St. Lawrence County municipalities working toward greener energy usage will be able to apply for up to $250,000 grants to help reduce energy consumption and increase clean energy use.

This could be good news for places like Ogdensburg, where the city is already on pace to have all of its municipal power generated from solar within the next decade.

The plan is receiving praise from North Country Sen. Joseph Griffo R-Rome.

“Many communities all across the state struggle every year to cut costs for their taxpayers, and so I am glad this funding program will offer further incentive for municipalities to save energy while moving toward a future of clean power,” he said.

The new initiative advances Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy and demonstrates the importance of communities in helping New York achieve the state’s goal to supply 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy resources by 2030.

Cities, counties, towns and villages that complete at least four of the 10 high-impact clean energy actions identified by the New York State Research and Development Authority will be designated Clean Energy Communities. These communities will become eligible to apply for grants of up to $250,000 with no local cost share to support additional clean energy projects.

One key objective of Clean Energy Communities is to harness the capabilities of local governments to motivate their communities and accelerate local energy-saving and renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind. The communities’ actions will help them meet their sustainability, climate and energy goals while contributing to the state’s efforts to meet the Clean Energy Standard, which mandates that 50 percent of New York’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.

The actions that local officials can take with NYSERDA and other state support through the program include:

• Benchmarking energy use at municipal and large privately owned buildings.

• Performing energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to municipal buildings.

• Replacing street lights with energy-efficient LED lighting.

• Streamlining local approval processes for solar projects through adoption of the NYS Unified Solar Permit.

• Undertaking a community-based Solarize campaign to reduce solar project costs through joint purchasing.

• Providing energy code enforcement training to code officers.

• Earning Climate Smart Communities Certification by reducing the community’s impact on the environment.

• Passing a local law to allow aggregation of residents to gain greater choice and control over energy use as a group (called Community Choice Aggregation).

• Installing electric vehicle charging stations and using alternative fuel vehicles, such as hybrid and electric cars, for municipal business.

• Establishing an Energize NY Finance Program that enables long-term, affordable Property Assessed Clean Energy financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects at commercial buildings and not-for-profits.

Through Clean Energy Communities, locally based outreach and implementation coordinators will provide free, on-demand technical assistance, including step-by-step guidance, case studies and template contracts to help municipalities implement these actions and address their clean energy priorities. To access this support, please send an email to cec@nyserda.ny.gov.

Funding is set aside for both large and small communities in each Regional Economic Development Council region. NYSERDA will accept applications for funding on a rolling basis through September 30, 2019 or until funds are exhausted, whichever comes first. Funds are being provided through the Clean Energy Fund and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. More information on this funding opportunity can be found here nyserda.ny.gov/cec.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is the nation’s first program to use an innovative market-based mechanism to cap and cost-effectively reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that cause the climate to change, and New York State took a leadership role in adopting regulations that lowered the emissions cap. Emissions from power plants in New York State are down approximately 45 percent since 2005, and auction proceeds from sale of the RGGI allowances have reduced electricity expenditures and created thousands of green energy sector jobs.