As part of the state’s ambitious climate law that was passed last month, by 2030, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act states, 70 percent of New York’s electricity has to come from renewable sources, and, by 2040, all electricity in the state is to be generated from 100-percent carbon-free sources. Currently, New York is far from its 2030 goal and has just over a decade to try to almost double the number of renewable energy sources in the state. 

In Knox, a proposed solar array was debated again at a second public hearing held by the town’s planning board, with many against it due to concerns about construction, the viewshed, and wildlife.

Following a public hearing on a solar bill, and preceding a town workshop meeting, the Westerlo Town Board passed its first law of 2017, which sets requirements for residential and commercial solar arrays.

A proposal for a nine-acre array on Route 156 that would have been Guilderland’s first solar farm was withdrawn this fall. Now the town is considering a proposal for a zoning district change to allow for construction of a solar farm about twice the size.

The town's commitment to renewable energy may payoff in a big way

If each of us does our part with renewable energy, we can save more than money; we can save the world.

It would be purpose-built to supply power to the SUNY Polytechnic Institute campus in Guilderland and Albany.

As the state’s Public Service Commission voted this week to enforce New York getting half its power from renewable energy by 2030, Albany County towns with rural land conducive to solar farms are in varying stages of developing zoning ordinances for solar: Bethlehem, Guilderland, and Knox have 2016 laws in place.

ALBANY — The designs and connections for solar panels on county-owned buildings need to be known by firefighters who may be in danger otherwise, according to a resolution passed unanimously by the county legislature Monday night.

Solar panels proliferating locally reflect a larger effort to reduce their financial costs and government subsidies. Rural municipalities are surveying their options in earnest.