Summary of the meeting:

Ralph vetted many programs, looking for clean, safe, renewable energy that could be provided at a discount to the residents of Putnam Valley, without the need for solar installations on rooftops or local solar farms. The Putnam Valley Town Board approved the resolution allowing the plan to go forward on August 11, making Putnam Valley the first town to join the county-wide Solarize Putnam program. The program is administered by Ampion, a Public Benefit Corporation, which partners with solar farms in upstate New York. At the moment, there is plenty of capacity for everyone in Putnam Valley.

Not only will residents who choose to sign up get less expensive, cleaner energy and a $100 gift card, but the Town will also receive $100 for each household that signs up and a $6,000 grant for a town ecologic project. As Ralph said, “that makes it win/win/win for everyone.”

If you choose to sign up, you will keep your same provider (NYSEG) and will be billed through NYSEG, as you always have been. During the long summer days you will accumulate credits, that will then be automatically applied to your bill during the winter months. Your bills will always be lower that your present rates, but, be aware, the full 10% benefit may not be met during the first winter (since you won’t yet have summer credits that can be applied). There is no cost to sign up. You can cancel at any time, there are no penalties or costs to do so. You can see the answers to more RBL residents’ questions below.

To sign up or to get more information about Community Solar, please go to the Putnam Valley Town web site, or click here. If there is interest, we will set up another information session with Ralph in September or October.

Thank you, Ralph, for working hard over the last six months to find a Community Solar program that is the right fit for Putnam Valley!

Community Solar RBL Residents Questions and Answers (Aug. 14 RBLPOA meeting)

1. Who can participate? Because no roof is required to participate, nearly anyone can join. Homeowners, renters, places of worship, and small businesses can all support clean energy and benefit from cheap solar power.

2. Are the solar panels assigned to me connected directly to my home? No, the solar panels are connected to the grid and the grid then supplies the energy to your home.

3. Would local weather conditions at the solar farm affect my electricity supply? No, your home will still be connected to the grid and the electric supply to your home will be affected as it always has been – by local weather conditions and other factors affecting the distribution system (maintained by NYSEG).

4. If I sign up, will I receive 10% off my entire electric bill? No, your bill has two parts –a charge for supply and a charge for distribution. The supply charge will show the discount, but the distribution charge will stay with NYSEG and be unchanged.

5. Will I see the discount immediately after I sign up? It will take 2 to 3 months for your enrollment to be completed. In addition, because you may start in the fall or winter, you will have no credits “banked up” from the previous summer season. You will still get a $100 gift card and your first fall and winter will still show a discount, but it may be less than 10% the first year.

6. I have already signed up for solar or wind generated energy, but I am paying extra for it. Am I eligible for this program? Yes, you can change your supplier at any time and there is no charge to either sign up or unsubscribe to the Ampion program at any time. (However, you will need to check whether there is a charge to unenroll from your present program)

7. Where are the Solar Farms? The solar farms that NYSEG customers will be assigned to are way upstate in places like Cortland and Erie Counties. Central Hudson customers will be assigned to a farm in Ellenville or Catskill. (There are no solar farms in or planned for Putnam or Westchester.)

8. Is Ampion involved with the Solar Farm that Yorktown is trying to put right near our High School? Ampion is not involved with the solar farm Yorktown is trying to put up.

9. Will Ampion be building a Solar farm in Putnam Valley? No, there are no plans to do so.

10. Is Ampion a non-profit? Privately owned? Ampion is a privately owned, for profit, Public Benefit Corporation. This means it is a for-profit company with a legally binding commitment to a social and environmental mission. A Public Benefit Corporation is legally required to consider factors and stakeholders other than profit and investors when making business decisions, including employees, customers, the communities it serves, and the environment.

11. Do Putnam Valley residents need to do something extra to have the credits and discounts go directly to their NYSEG bills? NYSEG is now under the Utility Consolidated Billing Model. This means that all the calculations are done on the back end, and the discount is automatically applied to your electric bill.

12. Why does the subscription agreement with Ampion say under "Prices, Fees and Charges" that "at our election, either (i) your subscription fee will be automatically taken from the Bill Credits you receive on your utility bill or (ii) you shall pay the subscription fee directly to us either by credit card or ACH Auto-Pay"? Because the agreement applies to multiple utilities, it has the dual billing language baked into it. Because NYSEG adopted the Utility Consolidated Billing model, however, the dual billing language does not apply to NYSEG customers (including all Putnam Valley customers). Putnam Valley residents will be automatically have all fees and credits applied to their bills.