More than 28 municipalities and school districts across Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties in New York are reducing their electricity costs and boosting the state’s clean energy portfolio with solar energy. Standard Solar, a national solar energy company, and its partner, U.S. Light Energy, a New York-based distributed solar developer, have completed an 11.52-MW solar project for members of the Tri-County Energy Consortium.
The 11.5-MW solar project is supporting 28 members of the consortium, including New York municipalities and schools. Standard Solar
“Schools and community play a significant role in reaching students, parents, neighbors and local decision-makers to encourage clean energy action,” said Mike Streams, chief development officer at Standard Solar, the project’s owner and operator. “We’re proud to have provided the funding needed to make this project happen and applaud the Tri-County Energy Consortium for its efforts and commitment to solar.”
The approximately $7.6 million project received more than $1 million in funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) through NY-Sun, the state’s $1.8 billion initiative to advance the scale-up of solar and make solar energy more accessible to homes, businesses and communities.
“With their dedication to accelerating the adoption of solar energy, Tri-County Energy Consortium is setting the standard for other communities to follow,” said Mark Richardson, CEO of U.S. Light Energy, the project’s developer. “This project’s success is underscored by the variety of challenges the team had to overcome, including changes in New York’s solar policy and the pandemic. Kudos to the team and the Consortium for persevering and pushing forward a great project helping them create a pathway to achieve their renewable energy goals.”
Members of the consortium are expected to save between $400,000 to $500,000 in energy costs annually. Each participating school district and municipality will receive savings on their electric bills in proportion to the percentage of electricity they use out of the total for all participants.
“Building these projects has been a challenging three-year process,” said John Warneck, executive director of the Tri-County Energy Consortium. “But, even when things looked bleakest, U.S. Light Energy and Standard Solar kept at it and delivered for us. They are great partners.”
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