Posts tagged Lansing NY

Lansing Communergy Workshop Series on Renewable Energy

Mar 26th

Posted by gay in Events

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Lansing Communergy, a group of Lansing residents organized by Sustainable Tompkins, has been meeting since last August to explore various types of locally-owned renewable energy systems.  This spring they are hosting a series of public lectures on solar hot water, microhydro systems, and reducing household electricity usage prior to sizing a solar electric system.

My Solar Hot Water PanelsTheir first event was Tuesday, March 25, from 7-9 pm at the Lansing Community Center (25 Auburn Road).  Joe Sliker of Renovus Energy covered the topic of converting domestic hot water systems to solar energy. One of the easiest and lowest cost ways to go solar, the systems collect heat year-round to drastically reduce the fossil fuel energy used by your water heater.  Workshop attendees are eligible for a group discount.

On Saturday, May 3, we will host a lecture and site visit on microhydro systems from 12:30-5:00 pm.  We’ll begin with a brown bag lunch at the Lansing Community Center featuring Professor Phil Hofmeyer of the Renewable Energy Training Center at SUNY Morrisville.  Phil and his students have installed 4 microhydro systems in Madison County, and have several more underway.   After the lecture and Q&A session on the basics of microhydro systems, we will tour two potential sites on Gulf Creek and two sites in the Salmon Creek watershed near Ludlowville.

The final workshop on Tuesday, May 27 (7-9 pm at the Lansing Community Center) will explore how to reduce electricity consumption through conservation and efficiency measures before investing in a solar electric (PV) system.  Solar panel prices are lower than ever and incentives and tax credits remain high, so this is a great time to get off fossil fuels for your home electric needs.  However, it would be wasteful to spend more money and consume more natural resources than necessary to provide lighting and power to your appliances using solar energy.  This workshop will feature Cheryl Shields of Friedman Electric to share the latest in LED lighting, and Gay Nicholson of Sustainable Tompkins on reducing phantom load and switching to high efficiency equipment.

 

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Lansing Communergy Group Hosts March 25 Solar Hot Water Lecture

Mar 13th

Posted by gay in Events

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A group of Lansing residents organized by Sustainable Tompkins has been meeting since last August to explore various types of locally-owned renewable energy systems.  This spring they are hosting a series of public lectures on clean energy.

Their first event will be Tuesday, March 25, from 7-9 pm at the Lansing Community Center (25 Auburn Road).  Keith Liblick of Renovus Energy will cover the topic of converting domestic hot water systems to solar energy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Community-owned Power Gets a Boost in Lansing

Sep 3rd

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Solarize Lansing header

We believe the surest way out of both our climate crisis and our fossil fuel dependency is to work together at the community level to restructure our energy systems and our economic systems.  Yes, we need national leadership and massive shifts in infrastructure; but we also need to shift the culture and our belief systems about what is possible.  Sustainable Tompkins advocates the pursuit of a “virtuous cycle” where we work together to repeatedly Reduce fossil energy consumption, Offset what we can’t avoid using, and Invest in locally-owned renewable energy systems.  Our programs are designed to keep us working together, moving through this cycle again and again as we make steady progress toward our goal of a clean energy economy.  This fall Sustainable Tompkins is bringing our message to the Town of Lansing which is in the midst of a heated debate about the wisdom of converting their local coal power plant to natural gas.  On Fourth Tuesdays in August, September, and October, ST is hosting pubic meetings at the Lansing Community Library and sharing how homeowners, businesses, and local governments are saving energy dollars and making investments for a more energy secure future.

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ST Speaks Out on Cayuga Power Plant Debate

Aug 18th

Posted by gay in FLEC

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Our staff and Board of Directors have followed the debate around the repowering of the Cayuga Power Plant and filed the following comment with the Public Service Commission on August 16:

Sustainable Tompkins is a local citizen-based nonprofit organization working to create a more just and sustainable community.  We are local leaders in protecting our climate and supporting the transition to clean energy through programs such as our Finger Lakes Climate Fund, Finger Lakes Energy Challenge, and the Climate Smart & Climate Ready conference.

Cayuga Power Plant in Town of Lansing. Photo by Bill Hecht

Cayuga Power Plant in Town of Lansing. Photo by Bill Hecht

First, we want to note our support for the people of Lansing as they struggle with the economic impacts of having relied upon the coal plant to support many of their schools’ programs.  Certainly the State should be increasing their school aid and providing the promised Community Support Fund to help local taxpayers deal with the closing of outdated coal power plants.

Second, we add our voices to those protesting the limited scope of the PSC proceedings.  The proposals offered thus far present a false and narrow choice and an incomplete analysis of the full costs and risks that Lansing residents and regional ratepayers are facing.  We support the proposals by Martha Robertson and several others who are calling for a feasibility study of a range of renewable energy sources that could be combined at the Cayuga facility in order to wean ourselves off all fossil fuels.  We also support the idea that if public funds are used to build a new array of generating facilities based on renewables (whatever combinations of biomass, waste, solar, and stored hydro that might be) that the public become an owner and share in the profits.

Lastly, we strongly urge the PSC (and every citizen debating this issue) to look at the entire cost of each proposal over the long run.  We have to factor in the immense costs to public health and our economy from the environmental damage caused by extreme methods of fossil carbon extraction.  No analysis is complete without looking at all the costs as well as the disparities between who benefits and who suffers from our choices. Read the rest of this entry »

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