By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg will have a seat on the BOCES led Tri-County Energy Cooperative Agreement that may help dozens of municipalities and schools reduce energy costs.

Ogdensburg City Council passed a resolution Monday enabling it to be part of a cooperative that hopes to reduce energy costs for municipalities and education centers that are part of the group.

The program involves establishing solar arrays in various locations throughout St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson counties and creating an economy of scale that can sell power back to the utility company and therefore reduce costs for members.

The goal is to produce 60-80 MW among the total membership and generate 95 percent of the power used by the various organizations.

Ogdensburg is currently working on a separate solar array project with a 1.1 MW capability. The city’s total need is 3.7 MW.

City Manager John Pinkerton said the city this initiative could allow the city to produce and additional 2.2 MW leaving the city on the hook to purchase only .4 MW in an ideal scenario.

Deputy Mayor Michael Morley initially expressed reservations about joining due to concerns the city could be locking itself into something with no way out. However a representative from the cooperative assured Morely that the city could be able to drop out anytime until a power purchase agreement is signed.

Details on exactly how the consortium will work are still being determined as Tri County Energy continues to find out who the players will be, but the basic concept is to take advantage of an economy of scale by pooling resources.

Ogdensburg City School, St. Lawrence-Lewis County BOCES and several other school districts have also signed on to the consortium.