Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation

In recent years, Westchester County has taken critical steps to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy infrastructure that will lower costs for residents and protect our planet from the disastrous effects of climate change.

The majority of the energy used by the County for daily operations is derived from renewable sources, particularly hydroelectricity.

In order to help achieve the ambitious goal of zero net emissions, Westchester County has launched a comprehensive solar campaign composed of two phases, supporting many other residential and local campaigns.

Solar:

  1. Phase 1 – 8MW - Rooftop solar on large buildings. Construction expected for Summer 2021
    1. Yonkers Bus Depot
    2. Valhalla Bus
    3. Westchester County Court House
    4. Parks Administration Building
    5. County Archives Building
  2. Phase 2 – 25-30MW – Parks parking lots, County buildings that didn’t make it into Phase 1, and including 35 municipal and school district sites.
  3. Community Solar – support and advocate for various solarize campaigns presented by New York State and Sustainable Westchester. Community Solar allows almost all utility customers, homeowners, renters, religious institutions, some businesses and nonprofits, to easily benefit from solar. Residents can register for solar power, and municipalities can get in on the action too.

Energy Conservation: 

  1. $60MM worth of energy efficiency capital projects that had languished for years have been recently taken up by the Departments of Environmental Facilities, Public Works-Transportation, Planning, and Parks, Recreation, and Conservancy. LED indoor lighting, boiler and steam pipe replacements, and energy efficient window replacement are a few of the projects.
  2. Demand Response Programs – Since 2019 the County has signed onto three demand response programs in which the County receives payments for being on stand-by to lower our energy usage when the power grid is stressed and at risk of failure. Power grid operators are constantly looking for new ways to ensure the stability of the power grid and shave off peak power spikes. Smart Grid programs like this allow end users to meet electrical demand, thus avoiding new power plant construction. Depending on the type of program, clients may be dispatched simply once or twice a year for a few hours. There are opportunities for municipalities, businesses, learning institutions, and even residents through a Grid Rewards program.