CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES January 2018 President 518-465-1473 www.nysac.org RK O Executive Director W STEPHEN J. ACQUARIO Counties IN G U HON. MARYELLEN ODELL ATION O SOCI FC AS O S Y S TIE UN N Clean Energy Communities Program FOR YO
Advance Energy Solutions in Your County Overview of NYSERDA The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a public benefit corporation that has been working to advance energy solutions and protect the environment since 1975. NYSERDA recognizes the power local governments have to affect energy choices in their communities. These choices can save money, create jobs, and protect the environment. Clean Energy Communities NYSERDA s Clean Energy Communities program invites elected officials and local government employees across the state to set clean energy goals, access guidance resources, and take advantage of funding and technical assistance in order to receive the Clean Energy Community designation. After your county is designated a Clean Energy Community, you can apply for grants for additional clean energy projects. Below are the actions that can help local governments join the 277 communities across the state that are participating in the program. 10 High Impact Actions To receive the Clean Energy Community designation, local governments must complete four of the ten High Impact Actions designated by NYSERDA. 1. Benchmarking Adopt a benchmarking policy to measure and share data on municipal building energy use. Large communities (population of 40,000+) must also adopt a benchmarking program for large private buildings. 2. Clean Energy Upgrades Submit ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager reports that measure energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from municipal buildings, and complete energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades that result in at least a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. 3. LED Street Lights Convert at least 50% of all municipal cobra-head street lights to LED and convert a minimum of 10 fixtures to LED. 4. Clean Fleets Install at least one EV charging station with two Level 2 charging ports and/ or other alternative fuel infrastructure, or deploy at least one alternative fuel vehicle in the municipal fleet. 2 NYSAC JANUARY 2018 CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
High Impact Actions, Continued 5. Solarize Demonstrate that your county has participated in a recently completed solar installation outreach and education campaign, or work with NYSERDA to plan and implement a new solarize campaign and provide a list of at least 10 local solar customers that resulted from the Solarize campaign. 6. Unified Solar Permit Pass legislation to adopt the New York State Unified Solar Permit to reduce costs and delays for solar projects. 7. Energy Code Enforcement Training County code enforcement officials must complete the Energy Code Enforcement Training, which includes collaborative plans review and joint onsite inspection of building projects in the county. 8. Climate Smart Communities Become a certified at the Certified, Bronze, Silver, or Gold level for the Department of Environmental Conversation (DEC) Climate Smart Communities program. 9. Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Adopt legislation authorizing the county to participate in a CCA program and contract with an energy supplier to provide 100% clean, renewable energy to all participating customers. 10. Energize NY Finance Pass legislation establishing an Energize NY Finance program and become a member of the Energy Improvement Corporation. Each action comes with a toolkit that includes a fact sheet, step-by-step guidance document, and additional resources. Toolkits can be found on the NYSERDA website at www.nyserda.ny.gov/all-programs/programs/clean-energy-communities. CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES PROGRAM NYSAC JANUARY 2018 3
How to Become a Clean Energy Community To participate, you must identify a contact person in your county and provide your contact information to NYSERDA. Complete four of the 10 High Impact Actions and submit all necessary documentation as you complete them. At least two actions must be completed after August 1, 2016. After NYSERDA reviews and approves your documents, they will designate your county a Clean Energy Community and feature the designation on their website. As a Clean Energy Community, you will be able to apply for grants to implement additional clean energy actions. You can submit a grant application online after developing a clean energy project idea that meets the grant funding guidelines, eligibility requirements, and scoring criteria. Remaining awards for each region of the state can be found on the Clean Energy Communities website. Grants range from $50,000 to $250,000. Regional Coordinators Coordinators are available to provide free consulting services to local government participating in the program. They can offer approximately 50 hours of free, on-demand technical assistance. Contact the coordinator in your region to get started. Capital District Robyn Reynolds Capital District Regional Planning Commission robyn@cdrpc.org (518) 453-0850 Central New York Chris Carrick Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board ccarrick@cnyrpdb.org (315) 422-8276 ext. 213 Finger Lakes David Zorn Genesee Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council dave.zorn@gflrpc.org (585) 454-0190 ext. 14 Long Island Sarah Oral, P.E., LEED AP BD+C Cameron Engineering soral@ cameronengineering.com (516) 224-5237 Mid-Hudson Carla Castillo Hudson Valley Regional Council ccastillo@ hudsonvalleyrc.org (845) 564-4075 Mohawk Valley Daniel Sullivan Mohawk Valley Economic Development District cecp.mvedd@gmail.com (315) 866-4671 4 NYSAC JANUARY 2018 CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES PROGRAM
Regional Coordinators, Continued New York City Esther Siskind Solar One esther@ solar1.org (212) 505-6050 Southern Tier Terry Carroll Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County tc629@cornell.edu (315) 857-5918 North Country Jamie Rogers Adirondack North Country Association jrogers@adirondack.org (518) 891-6200 Western New York Erie and Niagara Counties Bart Roberts University at Buffalo Regional Institute bjr8@buffalo.edu (716) 878-2433 Western New York Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties Jonathon Mayr Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board jmayr@ southerntierwest.org (716) 945-5301 ext. 2232 Clean Energy Designated Counties Across the state, 277 communities are participating in the Clean Energy Communities program and 119 have received the Clean Energy Community designation. Eleven counties have been awarded this designation: Albany, Cayuga, Lewis, Madison, Schenectady, Seneca, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tompkins, Ulster, and Wyoming. The NYSERDA website features a map of participating communities, designated communities, and the High Impact Actions each community has completed. So far, 750 actions have been accomplished. Visit the website to see what municipalities are participating and what actions have been completed in and around your county: www.nyserda.ny.gov/all-programs/programs/clean- Energy-Communities/CEC-Map. Contact NYSERDA For more information, email a Clean Energy Communities Coordinator at cec@nyserda.ny.gov. You also contact NYSERDA by phone at 518-862- 1090 or 1-866- NYSERDA (toll free). NYSERDA Regional Offices Buffalo Phone: 716-842- 1522 or 1-866- NYSERDA (Toll free) New York City Phone: 212-971- 5342 1-866- NYSERDA (Toll free) West Valley Phone: 716-942- 9960 1-866- NYSERDA (Toll free) CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES PROGRAM NYSAC JANUARY 2018 5
NEW YORK STATE ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES 540 Broadway, 5 th Floor Albany, NY 12207 www.nysac.org