Boston Town Hall

Mayor Lovely Warren signs the City of Rochester's Community Choice Aggregation agreement. Flanking the mayor are Anne E. Spaulding, Manager, Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ); Norman H. Jones, Commissioner, DEQ; and Shalini Beath, Energy and Sustainability Analyst, DEQ.

Town of Ballston Supervisor Eric Connolly looks over the town's EV charging station with Kelly Jasinski and Rob Fendrick.

From left: Heather Brown, Sustainability Coordinator, Sullivan County's Office of Sustainable Energy; Bethel Supervisor Daniel Sturm; Town Board Member Vicky Simpson; and Karen London, Sustainable Bethel co-chair, at the ribbon-cutting for the Hofstee Solar Farm, which brought NYS to an aggregate of 3 GW of solar power generated. Sustainable Bethel crafted and advocated for a highly regarded solar law, enacted in 2017, that facilitated installations like the Hofstee solar array.

High Impact Actions Completed (3,300 points earned):

Unified Solar Permit, LED Street Lights, Benchmarking, Clean Fleets, Climate Smart Communities Certification, Community Campaigns, NY Stretch Energy Code, Energy Code Enforcement Training.

Energy Champions Include:

Supervisor Daniel Sturm and Sustainable Bethel Co-Chairs Karen London and Jeffrey Allison

One of Bethel's strengths is that it has volunteers and staffers who have been active for many years, and their combined wealth of knowledge around energy issues is serving the community well. Take the case of Sustainable Bethel's Jeff Allison and Karen London.

"Karen wrote our town's solar law," says Allison. "And Jeff's our data guy--he does the greenhouse gas emissions benchmarking," says London. With a population of 4,255 (2010), the Town has had the same town supervisor, Daniel Sturm, for 14 years. Together, they have tackled LED street lights, community solar, a 2.7MW solar farm coming on line soon, and a host of other High Impact Actions over the years.

Their advice to other communities: "Listen to webinars. Form a strong relationship with your county government. Call your Clean Energy Communities Coordinator. And call us -- we'd be glad to share information."

Mid-Hudson Clean Energy Communities Coordinators:

Carla Castillo, ccastillo@hudsonvalleyrc.org

Eleanor Peck, epeck@hudsonvalleyrc.org

Kat Carroll, kcarroll@hudsonvalleyrc.org

Hudson Valley Regional Council

3 Washington Center, Newburgh, NY 12550

(845) 564-4075

Energy champions: Brian LaVine, Council Member and Clean Energy Communities Committee Member; Lee Johnson, Highway Superintendent; Werner Hampel, Council Member and Clean Energy Communities Committee Member.

High Impact Actions Completed (500 points earned):

Benchmarking, Energy Code Enforcement Training and Unified Solar Permit

Energy Champions include:

Town Supervisor Leo McAllister, Town Clerk Tina Ward, Councilmembers Werner Hampel and Brian LaVine

“We’re set up pretty well,” says Werner Hampel, a town council member in Cobleskill (pop. 6,239 in 2018), as he considered the reasons behind this small town’s success with Clean Energy Communities. “Our goals have been to reduce taxpayer burdens while increasing our energy efficiency.” Hampel adds that “without the support of Town Supervisor Leo McCallister, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.” His advice: “Invite your Clean Energy Coordinator to come speak at your town meeting, to lay out the opportunities for you.” With SUNY Cobleskill, Bassett Regional Hospital and Interstate 88, Cobleskill is a community on the move. “Call Amanda!” was Hampel’s advice for Mohawk Valley communities, referring to the region's Clean Energy Communities coordinator. The Town will use its $5,000 designation grant to underwrite new LED lights in the Highway building and is considering LED streetlights as well.

Mohawk Valley Clean Energy Communities Coordinator:

Amanda Kaier akaier@mvedd.org

Mohawk Valley Economic Development District

26 W Main St, Mohawk, NY 13407

(315) 866-4671, (315) 525-1312

The Town of Colton skating rink now boasts new LED lighting.

High Impact Actions Completed (1,000 points earned):

Benchmarking, Energy Code Enforcement Training, Unified Solar Permit, LED Street Lights

Energy Champions Include:

Darren Richards, Department of Public Works

The Town of Colton (pop. 1,451 in the 2010 census) joined Clean Energy Communities because, “It pays twice! Once when you get the grant money, and again when you get the energy savings. Not to mention the environmental benefits,” says Department of Public Works Superintendent Darren Richards. The Town is benefiting from the longevity of LED lighting (“for 13 buildings!”), better street lighting, and more reliable, higher efficiency heating units in buildings, which means fewer fuel deliveries. “And we’ve now got a smaller carbon footprint.” Richards has advice for other communities that are looking into whether they should get involved with CEC: “It's worth the time to do it. It's very fun to see the fruits of your labor in comparison with previous yearly energy costs. It's nice to be on the forefront of something bigger in the North Country.”

North Country Clean Energy Communities Coordinators:

Nancy Bernstein nbernstein@adirondack.org

Jennifer Perry jperry@adirondack.org

Matt Price mprice@adirondack.org

Adirondack North Country Association

67 Main Street, Suite 201, Saranac Lake, NY 12983

(518) 891-6200

The City of Long Beach has installed LED streetlights along its iconic boardwalk.

