Note: To power your home with renewable energy, see the most recent Subscription Community Solar update and 100% Renewable Electricity update. 

​By Gerri Wiley, HeatSmart volunteer and Energy Navigator

What’s new with Subscription Community Solar?
​

• Solar Farms NY’s Dryden Farm is fully subscribed. Space is available on their other solar projects.
• Delaware River Solar reduced its discount from 10% to 5% (Current subscribers' discount remains the same.) The reason is likely that Community Choice Aggregation’s (CCA’s) upcoming opt-out community solar programs will offer DRS more than enough customers to fill its projects. You are welcome to be added to the waiting list.
• Nexamp’s project in Erin is filled. You are welcome to be added to the waiting list.
• If the solar project with which you're subscribed is open to consolidated billing, this is the month you might first experience just one bill from NYSEG without a second bill from your Community Solar company. Yay!

What’s new with 100% Renewable Electricity ESCOs?

​Let’s first talk about NYSEG’s fossil-nuclear default plan. You’ll be shocked at NYSEG’s rate listing this month that reflects May’s average price: 7.45 cents/kWh! This is 3 cents/kWh higher than NYSEG’s trailing 12-month average. Why did this occur? A major temperature spike? A sharp increase in demand? Nope. A combination of factors is speculated: the impact of retirement of the Indian Point nuclear plant driving up fossil fuel-generated electricity; the anticipated higher post-pandemic natural gas load; and anticipated higher levels of congestion with planned transmission upgrades.

Meanwhile, Energy Coop of America’s (ECA’s)100% renewable plan remains the only reasonably priced ESCO sporting no customer complaints.

HeatSmart Tompkins invites local heat pump and building envelope experts serving Tompkins and/or Chemung Counties to apply for partnership in our 2021-2022 Campaigns. HeatSmart campaigns provide personal outreach to community groups along with broad advertising efforts to generate more jobs for participating businesses (Installer partners). Installer partners receive leads through the program and are also personally presented to the community at public meetings and on webinars.

                          Apply by filling out this application by June 11th, 2021

The primary focus is on residential buildings for single- or small multi- family buildings, with an emphasis on retrofitting and improving the existing housing stock and heating systems in our area. We also reach out to small businesses and those planning to construct new buildings. The territory covered by the program includes Tompkins and Chemung Counties with a special emphasis on the gas constrained Town of Lansing. Please contribute your expertise to this effort, grow your business, and help us improve the energy efficiency of buildings in these communities!

We are seeking multiple installers to work closely with the HeatSmart Tompkins team as trusted campaign partners and serve the public by installing home weatherization and relevant clean heating and cooling technologies while helping to expand awareness of these technologies over the course of the program. Technologies offered include air-source heat pumps (ASHP), including space heating (dual-fuel and stand-alone central air systems) and heat pump water heaters (HPWH), and ground-source heat pumps (GSHP).

The goals of HeatSmart Tompkins include:

• Increase public awareness of energy efficient clean heating and cooling technologies
• Build long-term interest and demand for these technologies in the local market
• Decrease the emissions of greenhouse gasses through improved efficiency, beneficial electrification, and adoption of renewable energy.

The selected installer(s) will work collaboratively with the HeatSmart Tompkins team to implement a one year community marketing and outreach campaign from July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022. The selected Installer(s) will receive leads and will be actively promoted to the community as HeatSmart Tompkins’s competitively-selected Installer(s).

Questions or concerns? Call Lisa Marshall at 850-291-5259 or e-mail at Lisa@HeatSmartTompkins.org