CAZENOVIA — On March 11, the United Climate Action Network (UCAN) presented its annual Climate Action Leadership Summit at the Cazenovia Public Library.

The organization’s accomplishments include meeting with legislators regarding climate-related policies, conducting soil testing at local farms, planting 220 trees at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, launching a water quality monitoring program, sponsoring several events such as summits, Cazenovia Earth Week and energy fairs for example, and revitalizing the recycling program at Cazenovia High School, and launching a public awareness campaign focused on recycling pizza boxes.

The 2023 climate summit brought together a select group of community leaders and professionals to discuss the regional impacts of climate change, learn about local accomplishments and resources, network, and develop goals to address climate change in Madison County and beyond.

Local achievements

The summit began with an overview of the work that has been done to address the climate crisis within the towns of Cazenovia and Fenner.

Anne Saltman, who has a background in environmental and municipal planning, provided a summary of the actions that have been taken in the Town and Village of Cazenovia since 2010.

“Climate scientists predict that the main drivers of climate change — those being warmer temperatures, changes in precipitation, and increasing frequency of storm events — are expected to continue in the coming years,” said Saltman. “On the bright side, the Town and Village of Cazenovia and local organizations continue to make significant progress with mitigation and adaptation initiatives that address our changing climate. Local research is now providing information about how climate change is affecting our community, and this is helping local elected officials, businesses, and landowners to better prepare for the future.”

According to Saltman, a significant local milestone was in 2010 when the town conducted a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory and adopted a Climate Smart Communities (CSC) pledge as a commitment to GHG emission reduction and climate change mitigation.

In 2014, the village conducted its own GHG Emissions Inventory and joined the town in adopting the CSC pledge.

“Annual greenhouse gas emissions inventories and energy performance scores are now calculated in Cazenovia on an annual basis,” said Saltman. “They are being used primarily to guide policy decisions and energy improvements and to develop sustainability projects and build public support for broader sustainability initiatives.”

Saltman also said that the reduction in GHG emissions in the past few years helped the village and town to earn the prestigious CSC bronze certification from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in 2020.

Another milestone was the 2015 development of a Climate Action Plan (CAP) through the cooperation of the town, the village, several local organizations, and the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNY RPDB), a public agency that serves Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties. The report provides a comprehensive list of recommendations to improve energy conservation and reduce the local impacts of climate change, such as flooding and stormwater runoff into the lake.

“Village officials have been busy since then with program implementation,” said Saltman.

The village converted its streetlights to LED light fixtures in 2017 (New Woodstock in 2019), installed an electric vehicle (EV) charging station at Lakeland Park in 2017, and replaced the HVAC at the village offices and fire station with more efficient units that same year.

Recently, the village and its partner Abundant Solar installed a 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array at the village water treatment plant.

Saltman also reported that the town insulated the highway garage in 2017 and recently received a $5,000 grant through HeatSmart CNY for signing up local homeowners for heat pumps. That funding is now being used to install LED lighting in the highway garage. Additionally, the town is working on plans to install a solar array at the highway garage, which would have the potential to provide energy for the town and numerous homes.

Saltman concluded by bringing attention to the work of a few local organizations as well.

The Cazenovia Lake Association, for example, has been working with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry to study harmful algal blooms, monitor the introduction of aquatic invasive species, and examine other conditions influenced by climate change.

The Cazenovia League of Women Voters worked with the town, village, and several community groups in 2016 and again in 2020 to produce reports summarizing the progress made in the years since the completion of the CAP.

Saltman also commended the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) for its grant-writing and project management services and UCAN for its work and support of ongoing research into long-term trends of climate conditions in and around Cazenovia.

“Local conditions have contributed to a wide range of adaptation strategies in Cazenovia, and we are finding that climate change is leading to very challenging conditions but also opportunities for creative solutions,” said Saltman.

Additional information on the local response to climate change is available at unitedclimateaction.org/local-response-to-climate-change2/.

Next, Phil Rose, a member of the UCAN Steering Committee and president of the Fenner Renewable Energy Education Center, presented a report submitted by Fenner Town Supervisor Dave Jones, who was unable to attend the summit.

Jones provided insight into the role Fenner has played in New York State’s transition to cleaner and more renewable forms of energy.

The superintendent specifically highlighted the Fenner Wind Farm, a 30-megawatt (MW) commercial wind power facility situated within the town.

According to Jones, a renewable energy company approached the town in the 1990s hoping to set up a test tower within the municipality to measure windspeed.

The town authorized the test, which showed that Fenner was optimally suited for wind turbines.

