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Welcome to the Fall 2019 Edition of our Southern Tier Clean Energy Communities (CEC) quarterly newsletter!

Welcome to the Fall 2019 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 35 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
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We’d like to use this edition to highlight two staff members who assist Community Coordinators and municipalities with the Clean Energy and Climate Smart Communities programs.

Osamu Tsuda works with municipalities throughout the Southern Tier region on the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Program. While his work is primarily centered around assisting municipalities to become certified CSCs, he also provides assistance around developing municipality-specific planning documents ranging from Greenhouse Gas Inventories to Natural Resource Inventories.

Our newest staff member, Theodora Weatherby, works behind the scenes on marketing and outreach for both programs and will be working on outreach strategies and material creation to help with sharing information on gaining certification. You’ll notice some changes in graphics, newsletter formats, and other forms of media and outreach.

As 2019 is coming to a close, our Community Coordinators and staff are working harder than ever to get ready for the new year! We expect that NYSERDA will release updates and changes to the Clean Energy Communities program in the Spring. In anticipation of these changes, and to add to the resources available to our communities we have launched a website! This website consolidates information on the CEC and CSC programs, highlights community examples of completed actions from the Southern Tier region, and provides additional resources and information such as events, webinars, and online tools.

Please check out the new website at southerntiercec.org

Congratulations to Broome County in becoming a Bronze-certified Climate Smart Community!

In doing so, they joined a select group of municipalities in New York State that are both a Bronze level Climate Smart Community as well as a certified Clean Energy Community.

In the process of becoming a Clean Energy Communities, Broome County passed EnergizeNY (PACE) legislation, adopted a benchmarking resolution, participated in Solarize campaigns and in 2018 installed a huge 5.2MW DC array expected to produce over 6 million kilowatt hours, save the County $140,000 per year and reduce their emissions from buildings over 1,000 sq. ft. by over 50%!

In becoming a designated Clean Energy Community Broome County was able to obtain the region’s last $150,000 block 2 grant for large communities. The County plans on using this funding to convert the interior lights of their downtown Binghamton County office building and Family Court Annex to LEDs. This will convert just under 5,000 lights and will likely result in savings over 85,000 kWh of electricity and save over $28,000 a year!

On the Climate Smart Communities side, Broome County achieved Bronze designation status with 178 points from 37 completed actions.

These included conducting energy audits of government buildings, installing the aforementioned 5.2MW array, promoting bicycling and walking through the Two Rivers Greenway, and a number of actions around flood resilience and climate adaptation. "Participation in the Climate Smart Communities program is a great way to recognize the hard work County departments have already done to make us more sustainable," said Beth Lucas, Senior Planner for Broome County. "The Bronze certification empowers our staff and officials to continue working toward the goals of improving efficiencies, reducing flood risk, improving solid waste management, cleaning up brownfields, fostering an innovative economy, and supporting agriculture". To learn more about the CSC actions completed by the county, view their certification report on the Climate Smart Communities website.

As a Bronze-certified community, Broome County will now obtain 6 additional points on any Climate Smart Community grants that they apply for. Climate Smart Community grants have a minimum threshold of points necessary to be granted, with high scoring grant applications receiving funding priority over those with lower scores. So in a year that’s expected to be competitive when it comes to funding, every point value matters and the additional points available for passing the pledged and becoming certified will hopefully help the County receive grant funds for a number of projects they are considering!

Broome County has proven itself to be a leader not only in the Southern Tier, but also statewide when it comes to sustainability. We look forward to seeing more communities follow their lead in becoming both Climate Smart and Clean Energy Communities. If you’re interested in taking the first step, don’t hesitate to contact the coordinator in your area!

Did you know that energy often accounts for 10 percent or more of a local municipality’s annual operating budget? Benchmarking energy use of municipal buildings, allows municipalities to track energy utility expenses across their entire portfolio and pick which buildings to prioritize for energy efficiency projects based on their relative cost and building score.

The next step is to identify Clean Energy Upgrades, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in municipal buildings and facilities. By replacing outdated equipment with new smart and efficient technology, municipalities are well positioned to save energy and money over time. State programs can help get these projects accomplished with no or low up-front cost while generating net savings to your bottom line. Everything from municipal headquarters to public works facilities, fire stations, police precincts, parks facilities, and even water treatment plants are good candidates for upgrades.

The required reduction in greenhouse gas emissions may be achieved with renewable energy sources including solar, community distributed generation (CDG), wind, geothermal, premium-efficiency wood pellets, anaerobic digester gas, or renewable energy certificates (RECs) which are retired on behalf of the Municipality in a New York State Generation Attribute Tracking System (NYGATS) Account.

The Southern Tier Clean Energy Communities team recently developed a one-page introduction to common clean energy upgrades projects (available here) and an extended case study for municipalities that would like step-by-step guidance to pursue LED lighting upgrades (available here). As seen in the figure below, the relative percentage of electricity end use for commercial buildings has dropped extensively - this is in large part because building managers are upgrading to LED lightbulbs.

Figure (Left): (US Average Electricity End Use - Commercial Building Sector https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/reports/2012/lighting/)

In order to qualify, municipalities must submit the following documentation for any project completed after January 1, 2014:

An ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager benchmarking report.The report should cover at least 12 months but not more than 36 months of energy use of the portfolio from the year(s) prior to the commencement date of the upgrades as the baseline.
Succinct and relevant documentation that demonstrates a minimum 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions against the baseline with projects that are substantially complete by the date of submission. The documentation may include 1) an ASHRAE Energy Audit, 2) an approved pre-and-post engineering study that identifies implemented Energy Conservation Measures, 3) an executed contract or agreement, or 4) comparable information.
A complete Clean Energy Upgrades Calculator, available in the Clean Energy Upgrades toolkit.

