St. Lawrence University has announced it will use $112,000 of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) funding to create the school’s first energy master plan.
The private, liberal arts college in Saint Lawrence County, New York, hopes the energy plan will help propel the school towards climate neutrality, while obtaining environmental and financial sustainability.
According to cnybj.com, the new energy master plan will allow St. Lawrence’s Office of Sustainability to establish “broad” institutional goals to “efficiently” meet utility-services requirements, address sustainability strategies, and provide a “foundation for continuous reassessment and review” of utility infrastructure life-cycle strategies along with academic and facility-planning objectives, the university said. It will also complement the school’s facilities master plan.
The funding from NYSERDA is part of its REV (Reforming the Energy Vision) Campus Challenge, which has set aside $3 million for colleges and universities that are building a more resilient future in the face of climate change.
According to nyserda.ny.gov, REV Campus Challenge members are invited to participate in the Roadmaps Technical Assistance program (as St. Lawrence did), which supports New York State colleges and universities in kick-starting their clean energy efforts. Launched in December 2016, the Roadmaps program provides funding for REV Campus Challenge members to work with energy consultants to better understand and pursue clean energy opportunities on their campuses and develop action plans for the future.
In 2016, the REV Campus Challenge administered the Energy to Lead Competition, Governor Cuomo’s $3 million clean energy competition that challenged student-supported coalitions across the State to develop and implement plans to advance clean energy on their campuses and in their local communities in new ways.
In May 2016, NYSERDA announced that Bard College, SUNY University at Buffalo, and SUNY Broome Community College were each awarded $1 million to implement their projects.
NYSERDA made news in April when it announced it would make a total of $15.5 million in funding available for energy storage projects that can support renewable energy technologies, save customers money, and ease peak electric demand burdens on the power grid. The funding is part of the state’s long-term investment in the energy storage sector as part of Governor Cuomo’s REV strategy to build a cleaner, more resilient, and more affordable energy system for all New Yorkers.
The NYSERDA website lists numerous funding opportunities, many of which are continuous (no due date for application), for businesses, organizations and educational institutions.
