College Joins Higher Ed Consortium to Purchase Large-Scale Renewable Energy

September 12, 2019

Hudson Valley Community College is a member of the NY Higher Education Large Scale Renewable Energy (NY HE LSRE) consortium, which consists of 20 public and private higher education institutions that have joined together to purchase large-scale aggregated renewable energy.

The consortium represents one of the state’s largest aggregated purchases of renewable energy to date. Hudson Valley is one of only two community colleges that are part of the consortium.

“By taking a cooperative approach to the purchase of renewable energy, these campuses will be better able to meet their sustainability goals and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels,” SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson said. “The consortium provides a cost-effective way of achieving campus carbon neutrality, with the power to transform the regional renewable energy market.”

“From our inclusion in this consortium to our recent efforts to closely monitor energy use on campus, Hudson Valley Community College is seeking innovative ways to make our campus more sustainable,” said Hudson Valley President Roger A. Ramsammy. “By joining this partnership, Hudson Valley will help reduce our carbon footprint.”

The consortium, made up of 16 SUNY campuses and four private colleges, will use its collective purchasing power to help develop new renewable projects by contracting for renewable energy by scale. The NY HE LSRE process will eventually expand to all 64 SUNY campuses, which will help advance Governor Cuomo’s statewide goal of having 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.

Hudson Valley is currently implementing a campus-wide energy master plan, partially funded by the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority, that includes the installation of energy meters in 18 campus buildings, the upgrade of inefficient building lighting fixtures and heating equipment, and the establishment of energy use and greenhouse gas emission baseline data for the campus.

The Troy, NY community college also has been on the forefront of energy efficiency and conservation education and training efforts in the state, offering both credit-free and credit coursework in whole house building insulation, PV and wind energy installation/repair and clean energy management.

SUNY has already reduced its carbon footprint from 1.02 million metric tons in 1990 to 770,000 metric tons in 2017, decreasing its greenhouse emissions by nearly 25 percent. The reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions come in spite of a 50 percent increase in the system’s total square footage.

Technologies such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, biogas, biofuel and fuel cells, are expected to be viable sources. The RFP is expected to be issued later this year, with operations beginning as soon as December 2020.

The following colleges are participating in the NY HE LSRE consortium:

SUNY Campuses

• Hudson Valley Community College
• University at Albany
• Binghamton University
• SUNY Cobleskill
• SUNY Cortland
• SUNY Delhi
• SUNY Empire State College
• SUNY ESF
• SUNY Geneseo
• SUNY Fredonia
• SUNY Maritime
• SUNY New Paltz
• SUNY Oneonta
• SUNY Oswego
• Purchase College
• Onondaga Community College

Private Institutions

• Bard College
• Cornell University
• Ithaca College
• Skidmore College