Energy

 A Climate Smart Community –

A Climate Smart Community – The New York State Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Program is a network of New York communities engaged in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resilience. Municipalities become involved with the CSC Program by adopting the CSC Pledge, which includes 10 elements that lead to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and provide guidance on climate change adaptation. Municipalities can opt to participate in the Climate Smart Certification Program, which has four certification levels: certified, bronze, silver and gold. Communities can access technical support and funding opportunities to reach their certification goals.

The City of Kingston achieved Bronze Climate Smart Community certification in 2014, and now Silver certification in 2018, both the highest levels achieved by any municipality in New York State. Kingston has completed a variety of adaptation and mitigation strategies to achieve this level, including appointing a commission, conducting a 2010 Greenhouse Gas Inventory and creating a 2020 Climate Action Plan. The Climate Action Plan outlines strategies and actions for the city to take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set a goal for energy use reduction of 20% by 2020.  To take the City’s commitment even further, in 2017, the City adopted Resolution #179 of 2017: Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Kingston, NY Committing to 100% Clean Energy by 2050 and Continuing Support of the Principles of the Paris Agreement.

2030 Climate Action Plan 

The City of Kingston created Climate Action Plan 2030 (CAP), which provides a blueprint to build sustainable, resilient, and independent energy, food, economic, and social systems over the next 10 years. This plan is community-wide, bold, transformative, engaging, and capable of achieving sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

2030 Climate Action Plan

 See https://engagekingston.com/climate-action-plan  for more information.

 

 

2018-2019 Building Energy Benchmarking Report

 2019 GHG Emissions Inventory Report 

2020 GHG Emissions Inventory Report 

 2020 Building Energy Benchmarking Report 

A Clean Energy Community – An initiative of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Clean Energy Communities Program provides funding and technical support to communities that are implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable development projects.  A community must complete four out of the 10 High Impact Actions that save energy and money, and contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, to achieve the Clean Energy Community designation.

In 2017 the City of Kingston became the first city in New York to be designated a Clean Energy Community. To earn the designation, the city by completed the following high-impact actions:

• Establishing a Clean Fleet by adding electric vehicles (EV) to the city fleet.
• Implementing a Benchmarking initiative that establishes a policy of data collection on energy use in municipal buildings to identify opportunities to cut energy waste. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager Program is a tool that the City of Kingston uses to benchmark the performance of municipal buildings. 
• 2018-2019 Benchmarking Report 
•   2020 Benchmarking Report 
• Resolution #21 of 2017 
• Establishing the Energize NY Finance program, a loan to help commercial and non-profit property owners to tackle energy upgrades and renewable energy projects. The loan is repaid through a special charge on the property tax bill. Local Law #3 of 2015   Local Law #2 of 2019 
• Earning Climate Smart Community certification. As an added incentive for receiving Clean Energy Community certification, the City was awarded $100,000 by NYSERDA to complete an energy or sustainability project (see CEC Grant in Table 1).
• In addition to these actions, Kingston is also a solar-friendly community. In 2015, the City of Kingston participated in the Solarize Hudson Valley campaign, which was designed to make it easier for households and small businesses to go solar. The Solarize Kingston campaign has ended, but residents can access a Solar Guidebook and Kingston’s Solar Permit here. 

Kingston Community Choice Aggregation 

Community Choice Aggregation enables municipalities to supply residents and small businesses with accessible and affordable green energy. By pooling demand, a CCA allows municipalities to purchase clean energy at bulk rates while still maintaining delivery service from Central Hudson. Kingston’s CCA will allow us to:

- Secure competitive prices locally

- Exercise more local control over energy resources

- Increase the percentage of renewables in the fuel mix

- Participate in guided energy efficiency programs, such as home weatherization, ground source heating and cooling, and solar power projects

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a municipal energy procurement model that replaces the utility as the default supplier of electricity for virtually all homes and small businesses within Kingston. CCA puts control of choosing energy suppliers in our local hands. By pooling demand, our community will build the clout necessary to negotiate lower rates with private suppliers and be able to choose cleaner energy.

