Last year, Claverack’s Climate Smart Committee encouraged the Town Board to apply for a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to help fund the conversion of the town’s streetlights to LED lights. Town Board member Katy Cashen worked on the grant with the Chair of the Climate Smart Committee, John Bradley, and shortly thereafter the town received $5,000 towards this effort. The Town Board also agreed to use a small portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds it received for the conversion and over the summer and fall of 2022, the streetlights were converted to LED. In late December, the town received a check for over $7,500 from National Grid for an “energy efficiency incentive” for this conversion. This amount, together with the energy savings that will be realized by the conversion will result in the switch to LED streetlights paying for itself in just over one year!
The streetlight conversion is just one of several actions recommended and supported by the
Climate Smart Committee as the Town takes steps 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.
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.