For more information about identifying and pursuing energy efficiency and clean energy projects which meet CEC Clean Energy Upgrades criteria, please reach out to your regional CEC coordinator.

Congratulations to our four, newly-certified Climate Smart Communities in the Southern Tier region:

Broome County, the Town of Caroline (Tompkins), the Town of Dryden (Tompkins) and the Village of Montour Falls (Schuyler)!

The Village of Montour Falls became the first certified CSC in Schuyler County. The Town of Caroline and the Town of Dryden also became certified CSC’s, joining 4 other communities in Tompkins County, including the Town and City of Ithaca and the Town of Ulysses with bronze-level CSC certifications and Tompkins County with silver-level CSC certification. Mark Witmer, Caroline Town Supervisor, said: “Caroline pledged to become a Climate Smart Community in 2012. At that point, the Town had already made important strides, and that momentum has continued to this day. In Dryden, Town Supervisor Jason Leifer said the award acknowledges the Town's long history of energy conservation work, from the construction its 12-year old energy efficient Town Hall, to the development of three, new community solar farms currently underway.

For more information on the Clean Energy Communities and Climate Smart Communities programs, or to see community examples for the various action items needed to become certified, visit our website at southerntiercec.org!

Governor Cuomo Announces Winners of 76West Clean Energy Competition

Pittsburgh-based Optimus Technologies, which manufactures biodiesel fuel systems for diesel trucks that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs, was named the $1 million grand prize winner, and will expand its operations to the Southern Tier. The competition supports Governor Cuomo's Green New Deal, the most aggressive climate change program in the nation and complements "Southern Tier Soaring," the region's comprehensive strategy to generate robust economic growth and community development.

76West Winners Soaring in the Southern Tier

In total, 76West winners from the prior three years have raised $28 million in private capital, made multimillion-dollar investments in property and equipment in the region, and spent more than $1.7 million on key suppliers, and this year's winners will add to the continuation of this Southern Tier trend. As a condition of the award, companies must either move to the Southern Tier or establish a direct connection with the Southern Tier economy, such as a supply chain partnership, job development with Southern Tier companies or other strategic relationships with Southern Tier entities that help spur economic development and create jobs. For companies already located in the Southern Tier, they must commit to substantially growing their business and employment in the region.

Read the full press release here.

Congratulations to the Village of Horseheads

The Village of Horseheads has becoming the first community in the Southern Tier to complete the Community Choice Aggregation action item for the Clean Energy Communities program. Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) allows local governments to choose where the energy comes from for their community. CCA puts control of choosing energy supply in local hands. By pooling demand, communities build the clout necessary to negotiate lower rates with private suppliers, and are able to choose cleaner energy. A CCA can allow whole communities to participate in the clean energy economy by ensuring that a greater percentage of electricity is coming from renewable sources. Interested in offering Community Choice Aggregation for your community? Contact your Community Coordinator today!

Charge Ready NY

Charge Ready NY offers public and private organizations that install Level 2 EV charging stations at public parking facilities, workplaces, and multifamily apartment buildings rebates of $4,000 per charging port they install, a significant savings of 30% to 80%, depending on station and installation costs.

NYSERDA’s Charge Ready NY Program – How to Sign Up to Participate

All Eyes On New Community Solar Power Program In Wappingers Falls, New York

Wappingers Falls has been updating its master plan to address climate change and sustainability along with land use, historic preservation and other concerns. The new initiative pairs Wappingers Falls with the company CleanChoice Energy, which will act as its preferred provider. The idea is to get people to subscribe to the company’s portfolio of local solar farms.

Read More Here

New York State Releases Energy-Efficient Building Standards Toolkit

NYSERDA has released an energy-efficient building standards toolkit within the last month, helping municipalities adopt higher energy efficiency standards for new and renovated buildings.

View the tool kit here

Governor Cuomo Announces $4 Million to Support Green and Clean Energy Solutions in New York Schools

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced $4 million is available under the P-12 Schools: Green and Clean Energy Solutions program to reduce energy use and assist with the conversion to carbon free energy solutions for schools serving Prekindergarten through Grade 12 students.

Read the full press release here

Webinar - LED Street Lights: Understand Impacts on the Public - December 10th

This seminar will present information on the human-factor considerations of LED street lighting. The goal of the presentation is to assist municipal decision makers to better understand the interaction of street lighting and people. Topics that will be covered in the seminar include color consideration of LED street lighting (color appearance of the light as well as of illuminated objects/people), brightness perception, safety, security, crime prevention, implications of LED street lighting for human health and wellbeing, and interaction of LED street lighting and economic development. The seminar will also discuss adaptive street lighting, and intelligent/connected LED street lighting control systems and strategies.

Click here to register.

More information on upcoming events can be found on our website at southertiercec.com/events

Terry Carroll
CEC Coordinator for Tompkins, Broome, Tioga, Delaware and Chenango Counties
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
Email: TC629@cornell.edu
Phone: 315.857.5918

Katherine Herleman
CEC Coordinator for Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County
Email: KCH227@cornell.edu
Phone: 607.535.7161

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