Communities for Local Power (CLP), co-founded by Susan H. Gillespie and Jen Metzger (now Ulster County Executive) has a mission to help communities in the Mid-Hudson Valley transition to a locally owned, clean energy economy. CLP has continued to press for the adoption of advanced CCA in the Mid-Hudson Region by sponsoring dozens of public forums, symposia, and informational events, including a state-wide convening on the subject. CLP established and led an intermunicipal working group on CCA in 2016-2017 and led the CCA Subcommittee that was convened in 2020 by the Ulster County Climate Smart Committee.
CLP’s programs and priorities include protecting ratepayers’ interests in utility rate cases; helping municipalities in Central Hudson, Orange & Rockland, and NYSEG territories create an affordable pathway to LED street light conversion; opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure; educating local communities about the energy system, the energy transition, and clean energy opportunities and programs, including CCA; and, since 2020, offering the Empower Kingston Green Jobs training program, developed in cooperation with a Local Contractors Group that CLP assembled.
CLP is working with Ulster County and ally organizations (BOCES, SUNY Ulster and community-based organizations, among others) to expand clean jobs training in Ulster County and beyond. The experience CLP has gained by offering this program, and CLP’s current work with Ulster County and others to help develop an ecosystem of green careers workforce development will be of particular value when it comes to ensuring that the voluntary investment programs of Kingston’s CCA lead to local job creation as well as improving the lives of Kingston’s communities by making their homes more energy efficient, lowering utility costs, and contributing to a healthier environment.
MHET is pleased to partner with PowerMarket, an expert in community renewable energy programs. PowerMarket is MHET’s lead implementation partner and technical advisor. PowerMarket’s role is to support MHET in all aspects of the start-up and ongoing management of the CCA program including the enrollment of thousands of CCA members in local community solar projects.
A New York company specializing in turnkey, no-cost programs for municipalities, PowerMarket is committed to making clean energy more accessible, affordable, and widespread. PowerMarket currently manages more than 50,000 subscribers and over 550 MW of community solar across nine states. PowerMarket brings a powerful technology platform that will allow members of MHET’s CCA programs to seamlessly enroll in different program opportunities and manage their subscriptions online.