CANTON -- St. Lawrence County will get up to 2.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of hydropower yearly as part of a new agreement with a hydropower producer.

Gravity Renewables, a Boulder, Colo.-based owner and operator of renewable energy projects around the country, will provide the county with power that a press release from the company says will be “reliably priced” and will save taxpayer money over the 20-year agreement.

St. Lawrence County is among the first in the country to use remote net metering for a hydroelectric project—the policy mechanism that, with the local utility as an intermediary, allows customers to use power generated at off-site renewable energy generation facilities. Gravity Renewables has pioneered the use of net metering with small hydropower.

The agreement is the first announced as part of Gravity’s partnership with the Municipal Gas and Electric Alliance (MEGA) in which Gravity serves as the preferred provider of energy from small hydroelectric sites to MEGA participants, municipalities and public agencies around New York. The agreement also involves the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), which partners with MEGA in a variety of energy procurement programs.

“St. Lawrence County is pleased to be partnering with Gravity Renewables in the process of identifying hydroelectric resources in our region that can provide county taxpayers with a long term, stable cost for our electricity,” said St. Lawrence County Administrator Karen St. Hilaire. “We also appreciate the role that MEGA and NYSAC have played in bringing this option to local governments statewide.”

“Local hydropower makes good economic sense for communities,” said Ted Rose, CEO of Gravity Renewables. “Hydropower provides clean, reliable, predictable energy at a low-cost so counties can lock-in savings for decades to come.”