|
Welcome to the Winter 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 28 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,
Terry Carroll and Katherine Herleman - CEC Coordinators for the Southern Tier
|
|
Although we’re a couple of months in already, we wanted to wish everyone a very happy start to 2019. As CEC coordinators, we’re excited for what this new year has in store, but also wanted to reflect on a very successful 2018!
When we published our 2018 Winter Newsletter, we had just 24 communities participating, with 9 official designated communities and 68 actions approved. A year later and we have nearly tripled the number of communities participating in the program to a total of 68 communities. These include 28 communities designated and over 175 actions completed and approved. The program has brought over $1.6 million to support a range of clean energy projects in the Southern Tier that include installing solar arrays, converting streetlights to LEDs, purchasing electric vehicles and charging stations, and installing air source heat pumps.
It has been clear to us since day one that this program resonates with communities regardless of whether they are large or small, or whether they are rural or urban and everything in between. The success of this past year supports that point, and also shows us that our message of energy efficiency and renewables can carry weight throughout New York State as demonstrated by statewide participation of over 500 communities participating and over 230 communities designated.
We look forward to continuing to work with municipalities as the program evolves in 2019 and remain committed to assisting communities as they implement clean energy actions, save on energy costs, create jobs, and improve the environment. Stay tuned for important programming and funding updates.
|
|
|
|
The Town Hall and Town Court for the Town of Catlin, Chemung County, NY
|
|
|
Congratulations are in order to Catlin, which is poised to become the next designated Clean Energy Community in the Southern Tier! We’re congratulating them in advance of their official announcement because of their ongoing, passionate commitment to promoting solar options, including community solar, for the Town and its residents.
Located in the northwest corner of Chemung County, Catlin was established in 1823 and has a population of about 2,600. Their supervisor LaVerne Phelps and Town Council Member Dave Silvernail have been working tirelessly with CEC coordinator Katherine Herleman and intern Chris Skawski to accomplish six actions: Benchmarking, the Unified Solar Permit, Code Enforcement Training, Clean Energy Upgrades, LED streetlight conversion, and Solarize.
The latter of these, Solarize is an action that is accomplished when a community encourages at least 10 sign-ups for solar installations within its jurisdiction. As a result of participating in Benchmarking, Catlin will also receive a free energy audit and Energy Action Plan from Taitem Engineering in order to identify additional cost savings for its Department of Public Works garage.
Catlin was recently featured on WENY news (see below) for co-hosting a workshop with project developer Bullrock for residents interested in signing up for a proposed community solar installation. It’s a win-win for residents who want to save money on their electricity bills, access renewable energy, and help the Town become eligible for a no-cost-share $5,000 grant.
The Town of Catlin was recently featured on WENY News for its effort to educate residents about an opportunity to enroll in a local community solar project.
Link: http://www.weny.com/story/40014985/bullock-solar-offers-catlin-community-solar-to-residents
|
|
Rather than focus on a specific action, this time around, we thought we would use our High Impact Action Spotlight Section to highlight the actions that have been accomplished by our communities across the eight counties in the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council.
In the Southern Tier, every action within the program has been accomplished by at least one community, although some are clearly much more popular than others! On the high end, Energy Code Enforcement Training, has proven to be our most popular action, with over 57 communities receiving credit for the action to date, while on the low end no communities have achieved a “green” Community Choice Aggregation, and only two communities have received credit for Converting their Streetlights to LEDs. Here is a graphical breakdown for the remaining actions and their popularity:
|
|
We expect this graphic to perhaps be wildly different in a year's time, as there is a long list of communities looking to convert their streetlights to LEDs while new communities are installing EV charging stations through the State’s Charge Ready NY initiative.
|
|
|
Before jumping into our Southern Tier CEC accomplishments, we’d like to take a moment to honor and remember Red LaPierre, the Veteran Town Board Member who championed the Town’s CEC participation and took a bold step to form the Stormwater and Sustainability Committee. Unfortunately, Red lost his battle with melanoma on December 3rd, 2018. The CEC team deeply appreciated Red’s can-do attitude and passion for helping his community. He was a pleasure to work with and his care in personally researching anything that could help Veteran and its residents - on everything from solar lawnmowers to EV’s - was truly inspiring.
