Town of Huntington Eligible for $250K in Funding From Clean Energy Efforts

The Town of Huntington is the second municipality on Long Island to earn a Clean Energy Community designation, making the Town eligible to apply for $250,000 in state funding for future energy projects.

This designation, which is part of the statewide Clean Energy Communities initiative, recognizes the Town’s efforts in reducing energy use, cutting costs and driving clean energy.

“Huntington has long been committed to leading by example in undertaking energy conservation measures and promoting clean energy initiatives,” Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said in a press release. “We appreciate this recognition from NYSERDA and look forward to implementing other projects that would be made possible by the state funding.”

The Town has been encouraging solar power usage to cut down on the use of fossil fuels. Solar panels were set up at Town Hall and a net zero solar-powered electric vehicle charging station was set up at the Huntington Long Island Rail Road station parking garage.

Huntington is also the sixth municipality statewide to receive the designation. To receive a designation, communities need to complete 10 clean energy actions, and at least two of them must be done after August 1, 2016.

According to the Town, Huntington’s four actions were:

• Establishing the Solarize Huntington program, a group purchasing and community education program that leveraged the collective buying power of Huntington homeowners to significantly reduce the cost of residential solar installations.
• Amending Town Code to fast-track approval of solar installation permits and to adopt the New York State Unified Solar Permit to reduce costs and delays for solar projects.
• Training Town code compliance officers and other Town officials in the best practices in energy code enforcement, including collaborative plans reviews and joint onsite inspections of local construction projects.
• Leasing a 2017 Chevy Volt Plug-In Hybrid Electric vehicle. The Town also purchased a Level 2 Electric Charging Station Double Pedestal for charging cars. One of the two pedestals in the charging station, which will be installed at Town Hall, will be used for the Volt. The other will be available to the public.

In August, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a $16 million Clean Energy Communities initiative that supports local government leaders across the state in implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable development projects in their communities. This initiative looks to help the state reach its Clean Energy Standard, which is having 50 percent of the state’s electricity coming from renewable energy resources by 2030.

The Clean Energy Communities initiative is made possible through a partnership between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and PSEG Long Island.

"Congratulations to the Town of Huntington on this important achievement and for helping to galvanize the local community to reduce energy use and improve the environment,” John B. Rhodes, NYSERDA’s President and CEO, said. “Communities are central to the state’s clean energy efforts under Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy strategy, which is building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy future for all New Yorkers.”

Image via Shutterstock