Being Green Could Save Municipalities Money

CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. – Seven municipalities came together at Cortlandt Town Hall Wednesday night to discuss how to limit greenhouse gas emissions.The first step in what the seven municipalities are calling a "climate action plan" is creating an inventory of their carbon footprint, which could eventually lead to energy savings.

“Our collective goal is to improve our greenhouse gas impact. This study is going to allow us to know where we can make improvements,” said Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi, who added the study “will ultimately lead us to creating a climate action plan.”

The seven municipalities participating are Bedford, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, North Salem, Peekskill, Pound Ridge, and Somers. The greenhouse gas inventories are made up of data collected by environmental science contractor, Ecology and Environment.

Leo Wiegman, Mayor of Croton-on-Hudson and the NWEAC project leader, said, “In order for an action plan to move us forward it needs to become a traction plan. We need real data explained in plain English that is accessible to the citizens in our communities. The result of this effort will be climate traction plans for the seven participating municipalities.”

The seven participating municipalities are part of the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium, a group of 14 municipalities which came together to minimize energy use by residents and municipalities.

The emissions studies were funded by a $280,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The emissions reports catalogued both municipal and “community” energy use. Municipal energy use includes everything from gas used by fleet cars, electricity used by light poles and even municipal employee commute. Community energy use includes commercial and residential energy use.

The emissions report compiled extensive cost summaries. For example, the greenhouse gas inventory indicated that the City of Peekskill’s total utility and fuel expense for municipal services and operations was just over $1.7 million in 2010, with electricity accounting for 70 percent of the cost.

In another example, streetlights and lamps in the Village of Croton account for nearly 17 percent of the village’s electricity costs, or $88,791 per year, according to a 2007 emissions inventory. Consortium members said they were hopeful that these studies could eventually lead to savings, as well as environmentally friendly practices.

The individual inventories include recommendations for energy efficiency improvements tailored for each municipality, as well as information regarding incentives and rebates available from utilities and New York State. The efficiency recommendations help reduce the municipalities' carbon footprint, but perhaps more important to voters, it could help reduce energy costs.

NWEAC has already scheduled public outreach measures. The consortium plans to solicit public input as soon as November, via an online survey. There will also be a public meeting discussing the results of greenhouse gas emissions inventories on November 30, at 5 p.m., at Cortlandt Town Hall.

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