Red LaPierre standing outside the Veteran Town Hall. Red envisioned adding “A Clean Energy Community Running On Solar” to the Town’s current sign.
|
|
This month we welcomed several new small/medium communities to designated status:
- Town of Dryden (Tompkins County)
- Town of Groton (Tompkins County)
- Village of Hobart (Delaware County)
- Town of Colchester (Delaware County)
- Village of Margaretville (Delaware County)
- Village of Stamford (Delaware County
Each of these communities is eligible to apply for $5,000 in grant funding and have completed a wide array of actions. These include passing a Benchmarking Resolution and adopting the Unified Solar Permit; joining into Solar Tompkins and Southern Tier Solar Works Solarize campaigns promoting onsite and community solar subscriptions, switching out interior lights to LEDs to meet the Clean Energy Upgrades action, and sending code officials to Energy Code Enforcement Training!
We also had one large community become designated: Congratulations to Chenango County. By accomplishing the Energy Codes Training, Benchmarking, Solarize and adoption of the Unified Solar Permit, Chenango County became eligible to apply for one of the remaining Block 2 $150,000 grants available to large communities.
There are still 25 Block 3 grants available statewide, 14 of which could be available to Southern Tier communities that become designated, and one remaining Block 2 grant of $150,000 for the next Southern Tier large community to become designated.
|
|
|
Town of Seneca Solar Farm to Offer Community Option
Nexamp has unveiled their completed solar farm alongside Route 14A just outside of Geneva. Boasting an impressive 2.6MW capacity, the array is set to provide energy to communities along Seneca Lake. Supported in part by NYSERDA’s Solar For All, the large array is one of several coming online in the next couple years. Totaling over 1GW of power, these solar arrays advance New York’s Clean Energy Economy and brings the state that much closer to its 100% renewable goal.
NYSERDA Announces $19M Available for Clean Energy Upgrades to NY Farms
Much of NY’s land is used up in agricultural purposes, and many of its upstairs residents engaged in agriculture, energy costs and renewables mark an exciting new frontier for many New Yorkers. NYSERDA, in conjunction with the Advancing Agriculture Energy Technologies Initiative, is offering $16M to promote development and adoption of anaerobic digester technologies on farms, and an additional $3 Million to advance commercially available energy reduction and renewable generation products.
New Manufacturing Opens in Big Flats Thanks To 76West Award
Rochester-based manufacturer EkoStinger is opening a new plant in Chemung County as a result of last year’s 76West award. An innovative company in the realm of fuel efficient technologies for semi trucks, EkoStinger will be launching a new production facility at the ELM Airport. Fellow Big Flats manufacturer Mecatu won the 76West award in 2016. The competition highlights New York State’s commitment to innovative and clean technologies, and the strength of local and regional economies across the state.
New solar farms spanning 188 acres planned for Big Flats, Horseheads
The same company that developed a 12-acre solar farm in the Town of Baldwin early in 2018 is planning three similar projects but on a much larger scale in Big Flats and Horseheads. The Chemung County Industrial Development Agency on March 7th approved incentives including payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements for Delaware River Solar, based in Calicoon, New York. The projects include a 66-acre parcel at 201 Chambers Road in the Town of Big Flats, and two 61-acre parcels at 198 Hickory Grove Road in Horseheads.
|
|
|
Driving Sustainability, Resilience, and Performance with LEED for Cities/Communities
Thursday, March 14th, 10:30AM to 12:00PM
One of the newest rating systems developed by the US Green Building Council is LEED for Cities/Communities. The program provides a structure for communities that are looking to measure their performance in a rigorous and comprehensive way. It helps communities monitor progress toward greater sustainability by tracking a wide range of environmental, social, and economic metrics. This webinar will dive into the specifics of this new LEED certification opportunity, as well as how it interactions with the CSC and CEC programs.
Contact NYSDEC to Register: climatechange@dec.ny.gov
Upcoming CEC Eligible Energy Code Enforcement Trainings:
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:
3/27 Mid-Hudson - 94 Mary’s Avenue, Kingston, New York
4/3 Finger Lakes - 85 East Main Street, Victor, New York
15th Annual Green Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International Speedway
Friday, April 5th, 7:30AM to 5PM
Hosted at WGI in Watkins Glen, the Green Grand Prix is a combination electric vehicle-demo and road rally that showcases the state of EV technology in the Southern Tier. This free-to-attend event will include a two hour endurance and efficiency test, EV bus demos, and speeches and presentations from industry leaders about the state and direction of electric vehicle technologies.
For more information please visit: http://www.greengrandprix.com/
Event Contact: Robert Gillespie, rgillesp@roadrunner.com
|
|
|
|
|
