The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced the availability of up to $1.8 million for community campaigns to help residents and businesses install clean heating and cooling systems.
Increasing the use of clean heating and cooling technology will play a major role in achieving the state goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030, officials said.
Alicia Barton, NYSERDA president and CEO, said, “Clean heating and cooling systems will provide users with energy bill savings, increased comfort levels and health benefits compared to conventional heating and cooling technologies. It’s a win-win for consumers and the environment and is vital to meeting Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Officials said the Clean Heating and Cooling Community Campaign initiative will bring together groups of potential customers so they can obtain discounts for air and ground source heat pumps, biomass heating and solar heating through aggregated purchases and a simplified procurement process.
Community campaigns can be proposed by municipalities or community based organizations and will receive up to $150,000 for each campaign, with additional funds available for workforce development ($50,000) and low-to-moderate income engagement ($150,000) strategies. Community campaigns should be in a county, city, borough or region with at least 40,000 residents and are encouraged to include local financial institutions, colleges/universities and local utilities.