FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jen Metzger
(845)489-0980
Rosendale, N.Y. - The State Public Service Commission is currently revamping New York's energy system, creating an opportunity for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) in New York. An upcoming informational forum for municipal officials and the public, “Taking Control of Our Energy Supply: Community Choice Aggregation for Municipalities,” will bring together a panel of experts and local officials from CCAs in California and Massachusetts to discuss this innovative energy procurement program and its potential for our area.
The forum, sponsored by Citizens for Local Power, the Ulster County Planning Department, the Ulster County Association of Supervisors and Mayors, and Catskill Mountainkeeper, will take place Monday, September 29, (7 – 9 pm) at SUNY Ulster College, Lounge Room VAN 203, 391 Cottekill Rd., Stone Ridge.
CCA is an energy procurement model that allows local governments to pool the electric load of their residents, businesses, and institutions in order to purchase electricity on their behalf. Benefits can include lower electricity costs, cleaner energy supply, and the development of local generation assets to boost resiliency and economic development. Today, CCAs exist in 1,300 cities in 6 states.
Panelists for the forum include Paul Fenn, of Local Power Inc., in Marin County, California, who invented CCA in the 1990s and is the nation's foremost expert on it; Brian Murphy, of Colonial Power Inc., which administers CCAs in a number of Massachusetts municipalities; Philip Ferreira, Manager of the Department of Planning and Development in Lowell, Massachusetts, which has a CCA; and Stephan Wollenburg and Maggie Downey, of Cape Light Compact (by Skype), which is the oldest CCA and includes 21 towns and 2 counties in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Rochester Town Supervisor Carl Chipman will moderate the forum.