In August 2020, the Claverack Town Board approved a resolution that adopted the New York State Climate Smart pledge to become a Climate Smart Community (CSC). The goal of a CSC is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The benefits of participating in the CSC program includes leadership recognition, free technical assistance, and access to grants.
One of the actions that the Town of Claverack has taken under this initiative is to convert the nearly 200 streetlights in the town to LED. As part of this effort, the Town applied for, and received a $5,000 state grant from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to help pay for the streetlight conversion. These funds, together with the savings that will be realized by converting to LED lights, will benefit the lighting districts in the Town. The streetlight conversion was completed in July 2022 by National Grid and New York State Electric and Gas.
The streetlight conversion is one of the steps that the town has taken in the goal to achieve Bronze Level Certification under the Climate Smart Community program. We will continue to provide updates on additional actions taken to achieve this important goal.