In Sullivan County, a Debate Over Solar Raises a Bigger Question: How Will the Catskills Power Through Extreme Heat?

In Sullivan County, the debate over a large proposed solar project in the the Towns of Thompson and Forestburgh reflects a broader challenge facing the Catskills: How can rural communities add more clean energy while protecting the land and character of the places where people live?

The question is becoming more urgent as New York experiences more extreme heat.

This summer’s high temperatures have pushed people to rely more heavily on air conditioning, increasing demand on the electric grid just as many households are confronting higher energy bills.

Michael Hernandez of the Building Decarbonization Coalition says those pressures aren’t limited to New York City and Long Island. The Catskills are also seeing constraints on the electric grid, he said, and extreme heat is expected to become more common.

“When you have increased peak demand on the electric grid,” Hernandez said, “that will require additional generators of energy to come online.”

Those generators, known as peaker plants, generally run on fossil fuels and can be more expensive, Hernandez said. The result can be higher electricity costs precisely when people are using the most power.

Hernandez argues that adding renewable energy and making homes more efficient can help address both problems.

That could include large renewable-energy projects, but also smaller, distributed sources such as solar panels on homes, farms, businesses and public buildings. Hernandez said generating electricity closer to where it is used can reduce some of the costs associated with transmitting and distributing power.

In Sullivan County, where the proposed Town Line solar has generated opposition in some corners of the community. Concerns include land use, conservation and the character of the rural landscape.

Hernandez said New York’s renewable-energy siting process includes environmental reviews and opportunities for communities to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of proposed projects.

At the same time, he says rural residents shouldn’t have to choose between affordable energy and cleaner energy.

For homeowners, Hernandez points to New York programs that can help pay for energy-efficiency improvements. He said eligible low- and moderate-income New Yorkers can receive up to $14,000 through the Empower Plus program for upgrades such as insulation, air sealing and heat pumps, along with a free energy audit.

Solar and battery storage can also allow households to generate and store some of their own electricity, reducing their dependence on the grid.

For Hernandez, the long-term challenge is bigger than any single solar project. New York will need to add renewable energy while upgrading an aging electric grid and making homes more energy efficient.

“As we as we bring more of the clean energy online and we transition away from energy sources that are not clean, then that will clean up our energy grid,” he said. “Then we can provide people with energy-efficient homes, energy-efficient appliances. And that will be the future that we see where the grid is clean, healthy, and energy-efficient, and homes have smart appliances that communicate with the grid. The technology is really exciting, and New York’s grid is really old and needs to be replaced.”

Image: An example of a solar farm located in Rehoboth, MA. (Department of Energy)