* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] [ TOWN OF GREENBURGH OFFICE OF THE TOWN BOARD 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh, NY 10607 Tel: 914-989-1500 Fax: 914-993-1541 Email: JDudek@Greenburghny.com https://ny-greenburgh.civicplus.com/485/Watch-Live-Board-Meetings] PROGRESS. GREAT. TODAY'S OUR TOWN BOARD MEETING. IT'S MAY 28TH. I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING DELAYED. I GOT STUCK IN TRAFFIC. AND, UM, WE'LL START WITH, UM, THE TOWN BUSES. THIS WILL JUST BE RICH, RICH, REAL QUICK. GOOD EVENING, RICHARD. GOOD EVENING. HELLO, COMMISSIONER. HOW ARE YOU? WE, UH, WE MET THIS WEEK, EARL, OR EARLY LAST WEEK AFTER THE MEETING. WE WENT THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THE BUSES. EVERY ONE OF THE BUSES WAS CLEANED. THERE WERE SOME ISSUES WITH THEM, UM, THAT WERE PREPARED. AND IS THIS THE, IN RESPONSE TO THE COMPLAINT THAT WE RECEIVED AT THE TOWN BOARD MEETING? AT TOWN BOARD MEETING, YES. THE OPEN SESSION? YES. THANK YOU. YES. SO, UH, AND I KNOW THIS WAS EMAILED TO YOU, I DON'T HAVE COPIES, UM, BUT TWO OF THE BUSES IN THE FLEET ARE RELATIVELY OLD IN THE WAY OF VEHICLES AS A 2004 AND 2003 LARGE BUS. UH, AND WE ARE LOOKING TO REPLACE ONE OF THEM. JOE RODRIGUEZ IN THE ERB IS GETTING ESTIMATES NOW FROM EQUIPMENT REPAIR BUREAU. EQUIPMENT REPAIR BUREAU. THE REPAIR SHOP? YES. NO, INSIDE BASEBALL? NO, NO, ERB. OKAY. SO OUR REPAIR SHOP IS LOOKING INTO A COST TO REPLACE. WE SPOKE TO THE SUPERVISOR EARLIER TODAY. WE ARE GONNA BE ADDING THAT TO THE CAPITAL BUDGET. UM, BUT AT THIS TIME, AND I DID EMAIL EVERYBODY THE WORK, UH, SCHEDULES, THE REPAIRS THAT THEY'VE DONE IN THE PAST, THE COST LABOR, EVERYTHING'S THERE. UH, I DO HAVE TO GET THE NUMBER THAT'S IN THE WORK ORDER SYSTEM IN RELATION TO THE VEHICLE NUMBER. RIGHT NOW, IT'S IN A DIFFERENT SYSTEM. I WAS SPEAKING TO A SENIOR CITIZEN ABOUT A HALF HOUR AGO. UM, AND UM, YOU KNOW, SHE WAS LIKE, PLEASE, DO YOU HAVE LIKE ANY ESTIMATE HOW LONG, UH, LET'S SAY WE APPROVED THE BUDGET IN JULY, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW HOW LONG BASICALLY IT WOULD TAKE, UH, FOR THE BUS YEAR. THE BUS IS RELATIVELY QUICK COMPARED TO SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT. I'LL GIVE YOU, FOR INSTANCE, WE'VE BEEN WAITING OVER TWO YEARS FOR A, A JET VAC TRUCK FOR A HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT. THOSE ARE THE TRUCKS THAT GO OUT BEFORE STORMS AND CLEAN OUT THE BASEMENTS AND JET OUTLINES, AGAIN, IT'S BEEN OVER TWO YEARS. BUT THAT'S A SPECIALTY PIECE. SOME EQUIPMENT OR BUSES, IF YOU GET A LITTLE BIT LUCK LUCKIER, I WANNA SAY MIGHT BE RELATIVELY CLEAR, SAY LIKE SPRING. I'D LIKE TO MAKE A SUGGESTION. ABSOLUTELY. IT WAS ON. OKAY. UM, NUMBER ONE, YOU KNOW, WE OTHER MUNICIPALITIES HAVE USED CDBG FUNDS TO BYPASS BUSES. SO THAT'S ONE AVENUE. ANOTHER THING IS THAT, UM, I THOUGHT IF YOU THINK IT'S A GOOD IDEA THAT I COULD CALL THE COUNTY DPW, SOMETIMES THEY RECYCLE THINGS. THEY'VE BEEN ELECTRIFYING OUR BUSES AND MAYBE THEY HAVE ONE AT LEAST TEMPORARILY. TEMPORARILY UNTIL WE CAN GET ONE. OH, I THINK WE'RE OKAY. YEAH. ACTUALLY, THE OLDER BUSES, EVEN WITH THEIR AGE, FROM WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD, ARE A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO MAINTAIN. THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT MORE, I DON'T WANNA SAY RELIABLE, UM, BUT JOE IS ALSO PRICING OUT ELECTRIC BUSES. SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE OH, GREAT. WELL, SO, BUT WE'RE OKAY FOR NOW. AND, AND