Town officials are encouraging residents and business owners to sign up for a community solar project.
Why? It will save money on their electric bills.
Town Supervisor Mark Venuti said about 40 people attended a December meeting with representatives of Joule Assets, an energy efficiency company in Westchester County. From that meeting a project called Geneva Community Power was born.
If 400 households or businesses sign up, solar panels will be installed near Sackett Lake, about 200 miles southeast of Geneva. Subscribers will be awarded solar credits for energy generated by their share of the solar farm.
Subscribers must be getting electricity from New York State Electric & Gas. People will continue to receive their electric from NYSEG and get two bills — one from NYSEG and one from the solar project manager.
However, officials said the total cost will be lower because part of the energy will be coming from solar panels.
Venuti and Jacob Fox, the town’s Climate Smart coordinator, said savings are expected to be about 10 percent. They added that people will be supporting renewable energy and reducing Geneva’s carbon footprint.
“You are not going to make a big windfall, but you will not lose anything,” Venuti said. “You will be doing a good thing and increasing solar generation.”
Enrollment will close once subscriber capacity is reached. Enrollment is not limited to town residents, but subscribers must be in close proximity to the town.
The Finger Lakes Times:
Read More
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.