Sunday at the Sustainability Committee
Behind the scenes with the hi-tech group whose work has rocketed Croton to the top of New York state's clean energy chart.
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Last summer, when Croton-on-Hudson became New York state’s number one Clean Energy Community (CEC), village leaders made sure the news got around.
How did we do it?
There is an easy answer and a hard one. The easy one is that Croton had earned 8000 points on the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) CEC scorecard, putting us ahead of more than 500 specially designated communities competing for the lead.
The CEC competition is somewhat like a TV game show (“Jeopardy” comes to mind), in which communities throughout the state climb multiple tiers of awards, leading to a cascade of more cash as one goes up the ladder. As NYSERDA describes it:
“Communities that complete at least four high-impact actions earn initial Clean Energy Communities designation and are eligible to apply for grants to fund additional clean energy projects. Earn points for high-impact actions your community completes. Once your community earns a certain number of points, it becomes eligible for 1 to 5-Star Designations and larger grant awards.”
So, instead of answering questions (“Famous Women for $400, Alex”), communities climb the ladder of clean energy success by taking concrete actions that help save energy and the planet. That’s the hard part. For example, last year Croton jumped to first place by installing heat pump controls in the Washington Engine firehouse and adding four electric vehicle (EV) chargers at the Department of Public Works garage on Yorktown Road, among other high-impact actions (see chart below for more details.)
The driving force behind these efforts is Croton’s Sustainability Committee, chaired by Lindsay Audin, president of the nationally known energy consulting firm Energywiz. Also serving on the committee is a bevy of experts including an IT expert; a plumbing engineer; a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) engineer; an electrical engineer; a financial professional; and a photographer/musician.
(Mayor Brian Pugh and Croton trustee Len Simon serve as liaisons from village government.)
“The secret to the Sustainability Committee’s success is similar to the tag line on the old Smith Barney commercial,” Simon told the Chronicle. “They make money the old fashioned way—they earn it!”
Indeed, the committee will have soon secured about $600,000 in grants for Croton’s sustainability efforts. And our point count is now up to 9500, although there is one piece of bad news: The Town of Bedford has now surpassed us with 10,500 points.
But Audin says Bedford’s lead will probably not last for long: Croton is awaiting approval from NYSERDA to log at least another 1000 points for past actions, and the village plans to hire an assistant to help with the point filing process.
Audin says that Croton is often “neck and neck” with both Bedford and Hastings-on-Hudson for the CEC leadership, and that all three communities have professional sustainability “champions” who are constantly on the hunt for new energy-saving projects.
Croton slips to number two, but not for long?
Croton’s point by point scorecard:
The Sustainability Committee usually meets one Sunday morning each month, via Zoom. Last Sunday, the Chronicle sat in to observe. The meetings are not for the technology adverse: The high-speed, no nonsense conversations are peppered with high-tech jargon and acronyms. Audin runs a tight ship, and there is little idle chatter.
The meeting started with a tally of new grants and points:
— The committee’s Community Solar Subscriber Drive, which could save customers up to 10% on their electricity bills, is already up to 169 enrollments, earning the village a $20,000 grant and 500 more CEC points.
— Twenty-five new heat pump installations have been logged in, which will bring in a $10,000 grant and 600 points; in addition, the new Regan-Katz development on Maple Street will feature 66 heat pump installations, which will generate an additional $20,000.
— If Crotonites buy six more new electric vehicles (not used or leased), we will be eligible for a $15,000 grant.
The discussion moved on to the village’s solar projects, including the solar arrays at the Croton-Harmon train station which are scheduled for completion this coming October. Other projects under discussion are a solar parking canopy for the Department of Public Works (DPW) and a rooftop solar array at the Harmon Firehouse.
As for electric vehicles, Audin reported that on January 24 the Police Department had taken possession of a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck, one-third of which was paid for by CEC grants. Added to last year’s purchases of a Nissan Leaf for the Engineering Department and a Mustang Mach-E for the PD, the three EVs will score Croton another 800 CEC points.
And, on a topic the Chronicle has editorialized about several times—the need to move away from gasoline powered landscaping equipment—there was more good news. Trustee Len Simon reported that the village had purchased an electric leaf blower and an electric leaf trimmer.
Much of the rest of the meeting focused on opportunities for new grants, including NYSERDA’s announcement in December of an expanded CEC program that will greatly increase Croton’s grant funding opportunities and point-earning capacities.
"Croton’s Sustainability Committee is somewhat unique in that it includes people with relevant technical credentials—for example, engineering, energy, finance—appropriate to state sustainability programs,” Audin says. “Where others excel in scoring points with many ‘paper’ actions, we do so with ‘iron in the ground’ projects that may each score bunches of points while actually cutting carbon.”
And while a typical meeting of the committee obviously includes a lot of CEC point counting, it’s clear that the members are motivated by a strong desire to cut carbon emissions and help the planet survive, at least from the worst that continued fossil fuel use and climate change may have in store for us.
In a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post, columnist Bina Venkataraman, who writes about the varying futures humanity might be facing, underscored the sustainability stakes:
“…whether Americans will successfully transition to clean technologies like these or get stuck running their homes on fossil fuels will hinge on what states and communities do to encourage uptake.”
Trustee Len Simon says that, thanks to the work of the Sustainability Committee, Croton-on-Hudson is definitely doing its part:
“…the Committee, working with the Village’s elected leaders and professional staff, has focused over the years on projects which not only reduce our greenhouse gas emissions but generate strong public support, which has provided a very effective base upon which to build future Committee successes.”
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Had the opportunity to be assisted by Lindsay in the past while on the CCAC, a man who truly cares about our futures. This team is one of Crotons true gems.