ENERGY SAVINGS
Rensselaer County, OYA Solar forge solar power partnership
TROY, N.Y. » Rensselaer County is making efforts to obtain energy more efficiently and effectively. Appropriately atop the County Office Building roof in downtown Troy, Rensselaer County officials and OYA announced their partnership.
The announcement includes a subscription with OYA Solar for 7.4 MW of clean energy from OYA projects across the state.
“This is a county as you probably are seeing is on the move,” Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin remarked on the project.
“This is a county that is growing, sales tax revenue is up, the county is on the right track, bond rating upgrade, all of the stuff we’re doing is starting to pay big dividends and wherever we can save money on energy costs, we’re looking to do that,” McLaughlin explained.
“This is a huge, huge opportunity for us, and like Steve had mentioned, one of our first big public sector contracts. So we’re thrilled to be working on this and to move forward in New York. We have one project in construction and another nine in construction this year that will be completed and turned on,” OYA Solar CFO, Scott Lechky, commented.
“So, the three projects that you guys are purchasing power from, from the 30 buildings and sites that’ll be subscribing from
a residential perspective. That’s about 1,000 homes or within the county probably about one to two percent power consumption,” Lechky continued.
“So this is significant when you think of just the amount of power consumed in the county. This is a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years,” Lechky noted.
The county subscription is expected to generate $3 million in savings over the 25-year lifespan of the solar project.
The agreement diverts 7.4 mega-watts of the county’s electrical load from grid electric to solar. Throughout the length of the subscription, 35,000 tons of CO2 emissions will be avoided, which is the equivalent of 17,500 gasoline powered vehicles being taken off the
road.
“Rensselaer County has been committed to saving taxpayer money wherever possible, and that is especially
true in the field of energy purchases. We have entered into productive partnerships that allow for long-term savings while ensuring
a reliable source of energy for county operations,” McLaughlin said.
“Our partnership with OYA will allow Rensselaer
County to protect taxpayers and benefit the environment with a cleaner source of energy,” McLaughlin noted.
Rensselaer County Legislator Bob Loveridge also praised the new initiative.
“I’d like to on behalf of the legislature commend executive McLaughlin and his administrative team for bringing another innovative initiative here to Rensselaer County,” Loveridge said.
“[It’s] going to be a savings for not only local residents and businesses in reference to their energy consumption but it’s also going to provide opportunities for local landowners such as farmers to lease out their property and there save money and create hopefully more job opportunities and employment for our local residents in this industry,” Loveridge explained on the possibilities the project presents.
Along with the partnership with OYA, the county is saving more than $600,000 in renewable energy costs. Those savings include the county renegotiating utility agreements for a savings of $215,000, a first phase of the county’s solar initiative to divert 2.2 megawatts from the grid, and 3.5 million kilowatt hours for the county Sewer Department being generated through hydro.
The county had originally joined with Monolith Associates for the solar project. That arrangement ended when Monolith ceased operations.
McLaughlin credited Director of Central Services Jim Gordon with helping bring about the new agreement with OYA after Monolith shut down.
“Rensselaer County has been flexible and poised to take advantage of market conditions and regulatory changes that allow for a savings and a new source of energy that protects the environment and our quality of life,” McLaughlin added.