The energy company proceeded to sign up landowners who were willing to put turbines on their properties, and all the necessary environmental, archaeological, and avian studies were completed and showed no negative impacts.

“The town proceeded to set up a zone for commercial wind farms,” wrote Jones. “The zone was set up for the different locations of the turbines. A local law was also established for the zone for setbacks.”
Construction of the project, which includes 20 turbines and a substation, was completed in 2001.

“At the time of completion, it was the largest wind farm east of the Mississippi,” Jones wrote.

Jones went on to report that about four years ago, Fenner was approached by national solar energy company Cypress Creek Renewables with a proposal for a utility-scale solar project that would take advantage of the wind farm’s existing substation and other infrastructure.

At the recommendation of the town’s solar committee, Fenner adopted a local law to amend its land use regulations with respect to solar energy systems.

The local law regulates the design, placement, construction, and operation of small-scale solar systems that support principal residential, agricultural, and business uses, and it prohibits all large-scale commercial solar facilities.

“At this point, it is a ‘wait and see’ if [Cypress Creek applies to] the state’s 94-c siting review board, where we can state our case against such a large project,” wrote Jones. “The area which they propose for the project would cover 10 percent of all tillable farmland in the Town of Fenner. There are places in Fenner where solar panels could be placed where they would not take up valuable farmland. We are hoping the state will consider the contribution to renewable energy that the Town of Fenner has done over the last 23 years.”

The supervisor also wrote that another renewable energy company, Liberty Renewables, is proposing the installation of additional wind turbines within the town. Additionally, he remarked on the local and national strides that have been made to reduce the carbon footprint of the agricultural industry, and he reported that the town has converted its lighting to LED.

Nelson Town Supervisor Jim Cunningham, who was scheduled to present on Nelson’s response to climate change, was also unable to attend the summit.

Clean energy programs and incentives

Next, attendees heard from three experts who provided insights into some of the climate- and sustainability-related resources that are available to individuals, businesses, and municipalities.

“There are a lot of resources coming our way, federally and statewide,” said Rose at the start of the summit. “A lot of energy is being focused on the climate right now. We want to know what these resources are so that as we make decisions to take actions, we can think about the resources we can access.”

The first speaker was Amanda Mazzoni, a principal planner in CNY RPDB’s Energy Management program.

According to the CNY RPDB, the primary goal of its energy management program is to maximize the region’s energy resources by increasing the efficiency of residential and commercial buildings, curtailing energy demand, increasing the use of renewable energy, and accelerating the deployment of advanced energy technologies.

Mazzoni focused her presentation on providing an overview of the clean energy- and climate change mitigation/adaptation-related programs and incentives that are available to CNY residents, municipalities, and businesses.

She began by explaining that all the initiatives she planned to discuss are related to furthering the goals codified in law by NYS’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The targets include an 85 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040, 70 percent renewable energy by 2030, 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030, 6,000 MW of solar by 2025, and 22 million tons of carbon reduction through energy efficiency and electrification.

“The state can’t do this on their own top-down, they need everybody to participate in implementing these actions,” Mazzoni said. “That’s the key takeaway here. We are all needed at every level. . . There are a lot of resources and programs available to help us to do that.”

On the municipal side, Mazzoni pointed to two similar yet distinct programs: New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program and the DEC’s CSC program.

The CEC program was launched in 2016 to encourage municipalities (counties, cities, towns, and villages) to implement clean energy actions, save energy costs, create jobs, and improve the environment.

Mazzoni is the CNY regional coordinator for the CEC program. She and other regional coordinators throughout the state work with municipalities to provide tools, resources, and technical assistance to help them complete clean energy actions.

The program recognizes and rewards participants for the completion of clean energy projects by providing grant funding to facilitate the implementation of additional actions.

Mazzoni stated that in CNY alone, 87.5 percent of the population is located within designated CECs, which have earned $2.08 million in grant funding through the program over the last several years.

“To be a designated Clean Energy Community, that means the municipality has taken at least four of the actions that are part of the program,” Mazzoni explained.

The broader CSC program includes clean energy actions as well as other efforts related to sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and climate resilience such as planning, waste reduction actions and tree planting initiatives.

“There are over a hundred actions that are part of that program that communities can take,” said Mazzoni. “We now, luckily, have a Climate Smart Communities coordinator [who] is available at no cost to municipalities to work through that program and help implement those actions.”

Mazzoni added that the two programs work very well together, and she and the CNY CSC coordinator partner to encourage municipalities to at least consider participating in both.

“All of the Clean Energy Communities program actions are also part of the Climate Smart [Communities] certification process, so there is a lot of overlap and a lot of complimenting each other in the programs,” she said.

