To the Editor:

Helderberg Community Energy will have a public informational meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Reformed Church in Berne to explain its Community Net Metering project and its costs and benefits to participating residents.

Any National Grid electric customer in Albany, Schenectady, or Schoharie counties who is interested in this new opportunity is invited to attend.  It would be helpful if residents would bring copies of bills, or summary information on monthly electrical usage over the last 12 months.  That information will help answer questions about individual usage.

HCE, a group of local citizens promoting the use of renewable energy in the Hilltowns, is planning for the construction of a 2 megaWatt solar photovoltaic array in Knox or Berne.  HCE has been advocating for the use of alternative energy in the Hilltowns since 2007.

The proposed solar array could provide power for approximately 150 residences, or some combination of residences and businesses, using CNM, also known as Community Distributed Generation. Any electricity users in the greater Capital Region receiving power from National Grid could have their electric bills offset by their affiliation in the proposed solar array project and see a reduction in their electric bills. 

This Community Net Metering project will be attractive to people who want to use renewable energy, but live in an apartment, or have a slate roof, an historic home, shade trees, or any other reason why they might prefer this option over an installation of solar panels at their site.     

For more information, contact HCE at , or by phone at 669-6459 or 895-8954.

Russ Pokorny, president

Helderberg Community Energy