Central New York Climate Change Innovation Program

Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties, New York

Federal Funding: $497,793
Project Timeline: February 2010 – December 2012

Project Summary
Community Characteristics
Program Results/Estimated Results
Project Websites
Media Coverage
Photos

Project Summary

Coupling Financial Incentives and Technical Assistance to Enable Climate Change Innovation

The Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNY RPDB) has selected 8 municipalities as initial award recipients and has continued to work with each community to conduct greenhouse gas emission inventories, develop Climate Action Plans, host community engagement events, and implement clean energy demonstration projects. In one of the cities CNY RPDB is supporting, the program staff presented workshops geared toward helping individuals, businesses, and communities advance green initiatives throughout Madison County. CNY RPDB will also provide technical assistance to the county’s presentation on the “Solarize Madison County” initiative. CNY RPDB has continued working with a consultant team to develop an energy challenge curriculum to reduce household GHG emissions, and the curriculum and program will soon be piloted in the City of Syracuse. Additionally, CNY RPDB has purchased Kill-a-Watt monitors and distributed them to all of the Onondaga County Branch libraries located within the City of Syracuse. Participants in the Energy Challenge Team program will be able to check these devices out of local libraries and use them to measure the energy consumption of key household appliances.

The Central New York Climate Change Innovation Program aims to improve energy efficiency in municipal operations, increase the use renewable energy, and enable land use and transportation policies that manage GHG emissions and reduce vehicle miles traveled. The Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (CNY RPDB) will achieve these goals through two components:

providing energy reduction, renewable energy, and climate change management sub-grants to local governments, and
providing technical assistance through education programs and outreach materials to local government staff.

Each year, the Innovation Program will competitively award sub-grants to three local governments to support energy efficiency retrofits, measures to introduce alternative-fuel vehicles and fueling systems, vehicle travel reduction projects, transportation efficiency improvements, and feasibility studies for renewable energy projects. The Board will reserve one of the grants for a local government with a population of less than 10,000 people to ensure expertise is also developed in small Central New York municipalities. The program will also assign priority to environmental justice areas designated by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

The program will provide technical assistance to local governments that are selected to receive sub-grants. Those awarded sub-grants will be required to develop a climate protection plan, apply for technical assistance through programs offered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA), and receive training on no-cost evaluation tools such as ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager. The program will encourage these governments to adopt community planning controls to support GHG emission reductions from local residents, businesses, and institutions. To help them meet these requirements, CNY RPDB will provide technical assistance throughout the process and publish a Municipal Energy Planning Guide to highlight case studies of projects funded through the sub-grants.

The benefits of the program include reductions in energy use and GHG emissions, and a greater capacity for local governments to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate action planning measures will also reduce air pollutants, produce energy cost savings, and help educate the public. The program's model of coupling financial incentives and technical assistance with a focus on land-use planning and public education will provide opportunities for replication in other regions, and will strengthen existing partnerships with NYSERDA, and with regional energy management personnel.

Community Characteristics

Population:	782,000
Area:	3,622 square miles
Government Type:	Regional Council
Community Type:	Urban and Rural
Median Household Income:	$42,000 to $50,000

Program Results/Estimated Results

Expected GHG Reductions:	2,400 metric tons CO₂e
Expected Electricity Savings:	36,000 MWh
Expected Training:	At least nine local governments
Expected Training Materials:	5,000 brochures distributed 20,000 citizens informed