Mazzoni next introduced the CNY Clean Energy Hub, a brand-new regional resource hosted by the CNY RPDB and designed to connect the community to the clean energy economy, ways to reduce energy use and costs, and ways to make more informed energy decisions.

“Basically, it’s going to be a one-stop shop for anybody in our region — residents, businesses, or municipalities — to come to with questions related to clean energy and how they can get involved,” Mazzoni said.

Mazzoni concluded her presentation with an overview of the many incentives available, primarily through the utilities, to help entities pay for the implementation of clean energy actions.

According to Mazzoni, National Grid and New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) both offer similar residential incentives for installing efficient HVAC or hot water heating, heat pumps, and for participating in “demand response” programs. NYSEG also offers incentives for efficient clothes dryers and pool pumps.

“Almost anything that you can think of at your home that could use efficiency improvements, there are incentives through the utilities to help implement those projects,” Mazzoni said. “The same goes for commercial entities, and municipalities can participate in the commercial programs.”

The commercial programs available through the utilities include incentives for efficient HVAC equipment, LED lighting, heat pumps, and participation in a demand response program. NYSEG also offers additional incentives for kitchen equipment and refrigeration.

Additionally, the utilities offer “Make-Ready” incentive programs to help pay for installing EV charging stations.

Mazzoni also discussed NYSERDA’s solar incentives and its “Drive Clean” point-of-sale rebate at participating EV dealers; NYS’s solar and geothermal tax credits; incentives through the DEC Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV)/ZEV Infrastructure program to help municipalities pay for EV charging stations; the DEC CSC Grant program; and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is making incentives (tax credits) available through the federal government for EVs, charging stations, renewable energy installations, heat pumps, and energy efficiency improvements.

“These tax credits [through the federal government] never were available to municipalities before because they don’t pay taxes, but through the IRA there is going to be a direct pay option that municipalities can take advantage of to tap into the same incentives,” said Mazzoni. “Instead of being a tax credit, it would be a direct payment to the municipality. . . The details are still being figured out, but we will of course share that with our municipal contacts once we have more information.”

For specific information on available incentive programs, contact Mazzoni at [email protected].

‘Stackable’ funding for local projects

The second presenter was CACDA Executive Director Lauren Lines.

Lines centered her remarks on the importance of the CEC and CSC programs for securing grant funding to support both project planning and implementation.

The Village and Town of Cazenovia have both earned the bronze-level CSC certification, and the Village and Town of Cazenovia and the Town of Nelson have all achieved the CEC designation.

Lines pointed out that the Village and Town of Cazenovia were among the first cohort of CEC-designated communities in the state.

“I think that’s huge,” said Lines. “In that first cohort, there were maybe 15 or 20 that were designated across the whole state, and we were two of them. Beyond that, they are really important foundations for getting future funding. It’s not just a [designation]; often these programs are sort of stackable. In order to get the next level of funding for planning and then [for] implementation of projects, you have to start here.”

Lines described earning the CSC and CEC designations as the foundational first steps that led to the completion of several sustainability projects within the Cazenovia community.

“The insulation project for the town highway garage, the HVAC replacement at the village buildings, and the insulation at Carpenter’s Barn were paid for with grants that we received from being Clean Energy Communities,” she explained. “And being among the first, we got the largest awards. Those [projects] were then done, which made us then more eligible for [things like] the bronze-level certification.”

Lines then pointed to several upcoming “next phase” sustainability and climate change adaptation/mitigation projects that further demonstrate the stackability of the various grant opportunities available to municipalities.

One of the projects she highlighted involves drainage improvements on Ridge Road and Lincklaen Steet and is funded with a DEC CSC grant.

“We were able to get that grant because we had that bronze-level certification,” said Lines, who added that she believes the project will be implemented this year.

Another example is a project involving preliminary engineering for the removal of the Mill Street dam to address issues involving backflow from Chittenango Creek into Cazenovia Lake. Funding for the engineering work is provided through a NYS Local Waterfront Revitalization Program grant.

“[First], Cazenovia Lake and Chittenango Creek had to be designated inland waterways, and that took an act of the state legislature,” said Lines. “Once we got past that, then we had to apply for funds to do a waterfront plan, which we did, and then finally apply for a grant to do this preliminary engineering for the dam removal. Once we have that, we will be able to apply to implement [that project].”

Electric vehicles, electric vehicle supply equipment

The summit’s final speaker was Barry Carr, who volunteers as the coordinator for the Clean Communities of Central New York (CC of CNY), the US Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Coalition hosted by Syracuse University.

