology and solutions in the fight on climate change. The State’s energy and climate policies and continued commitment to innovation have made the clean energy sector an engine for job and economic growth. The 2018 Clean Energy Industry Report is the latest in a multi-year, longitudinal research study that analyzes data on clean energy jobs, employer needs, and existing assets in New York’s clean energy sector. Learn more by downloading the report here: 2018 New York Clean Energy Industry Report
|
|
|
New online tool shows climate change in your backyard: Climate change hits home. It’s where you live. A warming world affects the Northeast region, and to demonstrate, the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (CICSS) has developed a new online tool: Climate Change in Your County.Using data from 1950 to 2013, and climate models showing future trends, the tool presents useful information for farmers, educators, gardeners and community leaders. Read more and try it out here.
UN climate report author: ambitious actions needed to slow global warming: In March 2017, Natalie Mahowald, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future’s faculty director for the environment, was selected by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a lead author on the “Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.” The final report made international headlines when it was released Oct. 8. Among its key findings: scientific evidence is clear that human activities have caused 1 C of global warming since the late 1800s, and current trends suggest if the planet keeps warming at the same rate global warming will pass 1.5 C (2.7 F) around 2040, with disastrous consequences for humans and ecosystems alike.
|
|
|
Upcoming CEC-eligible Energy Code Enforcement Workshops:
For municipalities interested in completing the Energy Code Enforcement High-Impact Action Item, learn more and complete the event registration on the NYSERDA website. Workshops are divided into two mandatory sessions and run 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Please ensure to sign up for both the Residential and Commercial sections to receive credit. Here’s a list of upcoming workshops near your area:
|
Region
|
Location
|
Address
|
Date
|
|
Finger Lakes
|
Victor
|
85 East Main Street, Victor, New York
|
11/28/2018
|
|
Western New York
|
Salamanca
|
4039 US-219, Salamanca, New York
|
11/29/2018
|
|
Western New York
|
Lockport
|
12 West Main Street, Lockport, New York
|
11/29/2018
|
|
Mohawk Valley
|
Schoharie
|
284 Main Street, Schoharie, New York
|
12/4/2018
|
|
|
|
NYSDEC CSC Webinar: Assessing Your Community's Economic & Climate Resiliency Thursday, November 9th, 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
In this webinar, we will discuss what financial and social factors local leaders should consider in addition to environmental pressures. We will also discuss what community resiliency is and how to plan for it, and some of the components of resiliency planning that your community may already be doing. Finally, the webinar will discuss some funding options to conduct resiliency planning, or to undertake projects that make your community, services, and facilities more resilient. The speaker will be Khris Dodson, the Associate Director of the Environmental Finance Center at Syracuse University.
Event contact: DEC Office of Climate Change: climatechange@dec.ny.gov
Central NY Clean Energy & Smart Street Lighting Workshop Tuesday, November 13, 2018 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Join this workshop to discover what clean energy projects might be right for your community. The workshop will cover distributed energy resources such as solar and battery storage, electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. Also you’ll learn about Smart Street Lighting NY- a program of the Power Authority. NYPA is aggregating demand and communities regionally across New York State to help lower project costs.
The workshop will also touch on how you can work with NYPA, what low-cost financing options are available and detailed information on how streetlights can function as part of a Smart City. Register Here
Steuben County Planning Department Annual Fall Training Thursday, November 15, 2018. 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Open to all Southern Tier REDC municipal officials. The Steuben County Planning Department has organized a four-part training intended for Town/Village Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board members. A light dinner will be provided. Attendees of this training will receive credit towards their annual requirements. Additional information and registration details may be found here.
Event contact: Matt Sousa, Senior Planner, Steuben County Department of Planning: MSousa@steubencountyny.gov; 607-664-2268
Capital District Regional Planning Commission Webinar: Clean Heating and Cooling Technologies Wednesday, November 28 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
The heating and cooling of buildings is responsible for approximately 32% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in New York State. Demand for cooling will grow as our climate continues to warm. In support of New York State's nation-leading GHG emissions reduction goals-targeting 40% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030, and 80% by 2050 - this webinar will cover the benefits of ground-source heat pumps systems, who can benefit, and installation requirements. Join NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities Capital District team for a statewide webinar to understand how clean heating and cooling technologies work and how your community can get involved. Click the link above for the webinar agenda and registration details.
If you have an event related to energy that you would like others to know about in our Fall CEC Newsletter, please contact your CEC Coordinator.
|
|
|
|
|
