As the next step in its commitment to become a Climate Smart Community, which began in 2009, the Town of Rosendale has pledged to procure “100 percent of electricity consumed by municipal buildings and facilities from renewable resources beginning in the current year of 2018, provided that the Town of Marbletown agrees to such a commitment for the Rondout Municipal Center shared by the two Towns.” In addition, municipal officials resolved to “strive to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, with the goal of achieving a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions below 1990 levels by 2030 and a 100 percent reduction by 2050.”
The pledge unanimously passed and signed by the Town Board at its April 11 meeting went on to ask “the New York State Legislature to commit to these same clean energy goals, which would represent a 20 percent increase over the current New York State Energy Plan targets” and to urge “Governor Cuomo to adopt a statewide minimum energy efficiency target of three percent per year of annual energy savings for New York’s utilities as part of his comprehensive energy efficiency program, to be announced on Earth Day 2018, and further urges that this program be implemented through a centralized planning process rather than in separate utility rate cases.”
Copies of the resolution were to be sent to governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Public Service Commission chairman John B. Rhodes, state senator John J. Bonacic and assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill.
The Town Board then voted — again contingent upon the Town of Marbletown’s willingness to participate — to authorize entering into a contract with Natural Power Group, Inc. of Wallkill to provide locally generated hydroelectric power for use in all municipally owned facilities. Rosendale residents are also eligible to subscribe to the company’s power plan at a ten-percent rate discount, according to councilwoman Jen Metzger, who proposed both resolutions.
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