By John Bradley
At the Columbia County Climate Smart Task Force meeting on August 1, a Clean Energy Communities update from the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) reported that over $1,300,000 in Clean Energy grants have been awarded to Columbia County Climate Smart Communities.
NYS’s Climate Smart program was formed under the NYS Climate Policy with the goal of encouraging and supporting local jurisdictions to implement clean energy actions and thus reduce their greenhouse gas emission and build resilience to climate change. Earlier in 2024, NYSERDA made $25 million available to New York’s Climate Smart programs. All funds earned must be spent on additional Clean Energy High Impact Actions.
The $1,300,000 in grants were distributed as follows:
Columbia County earned $637,500 to be used on High Impact Projects, including 4 EVs for the County fleet
New Lebanon earned $180,000
Eight towns and villages at the 2 Star Designation level earned a total of $422,500 in grants
Four towns, including Claverack’s $25K, earned a total of $67,500
You can access a more detailed table of grant participation via the NYSERDA Clean Energy Communities 3.0 Progress Update.
All these grants were the result of local committees of volunteers, working with their town boards to undertake clean energy projects. More volunteers can mean more projects.
For more information on Clean Energy Communities visit: https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Clean-Energy-Communities/High-Impact-Actions
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