One of Governor Cuomo’s chief environmental goals is the “50 by 30” initiative, which aims for 50% of the State’s electricity production to come from renewable resources by 2030. New York joined California in setting this target in 2016.
The most common renewable energy resources in the State are hydro, wind and solar. Solar energy currently is the least common among these, but the State attempted to give it a boost by implementing the NY-Sun Solarize Initiative.
NY-Sun is a public-private partnership, launched in 2014 and administered by NYSERDA, the New York State Energy & Research Development Authority. The program helps makes solar energy more accessible to New Yorkers. Its goal “is to help make it possible for New Yorkers to choose clean energy while lowering their energy costs.”
How does it work? It does through several ways.
- It offers incentives and financing for residents and businesses to make solar energy a more affordable option.
- It provides residents information needed about solar energy.
- It provides local governments training, tools, and assistance to help them “identify opportunities, mitigate barriers, and create solar programs.”
- It seeks to expand access to residents to participate in community solar projects.
On May 23, 2018, the Governor announced that over 2,400 solar projects have been installed or are in development in communities throughout the State and that the State has provided nearly $830,000 in technical and marketing support to support the initiatives through its first three campaigns, each of which lasts roughly six to nine months. As the NYSERDA explains, the campaigns are managed by partnerships comprising “community officials, elected officials, municipalities and businesses.”
The power of these partnerships is that they “help simplify the procurement and installation of solar panels, and obtain discounts through aggregated purchases.” Governor Cuomo announced that to date, these campaigns have saved residents $3.6 million in upfront purchase costs, for an average savings of $1,476 per installation.
By the State’s calculation, these projects total 19.47 MW of installed solar, which provides enough power to roughly 3,200 homes per year.
Picture: www.proudgreenhome.com
