The city of Glens Falls, New York has officially been designated by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as a ‘Clean Energy Community’ and has received $50,000 in state funding to study energy use in city buildings.
To receive the designation, the city had to complete a minimum of four out of ten “high impact actions” to be eligible. These actions include:
- Benchmarking – Adopting a policy to report the energy use of buildings;
- Clean Energy Upgrades – Achieve 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings;
- LED Street Lights – Convert streetlights to energy efficient LED technology;
- Clean Fleets – Install electric vehicle charging stations or deploy alternative fuel vehicles;
- Solarize – Undertake a local solarize campaign to increase the number of solar rooftops;
- Unified Solar Permit – Streamline the approvals process for solar;
- Energy Code Enforcement Training – Train compliance officers in energy code best practices;
- Climate Smart Communities Certification – Get certified by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation;
- Community Choice Aggregation – Put energy supply choices in your community’s hands; and,
- Energize New York Finance – Offer energy upgrade financing to businesses and non-profits.
NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities Program aims to build more sustainable communities in the State of New York. A toolkit is available for each High Impact Action to assist in the process. Along with being designated as a Clean Energy Community, cities will be eligible to apply for grants to fund additional clean energy projects. NYSERDA also provides Clean Energy Communities Coordinators to help communities to develop and prioritize clean energy goals, access guidance resources such as templates for legislation, procurement, and contracts, and take advantage of available funding and technical assistance opportunities.