In Fall 2021, the City of Kingston adopted Local Law #3 of 2021 to authorize the adoption of a CCA program. In Fall 2022, the CCA program was launched. For full information about Kingston's CCA program, check out  https://engagekingston.com/community-choice-aggregation

Clean Heating and Cooling Community Campaign

The City of Kingston has launched a Clean Heating and Cooling Campaign through NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities Program encouraging the uptake of clean HVAC technologies in homes and businesses in Kingston. 

Starting in Fall 2023, Mid-Hudson Energy Transition will lead a Healthy & Resilient Homes pilot project in Kingston, which will make an immediate difference in people’s lives, while collecting much-needed information to improve and standardize the program’s future energy efficiency and electrification projects. The pilot project will start with a comprehensive audit of homes to measure energy efficiency, air quality, deferred maintenance and other factors. After the audit, a small number of viable homes will be selected for retrofitting. The retrofitting process involves remediation, weatherization, energy efficiency, and pre-electrification (like electrical wiring upgrades) and will be done with no cost to tenants.

This pilot project is expected to identify effective and affordable measures that can be used to improve low-income households’ living conditions. The project will provide valuable insights into the retrofitting process, including cost, time, displacement during construction, and how to combine incentives. The research project will also measure improvements in air quality, decreased energy bills, increased comfort, and knowledge among homeowners. These outcomes will guide future efforts to improve low-income households’ living conditions.

If you are interested in participating in this pilot, please reach out to the Project Manager, Elisabeth Balachova, at [email protected].

After the pilot, Mid-Hudson Energy Transition will expand the pilot to be a citywide Healthy & Resilient Homes Program through Kingston Community Energy. MHET will provide project management support and financing for homeowners, landlords, renters, and small businesses to get fossil fuels out of their buildings and reduce environmental toxins (like lead, mold, and asbestos). This makes homes healthier, more comfortable, and less costly to operate. As always, our program prioritizes disadvantaged communities and aims to provide access to healthy living conditions and affordable energy for all residents.

HOME ELECTRIFICATION FAQ

100% Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap-

The City of Kingston aspires to a future based in sustainable, resilient and independent socioeconomic systems. Functional to this goal is the development of a renewable energy strategy that ensures the city's electricity supply is sourced from local and renewable resources. 

In 2019, in partnership with the NoVo Foundation, the City of Kingston hired Cadmus and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a long-term roadmap for the City to achieve 100% renewable and resilient community-wide electricity supply. 

Research revealed a pathway for the City to achieve its 100% Renewable Energy goal by simultaneously pursing multiple strategies that can be categorized into four key pillars: 

1) Pillar One: Foundational Policies and Programs 

  a)Reducing Permitting, Zoning and Inspection Processes

  b) Adopting Solar-Ready Guidelines

  c) Engaging the Community in Setting Energy Goals

  d) Establishing Formal City-Utility Partnerships

  e) Working with the Distribution Utility to Streamline Interconnection Processes

2) Pillar Two: Municipal Supply Mix Strategies

  a) Purchasing Renewable Energy On-Site to Supply Operations

  b) Procuring Renewable Energy from Retail Electricity Providers

  c) Entering into Offsite Power Purchasing Agreements

  d) Virtual Power Purchasing Agreements 

3) Pillar Three: Community Choice Aggregation

4) Pillar Four: Scaling Solar Generation 

City of Kingston 100% Renewable Energy Transition Roadmap 

Energy Efficiency and PV Measures Analysis and Workforce Development Potential Summary

Energy Simulation Modeling Analysis for Central Fire 

Energy Modeling Analysis for Metro Building 

100% Committed-

On April 10, 2018, the City of Kingston, New York joined the 100% Committed campaign in partnership with The Climate Reality Project: Hudson Valley and Catskills NY Chapter. Through this commitment, the City pledged to help our community shift to 100 percent renewable electricity.

Investing in Solar 

SolSmart

The City of Kingston has received a Bronze designation from the national SolSmart program for encouraging the growth of clean, affordable solar energy at the local level.

