A state agency told Mamakating’s town board that projects to promote renewable energy could help it cut costs.

Eleanor Peck of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which supports projects for renewable energy, cuts in greenhouse gas emissions reduction, energy efficiency and building decarbonization and clean energy economies has a grant program totaling $25 million. While Mamakating is eligible for as much as $250,000 in grants from the Clean Energy Communities funds, how much of that can be secured is up to the town.

Municipalities collect points by completing clean-energy actions, Peck said, and should Mamakating collect enough, it can earn more grant funding and reach for higher point levels. It’s already earned 300 points by completing one qualifying program, enough to apply for $5,000 to $10,000 to develop community solar projects or encourage residents to own electric vehicles or heat pumps. The application deadline is Oct. 1; after that, grants drop by 25%.

More information is available at https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Clean-Energy-Communities/How-It-Works/Earn-Grants

The workshop also featured Steve Harriman, a salesperson from RTE Energy Solutions, which upgrades street lighting for small towns and cities nationally and in Orange and Rockland counties.

RTE began speaking with Mamakating officials a year ago about replacing most of the town’s 141 mercury-sodium-vapor street lights that are now owned and maintained by the Orange and Rockland utility, Harriman said. If Mamakating switched to owning the lights and changed to LED lighting managed by a company like RTE, it could save an impressive amount of money.

For example, the O&R system usage is about 93,000 kilowatts of energy per year. An RTE-style LED system would cut that to 26,000 kilowatts. While O&R charges $19,000, RTE’s system would cost $1,948.

In all, street light expenditures are now about $27,000. Even including the cost of buying the lights, Mamakating would save $44,000 after seven years with an RTE-managed LED system, with a 71 percent energy savings.

“It’s going to be a lot less than what you’re paying now,” Harriman said, adding that RTE could get it done by the end of the year.

The unanswered question had to do with Mamakating’s problems with cellular service – which must be up to a certain level to implement “smart control” for the new lights. Smart control hooks lights to the Internet and enables dimming during late night-early morning hours – which extends the life of the light -- as well as virtual surveillance of each unit to check its functioning.

While a full signal isn’t necessarily needed, Mamakating’s signal strength could be determined with an assessment to see if it’s enough to power smart control.