IS THE COUNTY HAS CONTRACT 'CAUSE WE'VE CONVERTED THE FLEET, THE BUS FLEET. SO MAYBE THEY, YOU CAN PIGGYBACK ON THAT. I'LL CERTAINLY, GERARD TENNER WHO USED TO WORK HERE, IS ACTUALLY WORKING FOR THE COUNTY PART-TIME IN THERE. OKAY. SO WE'LL HAVE THEM TOUCH BASE AND ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT, UM, THE OFFICE OF GENERAL SERVICES, NEW YORK STATE CONTRACT OGS. SO I CAN DO THAT. YEAH. MAKE SURE, BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS HAVE DIFFERENT CONTRACTS THAT YOU COULD, THAT WE CAN PIGGYBACK OFF OF. SO, MM-HMM. , I WOULD SUGGEST YOU DO THAT AS WELL. BUT IF THE COUNTY HAS SURPLUS BUSES, YOU KNOW, AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD AT LEAST TAKE A LOOK AT THAT BECAUSE THAT, BECAUSE WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE SOME MONEY ON THAT THEN. YEAH. AND, AND MAYBE THE SURPLUS IS, IS ONLY A COUPLE OF YEARS, UH, LEFT OF USABLE LIFE. BUT THAT COULD GIVE US THE TIME TO FIND SOMETHING. AND IF IT'S A LONG LEAD ITEM, THEN WE CAN THAT'S GREAT. HAVE AN INTERIM. SO IF A CONSTITUENTS ASK, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE A PART OF THE SENIOR PROGRAM, WHATEVER, WHEN THEY'RE GONNA BE ON A BETTER BUS, WHAT COULD WE REALISTICALLY SAY? LIKE, IS IT GONNA BE OVER THE SUMMER OR, YEAH, I WOULD THINK SO. OKAY. I THINK THAT WOULD TOWARDS END UP BEING REALISTIC. YEP. OKAY. WELL THIS IS ONE BUS OF MANY. YES. SO IT WOULD HAVE TO BE ALSO BE LUCKY TO GET THAT, THAT ONE BUS. BUT AS WE, HEY, FRANCIS, CAN YOU THANK YOU. I'M SORRY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UM, SO THIS IS ONE OF MANY, SO THE CHANCES OF THEM BEING ON THAT PARTICULAR BUS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A CHANCE TO IT. YEAH. AND I THINK IF THEY GO ON, LIKE, UH, COMMISSIONER JACKSON WAS SAYING IF THEY GO TO LIKE THE CITY, THEY WOULD PROBABLY SEND THEM ON THE NEWER VEHICLE AND KEEP A BACKUP IN CASE SOMETHING DOES HAPPEN. 'CAUSE SOMETHING, SHE WAS STUCK IN THE CITY. THAT'S WHY SHE WAS ISSUE. RIGHT. SO, AND THERE WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE RADIATOR, AND THAT'S ALL BEEN IRONED OUT. SOME OF [00:05:01] THE SENIORS TO CALL ME TODAY, WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CUSHIONS ON THE SHERIFFS. ARE, ARE THESE, UH, I'M JUST TELLING YOU WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY, THE CALLS I GET. UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT TYPE OF, UH, BUSES ARE THEY, THEY DON'T WANT SCHOOL BUSES. . I'M SURE COMMISSIONER JACKSON WILL MAKE SURE THAT THE BUSES ARE VERY COMFORTABLE AND, AND, UH, SUITABLE FOR, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERYBODY. OKAY. THANK YOU THAT, THANK YOU. HAVE A ALL RIGHT. HAVE A GREAT NIGHT. ENJOY YOUR MEETING. OKAY. BYE. BYE. THANK YOU. WITH, WITH INDIVID WITH INDIVIDUAL TVS. THERE YOU GO. . NOW YOU'RE UP. HI THERE. HI EVERYONE. GREAT. SO HAVING BEEN AT THE RECEIVING END OF PRESENTATIONS LIKE THIS FOR 28 YEARS, IT'S INTERESTING FOR ME NOW TO BE ON THE GIVING END. BUT IT SAYS, SAY YES. SAY YES. OH, UH, YEAH. THANK YOU. WITH THE NEW ROCHELLE BUSES, UH, COMFORTABLE FOR THE SCENE, , WE CAN COMPARE AND CONTRAST, RIGHT? ? UH, LET ME SHARE SCREEN. UH, HERE WE GO. GOD IS WORKING ON ME. THANK YOU, FATHER. ALRIGHT. YOU CAN ALL SEE THE SCREEN, RIGHT? MM-HMM. . YES. OKAY. TERRIFIC. WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PERMITTING ME TO SPEND SOME, SOME TIME WITH YOU. UH, I AM NO BRANSON. I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER. AND I THINK SOMEWHERE OUT IN ZOOM WORLD