Yorktown is Top Community Solar Participant
Yorktown is Westchester County’s top participant in Sustainable Westchester’s Community Solar program.
As of August 31, Yorktown logged 359 enrollments in Community Solar, a program that allows utility customers to easily benefit from solar power with no cost to join and no need for the installation of solar panels. The communities following Yorktown with Community Solar enrollments include Bedford, Lewisboro and Somers.
“Yorktown’s residents recognize a good deal when they see it,” said Supervisor Matt Slater. “Enrollees receive up to 10% off their electricity bills and they are supporting local renewable energy, a critical need as we all cope with the effects of climate change caused by our use of fossil fuels.”
Yorktown joined Sustainable Westchester’s Community Solar program on August 1, 2020 as part of an effort to bring more solar power to residents.
“Sustainable Westchester congratulates the Town of Yorktown on the robust adoption of Community Solar. We are proud to have worked alongside the Town and the Climate Smart Communities Task Force and Yorktown 100 to educate residents, facilitate enrollments, and bring the benefits of clean energy to the municipality's residents, small businesses, and the Town itself,” said Nina Orville, Executive Director of Sustainable Westchester. “As a result, hundreds in Yorktown are now benefiting from both clean energy and supporting solar power made right here in New York."
Sustainable Westchester, a nonprofit organization that works with local governments on a variety of environmental efforts, helps Yorktown evaluate enrolling its electricity accounts in community solar projects for financial savings and positive environmental impact. A community solar project is an array of panels installed in a sunny location. Anyone can access the clean energy produced by these solar panels and get credits toward their electricity bills.
Sustainable Westchester collaborated with Yorktown to educate residents about vetted solar-power enrollment opportunities. This effort is expected to provide a savings of up to 10% on electricity bills to Yorktown residents in both ConEd and NYSEG service areas. Yorktown has also had its municipal sites evaluated as host sites for community solar projects through the Westchester County Community Solar Partnership.
Sustainable Westchester works with the New York Power Authority on several solar initiatives, including the community solar program that allows Westchester County governments to participate in an aggregated portfolio of generation projects that produce affordable solar power.