High Impact Actions Completed (1,600 points earned):

Benchmarking, Climate Smart Communities Certification, Energy Code Enforcement Training, LED Streetlights, and the Unified Solar Permit.

Energy Champions:

Donna Gayden, City Manager

John Bendo, President, City Council President

Patti Bourne, Director of Economic Development

Tyler Huffman, Environmental Coordinator

The City of Long Beach (pop. 33,507 in 2019) is enjoying annual savings of $100,000 on its new LED streetlights, funded in part with a grant from the first round of Clean Energy Communities. "We are very grateful," says Tyler Huffman, adding that the City is looking forward to tackling new CEC projects in the Leadership Round. With its surfing culture and the devastation it endured due to Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene, Long Beach is a community that wants to do the right thing by the environment, Huffman says. Looking to the future, the City is considering moving forward with Community Choice Aggregation, EV charging stations and C-PACE. Advice from Huffman to communities just getting started:

"Start small and build from there. Build from small successes. Look at your community's assets and see what you can do."

Long Island Clean Energy Communities Coordinator:

Sarah Oral PE, LEED AP BD+C SOral@cameronengineering.com

Associate, Civil Engineering and Planning

Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP

177 Crossways Park Drive Woodbury, NY 11797

(516) 224-5237

The Village of Canastota purchased a plug-in EV for its Building Code Enforcement officer with its Clean Energy Communities funds.

High Impact Actions Completed (1,900 points earned):

Benchmarking, Clean Fleet, Clean Energy Upgrades, Clean Fleets, Energy Code Enforcement Training, LED Street Lights, Unified Solar Permit

Energy Champions Include:

Rosanne Warner, Mayor

With the historic Erie Canal running through it, the Village of Canastota (2020 pop. 4,504) is unique. Residents are very proud of their historic village and residents are now embracing what it means to be a modern Clean Energy Community.

“We started many years ago with the addition of solar panels on our wastewater treatment facility as a way to offset the ever-increasing costs of electricity,” says Village Mayor Rosanne Warner. “We hope to go forward with additional projects to move Canastota toward more energy efficiency and sustainability that will benefit all of our taxpayers.”

The Village recently used its NYSERDA grant money to purchase a cleaner, more energy-efficient Ford Escape plug-in hybrid vehicle for its building codes department and installed electric car charging stations at the Village Hall. “We are actively working with NYSERDA again to look at the possibility of applying for a grant for an electric street sweeper,” the mayor says. “Clean energy is the future and we sincerely appreciate all that NYSERDA has done to help us become a more energy conscious community.”

Central NY Clean Energy Communities Coordinator:

Amanda Mazzoni, Principal Planner amazzoni@cnyrpdb.org

Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board

126 North Salina Street, Suite 200, Syracuse, NY 13202

(315) 422-8276

From left; Lineman Alan Keith, Mayor William Acee, Crew Chief Allan Doing, Lineman Jake Palmiter, Superintendent of Electric Travis DuBois.

High Impact Actions Completed:

Clean Fleets, Climate Smart Communities Certification, LED Street Lights (1,600 points earned)

Energy Champions Include:

Travis DuBois, Superintendent of Electric

Served by a municipal electric utility since 1907, the Village of Sherburne (pop. 1,251 in 2019) has been on the cutting edge of energy issues for years. They’ve been gradually converting their streetlights to LEDs for the past decade and they installed their first EV charging station back in 2016. Their electric utility has been offering energy efficiency incentives since 2009. And in June of this year, the Village became a designated Clean Energy Community despite not being eligible for funding through the System Benefits Charge, one of NYSERDA’s principal funding sources. (The state’s 47 municipal utilities do not collect the SBC). The Village also is the first Bronze Certified Climate Smart Community in Chenango County, installing a 10.13 kW Solar Energy Installation as part of the CSC program. Mayor William Acee and Superintendent of Electric Travis DuBois now are turning their attention to installation of a four-municipality broadband system that will deliver 1GW of bandwidth to each household.

“The future electric grid will require us to control loads and that means with individual customers. So with this broadband project we are future proofing our electricity system,” said DuBois.

Southern Tier Clean Energy Communities Coordinators:

Todd Knobbe, tk656@cornell.edu

Theodora Greene Weatherby, tgw43@cornell.edu

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County

615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850

(607) 272-2292 x 284 www.ccetompkins.org/

Town of Ellicott Supervisor Pat McLaughlin says, "Change is coming. You might as well get on board."

High Impact Actions Completed (400 points earned):

Benchmarking, Unified Solar Permit, Energy Code Enforcement Training, Clean Fleets

Energy Champion:

Town Supervisor Pat McLaughlin

When the Town of Ellicott received its first-round Clean Energy Communities grant, Town Supervisor Pat McLaughlin visited every car dealer in the area, to ask them to let EV buyers know that the Town was installing charging stations. "It has worked out really well," says McLaughlin. But the biggest bang for their buck came from converting the town streetlights to LEDs. "The new lighting is much appreciated in the residential neighborhoods," says McLaughlin. Most of the Town is served by a lighting district controlled by the City of Jamestown's municipal utility. "The savings have been great," says McLaughlin, who is studying the new CEC funding round now to determine what to tackle next.

Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board

Clean Energy Communities Coordinator:

Johnathon Mayr, GISP jmayr@southerntierwest.org

4039 Route 219, Suite 200, Salamanca, NY 14779

(716)-945-5301 ext. 2232