ARE A COUPLE OF MY COLLEAGUES, UH, DAN WELSH AND, AND ANGELIQUE KANA, WHO, UM, DIRECT AND WORK ON THE WESTCHESTER POWER PROGRAM. UM, DAN IS ON ZOOM. DAN IS ON ZOOM. OKAY. TERRIFIC. HE'S MUCH SMARTER THAN I AM AND MUCH MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN I AM. AND SO IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS I'M UNABLE TO FIELD, THEN UH, DAN WILL BE ABLE TO FILL THE BREACH. UM, SO, UH, IT'S BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT PEOPLE AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNING BODIES HAVE VARYING LEVELS OF, OF AWARENESS OF THE WESTCHESTER POWER PROGRAM. AND SO RATHER THAN FOCUSING EXCLUSIVELY ON CHANGES PROPOSED FOR THIS NEXT CONTRACT, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL FOR ME TO REVIEW MORE BROADLY THE, THE GENERAL STRUCTURE AND GOALS OF THE PROGRAM. AND ALSO MAYBE TO PROVIDE A, A LITTLE REINTRODUCTION INTO SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER AS AN ORGANIZATION. UM, AND I'D ACTUALLY LIKE TO BEGIN BY JUST KIND OF SAYING WHY ALL THIS IS IMPORTANT. AND, AND I REALIZE TO A SIGNIFICANT DEGREE I'LL BE PREACHING TO THE, THE CHOIR AND TELLING YOU THINGS YOU ALREADY KNOW. BUT I THINK WHEN IT COMES TO ISSUES OF CLIMATE, THERE'S A KIND OF NUMBNESS THAT IS SET IN FOR MANY OF US. AND THAT'S REALLY NOT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN AFFORD. 'CAUSE THIS, THIS IS AN URGENT CHALLENGE. AND WHILE IN YEARS PAST, IT MAY HAVE FELT TO US LIKE THIS WAS SOME WAYS OFF OR HAPPENING TO SOMEONE ELSE, IT'S CLEAR THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS HERE AND NOW, UH, WE HAVE TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTHEAST THAT ARE RISING FASTER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE. WE HAVE PRECIPITATION THAT IS CREATING TORRENTIAL STORMS WITH GREATER FREQUENCY. YOUR DPW COMMISSIONER AND I WERE JUST CHATTING ABOUT IT, THE EXPERIENCE JUST OVER THE WEEKEND, UH, THE FLOODING THAT OCCURRED, UH, THROUGHOUT GREENBURG, I KNOW THAT WHEN I WAS A NEW ROCHELLE OFFICIAL, UH, I HAD THE EXPERIENCES I'M SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE HAD OF, OF STANDING WITH FAMILIES, UH, AT THE CURBSIDE, THEIR POSSESSIONS ALL, UH, DRENCHED, UM, FLOODED OUT FOR THE SECOND OR THIRD TIME. UH, AND AT THAT POINT, THEY'RE REALLY PAST ANGER. THEY'RE PAST GRIEF. THEY'RE JUST SHELL SHOCKED. AND IN MANY OF THOSE CASES, WE DON'T HAVE GOOD ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TO OFFER THEM. WE HAVE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE INCREASINGLY UNINSURABLE AND UNINHABITABLE. AND IT'S NOT JUST FLOODING. UH, I THINK WE ALL REMEMBER THE EXPERIENCE LAST SUMMER WHEN THE WILDFIRES IN QUEBEC CREATED THIS KIND OF SURREAL, UH, HELLSCAPE AROUND THE ENTIRE NEW YORK METRO AREA. OF COURSE, IF YOU HAVE A RESPIRATORY AILMENT, IT WAS MORE THAN JUST SURREAL. IT WAS, IT WAS DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS. AND THAT IS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME. UH, WE HAVE THE WHOLE WORLD GIRDLING SUBARCTIC BOREAL FOREST, WHICH IS LIKE A, A GLOBAL TINDERBOX. AND WE ARE OPTIMIZING THE CLIMATE FOR WILDFIRE. SO WE CAN EXPECT MORE OF THIS. UM, AND WE KNOW CLIMATE CHANGE INTENSIFIES OUR EXISTING INEQUALITIES. UM, THOSE WHO ARE MOST VULNERABLE, SUFFERING FROM ISSUES RELATED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND FINANCE AND HOUSING, UH, ALL OF THOSE CONDITIONS ARE INTENSIFIED. IF YOU DOUBT THAT, TAKE A LOOK AT A MAP OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE REDLINED