This page is intended for municipal leaders and activists to find out more information about how their communities can make the switch to 100% renewable energy in a number of different ways in order to decrease their carbon footprints and fight back against climate change, while saving money for their residents.
- Part 1: List of Resources Available in NYS
- These include programs under the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Many of these programs either come with funding or make a community eligible for funding.
- List of Resources (pdf)
Part 2: Municipal Toolkit: Booklet of 12 Stories Case Studies: New York Municipalities Moving Toward Clean, Renewable Energy
- This booklet is designed to highlight just a few examples of proactive and forward-thinking New York municipal leaders utilizing existing state and federal programs to transform their communities toward a 21st century clean energy future. Each of the case studies includes a description of the programs used, the process from vision to fruition, and essential lessons learned. Through their visions, obstacles, and successes, these 12 case studies showcase the enormous opportunities at the local level to improve communities’ health, create jobs, reduce energy costs, and become statewide and national paragons in the fight against climate change.
- Full Report: PDF Version (at 1.5 MB, this is a file that is easy to attach and send via email.)
- High Resolution: shows one page of the report at a time. (Dropbox link) At about 46 MB, this is a high resolution version if you want to download the whole booklet for bringing on a flash drive to a printer, or you can send someone the link to this webpage so they can click on this section and download it themselves.
- High Resolution: shows two-pages of the report at a time. This version is about 26 MB and shows two pages at a time.
- Part 3: Individual Stories from these 12 municipalities with highlighted programs
- Each 'condensed story' is a full resolution version of the two page story from the booklet plus the end page that explains the programs. Download this version if you want to print or email a story from just one municipality, as the file size is still small enough to attach to an email.
- Each 'full original story' is the original text version of the story which was approved by the municipal leader for that community. It contains more information than the condensed story, which had to be cut and rearranged for the booklet for length and uniformity of presentation. Read this version if you want more details than the condensed version.
- Town of East Hampton -- pledge to achieve 100% renewable electricity through energy efficiency, solar and offshore wind
- Town of Amherst -- electric vehicle and charging infrastructure, Solarize (home solar)
- Town of Ossining -- Community Choice Aggregation
- Lockport Housing Authority -- Geothermal heating system for public housing
- City of Schenectady -- Solar, energy efficiency, LED streetlights, electric vehicles & charging infrastructure
- Avon Central School District --public school solar
- Town of DeWitt -- Sustainability Plan, solar, electric vehicle & charging infrastructure
- Town of Eagle -- wind farm
- Town of Clarkstown -- solar on landfill
- Town of Grand Island -- community solar
- Town of Delaware -- community solar
- Town of Red Hook -- Solarize & community solar, electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Part 4: Pledge to Support 100% clean, renewable energy
- Download this aspirational pledge for a municipal leader to sign and send back to Sierra Club. We hope to bring these pledges to state elected officials to show them how local communities are already supporting the switch to renewable energy, to help curb climate change and save money for their residents.
- Download the pledge here (attached PDF)