The energy action consortiums of northern and southern Westchester are in the process of merging their programs to become one countywide entity called Sustainable Westchester.
In order to reduce energy use and costs, the consortiums develop municipalities”™ sustainability programming. Now, the two plan to combine their efforts to improve operational efficiency and increase the group”™s leverage when it comes to securing funding at the state level.
“Most of the communities in Westchester, with a few exceptions, have the same issues related to the environment and energy,” said Herb Oringel, who founded the northern consortium in 2009. “So we started to reach out to other communities, and it grew from there.”
The Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC) includes a membership of 18 municipalities. The Southern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (SWEAC) represents 15 municipalities.
Using an initial $3 million grant from the Department of Energy and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, NWEAC was a leading force behind Energize New York and its financing arm, the Energy Improvement Corp. The program helps homeowners complete and finance energy efficiency improvements.
Oringel said the group was filling a void in Westchester County as County Executive Robert P. Astorino has cut back on staff at the Department of Planning. Oringel”™s position is unpaid.
Oringel started volunteering for the town of Somers”™ energy and environment committee after retiring from IBM after about 40 years. His work started off small but grew as others observed its success, he said.
Originally, Oringel and Nina Orville, who founded SWEAC in 2010, intended to keep the organizations separate to encourage active participation from members. But with more ambitious goals now, Oringel said the two applied in January to modify the northern consortium”™s certificate of incorporation to be named Sustainable Westchester.
“Scale is very important when we go to Albany for grants,” Oringel said. “When we have a Westchester-County-wide endorsement, it”™s much more meaningful and powerful than 10 or 12 municipalities on their own.”
The state is expected to approve the group”™s incorporation amendment in April, allowing the group to open in May for new members. It hopes to add the remaining 12 municipalities in the county to its membership, most of which are along the Long Island Sound. Oringel said remaining towns likely had not joined the group because they have their own environmental groups tailored to needs along the sound.
Once officially formed, the group”™s next big project will likely be the development of a community choice aggregation program, which allows cities and counties to aggregate the buying power of individual customers to secure cheaper energy contracts. Similar programs have already launched in Massachusetts, Ohio, California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Illinois.
Westchester has the opportunity to save 15 percent on its energy costs, if approved by the state, Oringel said.
“We”™re on the cusp of doing something very big and very important,” Oringel said. “(Sustainable Westchester) is going be a game changer for the county. To my knowledge, there is no other community doing something like this. Westchester is largest county in the region and people look to us for leadership.”