BACK IN THE NEW DEAL ERA, AND THEN PUT NEXT TO THEM A MODERN DAY MAP OF THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND. INTENSITY OF EFFECT. MM-HMM. . AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED 'CAUSE YOU WILL DISCOVER THOSE TWO MAPS ARE IDENTICAL. UM, IT'S ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF HOW OUR PAST SINS ARE CATCHING UP TO US, UH, TODAY. THE INCIDENTS OF ASTHMA. INCIDENTS OF ASTHMA FOR SURE. ALMOST EVERY PUBLIC HEALTH METRIC YOU WANNA CITE. YEAH. MM-HMM. . AND YET I THINK ALL OF THOSE, UM, STATISTICS IN SOME WAYS UNDERSTATE THE GRAVITY OF WHAT WE'RE CONFRONTING. YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THAT THE SUMMER OF 2023 WAS THE HOTTEST IN THE LAST A HUNDRED YEARS. THAT IS TRUE. AND YET I'D SUGGEST TO YOU IT'S THE WRONG WAY TO LOOK AT IT. WHAT WE NEED TO BEAR IN MIND IS THAT [00:10:01] IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, THE SUMMER OF 2023 WAS THE COOLEST SUMMER OF THE NEXT A HUNDRED YEARS. SO WE ARE SUBMITTING OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO AN EXPERIMENT THAT IS LITERALLY UNPRECEDENTED IN THE GEOLOGIC RECORD DATING BACK TENS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS. WE'VE NEVER HAD CLIMATE CHANGE THIS RAPID SORT OF COMPRESSING MILLENNIA INTO DECADES. AND ALL OF THAT IS HAPPENING TO A CIVILIZATION THAT WAS BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF CLIMACTIC STABILITY. MM-HMM. . SO IT IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT THAT WE APPROACH THIS WITH A KIND OF ALL HANDS ON DECK SENSE OF URGENCY. IT'S A GOOD THING THAT THE STATE HAS SET REALLY AMBITIOUS GOALS. AND NYPA IS PART OF THAT, UH, STATE, UH, EFFORT. WE ALL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN THAT. AND YET, DESPITE EVERYTHING I'VE SAID, I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD LOOK AT THIS WITH ANY KIND OF SENSE OF DESPAIR, BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO A POSITIVE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD COMMUNITIES THAT ARE HEALTHIER AND MORE RESILIENT AND MORE EQUITABLE TO STAND UP WHOLE INDUSTRIES IF WE DO THIS THE RIGHT WAY. AND THAT'S WHERE SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER COMES IN. WE WERE ESTABLISHED BOTH TO AVERT THE BAD AND TO SEIZE HOLD OF THE GOOD. AND ALTHOUGH WE ARE AN INDEPENDENT NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION, IT'S PROBABLY MORE USEFUL TO THINK OF US AS A MUNICIPAL SHARED SERVICE. 'CAUSE WE WERE ESTABLISHED BY AND FOR THE MUNICIPALITIES OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY. IN FACT, OUR INITIAL BOARD MEETINGS WERE RIGHT HERE IN THIS VERY BUILDING, UH, THAT I REMEMBER 'CAUSE I WAS ON THAT BOARD. UM, SO THE THEORY IS WE CAN DO MORE TOGETHER THAN WE COULD ON OUR OWN, IN, IN THE WAY OF RELATIONSHIPS, EXPERTISE, PROGRAMMING. AND IN FACT, THAT HAS BEEN THE CASE BECAUSE WHAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO TOGETHER IS PRETTY REMARKABLE. AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO ALL THE PROGRAMS AND THE INTEREST OF TIME, BUT JUST TO KIND OF SKIRT OVER THE SURFACE. COMMUNITY SOLAR, WHICH PROVIDES GUARANTEED SAVINGS ON UTILITY BILLS FOR, UH, SOLAR ENROLLMENT, EVEN FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT INSTALL SOLAR ON THEIR OWN PROPERTIES. SOLAR ORIGINATION, WHICH IS STANDING UP, UH, NEW SOLAR FACILITIES. WE MATCH PROPERTY OWNERS WITH SOLAR DEVELOPERS, COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT MORE FULLY IN A MOMENT. IN THE AREA OF EFFICIENCY AND