The Schenectady County Legislature announced that the Schenectady County Solar Consortium saved taxpayers over $1.3 million in 2022 in energy costs, the first year all sites were fully operational. The consortium consists of a network of seven solar farms throughout the county that are located on land that the municipalities identified as unusable or underutilized. Solar credits are allocated to local municipalities to reduce energy costs.
The Consortium offsets the electric use of all nine municipalities within the county and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by over 800,000 tons over the 25-year expected lifetime of the system, which is equivalent to taking 125,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
“Renewable energy is not only a smart investment in the environment and the future, but also a smart investment for taxpayers today,” said Anthony Jasenski, Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature. “Creating smart savings through initiatives like our solar consortium have helped us to hold the line on county taxes while continuing to provide the services and programs our residents need and deserve.”
Savings by Municipality
City of Schenectady: $651,876
Town of Rotterdam: $293,536
Town of Niskayuna: $158,134
Village of Scotia: $69,932
Town of Glenville: $68,442
Down of Duanesburg: $40,529
Schenectady County: $33,289
Schenectady County Solar Consortium
The Schenectady County Solar Consortium grew out of the County-Wide Shared Services Property Tax Savings Plan required by the 2017-2018 New York State budget, and was unanimously approved by the County and each of the eight county municipalities in August of 2017.
The solar farms were built by DSD Renewables, formerly GE Solar, at no expense to County taxpayers and are projected to save taxpayers over $44 million over the expected 25-year lifetime of the system. The system has a 266.2Mw of solar energy capacity, which can create 32Mw/h of energy. The final site, located at the landfill on Barhydt Road in Glenville, come online in July of 2021.
Locations
- Closed landfill on Pattersonville-Rynex Corners Road in Rotterdam
- Closed landfill at 156 Barhydt Road in Glenville
- Closed landfill on Cheltingham Avenue in Schenectady
- Commerce Park Drive solar farm in Niskayuna
- 59 Hetcheltown Road solar farm in Glenville
- Anthony Street site in Schenectady
- Former L & M Motel at 2 Rice Road in Rotterdam
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