BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y., March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On Thursday March 15, the Public Service Commission (PSC) decided Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) and Community Solar may be offered as a single program. With this unprecedented decision, Community Solar can become part of a community's default energy supply, delivering renewable energy and guaranteed energy bill savings.
CCA empowers local municipalities by allowing them, rather than the state, to select the default energy supply for residents and small businesses. As a result, municipalities can leverage aggregated purchasing power to secure less expensive energy, gain price stability, and source clean energy. The New York State pilot CCA program has saved Westchester County residents more than $6 million since inception in May 2016; and is responsible for the largest purchase of renewable energy in state history. To date, more than 60 New York communities have passed local laws that enable them to establish CCA programs.
Community Solar refers to local solar development projects that generate renewable energy for surrounding communities, while guaranteeing savings on consumers' energy bills. Three hundred such projects are currently in development statewide.
In November 2017, JouleCommunity Power submitted a proposal to the PSC that outlined how and why Community Solar could become part of a CCA's default energy supply. As a result of combining Community Solar and CCA:
- Solar development projects become more financially viable as subscriber acquisition costs decrease substantially;
- CCA customers will be guaranteed energy savings; and
- CCA customers will receive local renewable energy.
Moreover, this decision could result in the financing of additional renewable energy projects, furthering the ability of New York State to achieve its Clean Energy Standard mandate that calls for 50% of the state's energy to be derived from renewable sources by 2030.
Joule Assets Chief Executive Officer Mike Gordon stated, "In the wake of this landmark decision, 500MW of Community Solar will be built in 2018 and 2019, creating more than $500 million in construction jobs that will boost local economies. Consumers in municipalities that work with Joule will save in excess of $3 million per year for the next twenty years and could preclude more than 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually."
Twenty-one municipalities, project developers, and environmental and community groups filed public comments in support of the proposal.
About JouleCommunity PowerJouleCommunity Power (JouleCommunity) works with municipalities and local partners to reduce or cap residential energy costs while advancing energy reduction, energy management, and clean energy goals amidst an evolving regulatory environment. With no upfront cost to a municipality or its residents, JouleCommunity helps consumers save money and energy by pooling local demand to broker less expensive energy supply contracts for residents and small businesses while creating new revenue opportunities enabled by participation in energy markets. JouleCommunity's distinctive expertise in designing and implementing new consumer-protective energy supply contracts was instrumental in the creation of New York State's first (and only) CCA program. Having created the blueprint to guide communities through a smooth and empowering decision process, JouleCommunity aims to scale its successful CCA model across NY State and beyond. JouleCommunity Power is a division of Joule Assets. Learn more about Joule Community at:
www.joulecommunity.com.