As a SolSmart Bronze designee, Kingston has adopted nationally recognized best practices to advance solar market growth, and worked with SolSmart's no-cost technical assistance team to increase local knowledge of solar energy so the entire community can benefit. To achieve SolSmart Bronze designation, Kingston has posted an online checklist detailing the permitting process for residential rooftop solar, and has reviewed local zoning requirements and identified restrictions that intentionally or unintentionally prohibit solar energy development. These and other actions taken will make it faster, easier, and more affordable for residents, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to install solar in this community. 

Community Solar 

Since 2020, the City of Kingston has participated in local Community Solar Projects for a portion of our municipal accounts. 

    1) The Pointe Kingston Community Solar, at 243 Hurley Avenue (Pointe of Praise Church):28 panels/12,305.72 kWh 

    2) Community Solar Array on Albany Avenue, at 241-243 Albany Avenue (Radio Kingston): 100 panels

Solarize Kingston

Beginning in June, 2021, the City of Kingston launched Solarize Kingston, in partnership with Ulster County and the Solarize Ulster Campaign, to provide opportunities for Kingston residents to enroll in Community Solar Programs. More info can be found at www.kingston-ny.gov/SolarizeKingston.

As of September 1, 2021, 38 customers have enrolled in this program in Kingston alone.

  Municipal Arrays

In 2012, the City, with a local Eagle Scout, installed the City's first solar array system on municipal property, at the Forsyth Nature Center. 5 panels/1.2 kW

In 2018, the second solar array was installed, also at the Forsyth Nature Center. 20 panels/4.8 kW

In 2022, a new rooftop solar system was installed on the Andy Murphy Center, offsetting 110% of the building's electricity demands.  

         

Greening Our Street Lights-

Kingston’s street lights consume 1.9 million kWh of energy annually.  Kingston is retrofitting all of our existing street lights to energy efficient LED street lights, which will result in a retrofit of over 2,200 municipal street lights to LED.

Street Light FAQ 

Project Website 

Greening Our Municipal Building Lights-

In 2019 the City of Kingston took a big step to walk the walk by retrofitting our municipal building lights with energy efficient LED lighting. This work, done under the Central Hudson Small Business Direct Install Lighting Program working with Lime Energy Services Company, included retrofitting lighting in the following municipal buildings: 

• Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center
• City Court
• DPW Administration Building
• DPW Garage
• DPW Wilbur Avenue Campus
• Everette Hodge Community Center
• Kingston Heritage Area Visitor Center
• Police Station
• Rondout Fire Station (Building Safety)
• Transfer Station
• Wiltwyck Fire Station (Frog Alley)
• City Hall 
  
  
  

These retrofits, which were completed in the first half of 2019, will result in an estimated annual savings of more than $46,500 and more than 387,800 kWh savings. This is equal to the equivalent of the electricity use of 50 homes in one year. 

 

OPEN C-PACE-

 
EIC Open C-PACE Program

EIC Open C-PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) is operated by Energy Improvement Corporation (EIC) and provides a low cost, long-term alternative to traditional loans to fund clean energy projects in commercially owned buildings. Open C-PACE is not a bank loan and differs from traditional financing options because:

-financing is available for up to 100% of the project cost, or can be combined with other financing

-competitive private financing from EIC-approved capital providers

-customizable loan terms up to the expected life of the improvement

-repayment is secured through a benefit assessment lien that is subordinate to municipal taxes

-financing automatically transfers to a new owner if the property is sold

-projects must comply with NY State Article 5-L (NY’s PACE law) and NYSERDA's Commercial PACE Guidance Document


KINGSTON'S ROLE IN OFFERING ENERGIZE NY Open C-PACE
To enable Open C-PACE, the City of Kingston passed Local Law #2 of 2019 and signed an EIC municipal agreement. EIC bills the property owner and directs them to remit the funds to the capital provider, removing any collection obligation from the municipality. As the program administrator, EIC will review and approve each financing, ensuring it conforms with the enabling legislation and NYSERDA C-PACE guidelines. 

For more information about C-PACE opportunities, see https://www.eicpace.org/eicopencpace. To complete a C-PACE Application, see https://www.eicpace.org/financeapplication.