Photo taken by Haylee Ferington

Clean Energy Communities

You may have worked with other Clean Energy Communities Coordinators in the past.  Please contact our current Clean Energy Communities Coordinator for the Finger Lakes Region, Rob Richardson, rrichardson@gflrpc.org or 585-454-0190 x21.

The NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities Program is a $16-million initiative to help local governments across the state reduce energy consumption and drive clean energy use in their communities. Local governments that complete four out of ten identified High Impact Actions will earn the Clean Energy Community designation. Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council is the Finger Lakes Region Clean Energy Communities Coordinator.  To learn more out the Clean Energy Communities Program visit http://nyserda.ny.gov/cec.  

The High-Impact Actions include:

1. Benchmarking—Adopt a policy to report the energy use of municipal buildings on an annual basis. If the applicant is a large city, town, or village, it must also adopt legislation requiring the annual disclosure of energy use in large private buildings.
2. Clean Energy Upgrades—Achieve a 10 percent reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions from municipal buildings through energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy.
3. LED Street Lights—Convert at least half of the municipal cobra-head-style street lights within the jurisdiction to energy-efficient LED technology.
4. Clean Fleets—Install an EV charging station and/or other alternative fuel infrastructure or deploy alternative fuel vehicles in the municipal fleet.
5. Solarize, Clean Heating and Cooling, or Solar for All Campaign — Undertake a Solarize, Clean Heating and Cooling, or Solar for All campaign to increase the number of customers that are benefiting from clean energy in the jurisdiction. Eligible Clean Heating and Cooling technologies include ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps, solar heating and cooling, or biomass.
6. Unified Solar Permit—Pass legislation to adopt the New York State Unified Solar Permit to reduce costs and delays for solar projects in the jurisdiction.
7. Energy Code Enforcement Training—Train code compliance officers and other municipal officials in best practices in energy code enforcement through training, collaborative plans reviews, and joint onsite inspections of local construction projects.
8. Climate Smart Communities Certification—Earn Climate Smart Community (CSC) Certification through compliance with this robust, comprehensive rating system.
9. Community Choice Aggregation—Transition to a cleaner, more affordable energy supply by facilitating the aggregated purchase of a 100% renewable electric supply for residential and small commercial customers within the jurisdiction.
10. ​EnergizeNYFinance—Allows property owners to pay back the cost of clean energy upgrades to their commercial or non-profit property through a special charge on their property tax bill.

Genesee-Finger Lakes Region                               2016-2020
Clean Energy Communities - High Impact Actions        NYSERDA Approved
Community Choice Aggregation                                                           1
Benchmarking                                                                                        42
Clean Energy Upgrades                                                                          9
Clean Fleets                                                                                            24
Climate Smart Communities Certification                                          4
Energize NY Finance                                                                               4
Energy Code Enforcement Training                                                  64
LED Street Lights                                                                                    9
Solarize, Clean Heating and Cooling, or Solar for All Campaign    5
Unified Solar Permit                                                                             46
CEC designation                                                                                    33

Source: Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and NYSERDA. Updated 6/8/20.

For a comprehensive resource covering the entirety of the clean energy transition, please see 'Guide to a Clean Energy Future: Genesee-Finger Lakes' authored by Columbia University.

For information on previous Clean Energy Communities webinar series and past presentations please visit Clean Energy Communities past presentations and Webinar Series

​Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council Hosts Regional Solar Workshop with NY-Sun - Wednesday, July 18, 2018
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