January 19, 2016 - For Immediate Release

Contact: Gordian Raacke 516-313-6611 (m) -  [email protected]

Joint Statement of Support for

LIPA’s Planned Adoption of Shared Renewable Energy Program

aka “Community Distributed Generation Net Meter Program”

 [Long Island, NY, January 19, 2016] A diverse group of organizations representing environmental groups, environmental and social justice groups, public health organizations, community groups, municipalities and clean energy companies, came together today to support plans by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) to continue to grow and expand access to renewable energy on Long Island and to move Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision forward.

 LIPA has proposed to implement -- through a tariff change -- a shared renewable energy program (“Community Distributed Generation Net Meter Program”) that will significantly expand renewable energy opportunities on Long Island and conforms with NYS Public Service Commission direction to investor-owned utilities in the rest of the state.

 We commend LIPA/PSEG LI on this forward thinking and far reaching proposal that follows on the action taken by LIPA Trustees at their December meeting to eliminate the net metering cap (from a 3% limit) for customers’ renewable energy systems. Taken together these measures will ensure greater access to and long-term certainty as customer adoption of renewable energy technology continues to grow on Long Island.

 The shared renewable energy program eliminates the requirement that customers’ renewable energy systems must be installed on customers’ individual properties. Instead, a larger renewable energy system, such as a solar array can now be installed anywhere in the LIPA service territory and a number of customers receive their share of energy as a credit on their electric bills. This will enable many Long Islanders to choose solar for the first time helping them to save money and unleash significant private investment into Long Island’s growing clean energy economy.

 The program is expected to enlarge the market for customer based solar arrays significantly because the traditional model of individual rooftop solar panels does not work for many of consumers. For instance, renters and home or business owners with shading on their roofs are unable to go solar under the current models available to them.

 The following 27 organizations have endorsed this statement:

Jorie Latham, Accabonac Protection Committee

Jessica Azulay, Program Director, Alliance for a Green Economy

Anne Reynolds, Executive Director, Alliance for Clean Energy New York

Alexander Peters, President, Amagansett-Springs Aquifer Protection

Michael Seilback, VP Public Policy & Communications, American Lung Association of the Northeast

Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment

Jeremy Samuelson, Executive Director, Concerned Citizens of Montauk

Susan Harder, Founder, Dark Sky Society

Ron Kamen, CEO, Earthkind Energy

Mike Bottini, Co-chair, Eastern Long Island Chapter of Surfrider Foundation

Robert S.  DeLuca, President, Group for the East End

Helene Forst, Chairperson, Long Island Businesses For Responsible Energy, Inc.

Lisa Tyson, Executive Director, Long Island Progressive Coalition

Jackson Morris, Director Eastern Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council

Marcia Bystryn, President, New York League of Conservation Voters

T. James Matthews, Chair, Northwest Alliance

Kathleen Cunningham, Chair, Quiet Skies Coalition

Gordian Raacke, Executive Director, Renewable Energy Long Island

Julie Burmeister, Coordinator, Save Bridgehampton Main Street

Lynne Brown, Co-chairperson, Save East Hampton

Lisa Dix, Sr. New York Representative, Sierra Club

Rick Umoff, Counsel & Regulatory Affairs Manager of State Affairs, Solar Energy Industry Association

Neal Lewis, Esq., Executive Director, Sustainability Institute at Molloy College

Fred Zalcman, Managing Director, Government Affairs, Northeast States, SunEdison

Hilary Pearson, Director, Government Affairs, Sungevity

Edwina von Gal, Founder & President, The Perfect Earth Project

Larry Cantwell, Supervisor, Town of East Hampton

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