According to Carr, the Clean Cities program was established in 1993 to advance the nation’s energy, economic, and environmental security by supporting local actions to cut petroleum use in transportation.

The CC of CNY works with vehicle fleets, fuel providers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to promote alternative fuels and vehicles, fuel blends, fuel economy, hybrid vehicles, and idle reduction awareness.

Carr is also the director of business development at ABM Industries.

Within the company’s eMobility division, Carr works with major utilities and fleets to develop alternative fuel infrastructure, including natural gas, renewable natural gas, hydrogen, and DC Fast Charge systems.

“We procure, sell, install, maintain, and operate almost 30,000 EV chargers across the US, in Canada, and in the UK,” said Carr. “This stuff is really happening now.”

According to Carr, ABM recently purchased RavenVolt, Inc., a leading nationwide provider of advanced turn-key microgrid systems, to provide backup power for some of the company’s larger projects, including its military projects and commercial trucking projects.

“The reason all this is happening is that finally, after 30 years of fooling around with electric vehicles, the [automotive original equipment manufacturers] are all starting to make them now,” said Carr. “Some of this stuff is going to happen really quickly. Cadillac is going to be 100 percent electric by 2025. That’s only two years from now. It’s kind of scary to see how quickly it’s happening because we need a lot more charging stations and a lot better infrastructure to support it.”

Carr stated that part of his job involves working with auto dealers that need charging stations to sell electric vehicles.

“It is a significant investment by the auto dealers,” he said.

According to Carr, dealerships are now investing an average of about $500,000 to sell electric vehicles.

The presenter said he also does a lot of work with medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, including school bus fleets and transit fleets.

Carr also provided information on EV maintenance and safety considerations; batteries and other energy storage options; battery recycling and second life; charging equipment options; funding sources; and the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which will provide funding to states to deploy EV fast chargers along designated alternative fuel corridors to establish an interconnected EV charging network to facilitate data collection, access, and reliability.

During his discussion of funding sources, Carr spoke specifically about school bus replacement funding.

“In New York State, we have a lot of money for this right now through the Truck [Voucher Incentive Program] and through an [Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] funded program,” he said. “It will pay 100 percent of the incremental cost — that’s the difference between the base cost of a diesel- or gasoline-powered bus and the electric-powered cost — which is significant. It’s almost $300,000 more to buy an electric bus, unfortunately. That will go down over time as they make more and more of them. There is also money to pay for the infrastructure. . . It’s going to be a one-on-one thing; most buses are going to have a charger dedicated to that bus.”

Following Carr’s presentation, Cazenovia Central School District (CCSD) Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio mentioned that the district currently needs four new school buses.

He informed Carr that New York Bus Sales, Inc. in Chittenango said four gas buses would cost the district about $650,000, while four electric buses would be about $1.3 million.

The superintendent went on to say that, based on his conversations with New York Bus Sales and the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES’s grant writer, it was his understanding that CCSD does not qualify for the current round of the “gap grant” that Carr referenced in his presentation.

“They are giving you the right information today, but within a month there is more money going into the truck voucher program specifically for school buses,” responded Carr. “I don’t think you applied to the EPA for the first round of funding that was heavily gauged towards rural areas. . . You should apply for it anyhow and get used to the process. The second round is going to pull in more smaller communities like Cazenovia and Canastota and places like that.”

Questions regarding electric vehicles can be directed to Carr at [email protected].

Breakout sessions

The expert presentations were followed by “breakout” sessions, during which three groups brainstormed potential climate action goals and funding needs for 2023.

Participants were divided into the following groups: natural resources (trees, water, land), climate adaptation/building codes/heating, and electricity/renewable energy/wind/solar.

Following the 45-minute work session, each group reported on its conversation and proposed initiatives.

The groups were encouraged to continue their discussions and planning and to focus on implementation in the coming months.

According to Rose, the UCAN Steering Committee plans to produce a report in the coming weeks to document each group’s proposed climate action projects/objectives.

After the meeting wrapped up, participants were encouraged to consider signing three petitions in support of the Expanded Bottle Bill, the NY HEAT Act (“NY Home Energy Affordable Transition Act”), and the Build Public Renewables Act.

UCAN organized its first climate summit in March 2019 to develop a strategic five-year plan. The event brought together 42 knowledgeable stakeholders and leaders to help identify the area’s most critical environmental issues. A follow-up summit was held three months later to celebrate the group’s accomplishments, evaluate its plans, and develop strategic working groups. A third summit was held via Zoom in Nov. 2020 and a fourth was held in person in Nov. 2021.

To learn more about UCAN, get involved, or sign up for the newsletter, visit unitedclimateaction.org.