DECARBONIZATION. WE HELP HOME OWNERS WITH CLEAN HEATING AND COOLING SOLUTIONS. WE'RE WORKING WITH A COUPLE OF MUNICIPALITIES ON THERMAL ENERGY NETWORKS. WE HAVE THE FIRST DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM FOR THE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR IN ALL OF NEW YORK STATE, WHICH ALSO PROVIDES GUARANTEED SAVINGS. AND WE HELP REDUCE WASTE THROUGH AN APP THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER, BUT YOU MAY BE USING IN GREENBURG GREEN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. WE'RE PARTNERING WITH THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT, UH, BRIDGE GIBBONS. UH, AND THE CATALYST, UH, THAT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE FOR US. WE, UH, ENGAGE WITH MUNICIPALITY ON EARTH DAY FUNCTIONS, ON CLEAN HEATING AND COOLING CAMPAIGNS. AND WE WON THE FIRST RENEWING AMERICA'S NONPROFIT GRANT IN THE NORTHEAST. UH, THAT IS TO HELP, UH, SEVERAL DOZEN OTHER NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS DECARBONIZE THEIR HEADQUARTERS. AND OF COURSE, THERE ARE MORE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO DO IN THE FUTURE. UM, AND ONE THROUGH LINE, THROUGH MANY OF THE THINGS I'VE MENTIONED. IT IS THAT A LOT OF THESE THINGS ARE BREAKTHROUGHS AND INNOVATIONS. AND A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF THAT IS WHAT YOU SEE PICTURED ON THE UPPER RIGHT THERE. THAT'S OUR HEADQUARTERS IN MOUNT KISCO. YOU CAN SEE THE SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF. THOSE ARE CONNECTED TO TWO FAST CHARGING EV STATIONS. AND ALL THE EXCESS ENERGY IS SENT BACK TO THE GRID IN THE FORM OF COMMUNITY SOLAR UTILITY CREDITS. IT'S THE FIRST FACILITY IN NEW YORK STATE TO COMBINE THOSE THREE ELEMENTS. AND WE'D LOVE TO REPLICATE IT. AND SO IF THERE ARE AREAS IN GREENBURG WHICH ARE SUITABLE TALK TO US, IT COMES AT NO COST TO THE MUNICIPALITY. AND IT CAN BE A GREAT PART OF YOUR ED INFRASTRUCTURE. SO THAT BRINGS, BRINGS, SO YOU'RE SAYING THE NO COST, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE, I WAS WAITING. WHAT'S THE FINE PRINT? YEAH. UH, YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE THE PROPERTY WHERE IT CAN BE CREATED. SO IF YOU HAVE, UM, A, A PARKING LOT WHERE YOU'RE ABLE TO DEDICATE TWO OR THREE SPACES FOR EV, UH, IF YOU HAVE A SPACE FOR EITHER GROUND MOUNTED SOLAR OR ROOFTOP SOLAR, UH, WE CAN WORK WITH YOU AND WITH A, A PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNER, THIS IS A, A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN ORDER TO STAND UP THE ENTIRE FACILITY. AND AGAIN, IT'LL COME AT NO DOLLAR COST TO GREENBURG AT ALL. SO WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE PARKING, UH, WE'RE PUTTING SOLAR CANOPIES HERE AND ALSO A VETERAN PARK WHERE WE DID A BIDDING PROCESS. YOU KNOW, WE HAD A BIDDING PROCESS. UM, I'M SORT OF WONDERING, YOU KNOW, COULD, HAVE YOU GOTTEN US SORT OF A BETTER, LIKE A BETTER, HOW WOULD HE KNOW WHAT I SAID? I JUST SAID HOW IN MY HEAD I JUST SAID, HOW WOULD HE KNOW? HE DIDN'T SEE, HE DIDN'T SIT OFF. NO, I'M JUST SAYING, SHOULD WE SHARE THAT, YOU KNOW, BEFORE EVERYTHING IS, I, I HAVE A QUESTION. HE SAID V THAT, AND I'M NOT SURE I HAVEN'T READ IT, BUT I KNOW THAT SENATOR SHELLEY MAYER HAS A BILL FOR SOLAR IN PARKS AND PARK PARKING LOTS. AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THERE IS A FINANCIAL COMPONENT THAT THE STATE IS, ARE YOU TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, ALTHOUGH I COULD BE WRONG, I THINK THAT BILL HAS TO DO WITH PARKLAND ALIENATION. MM-HMM. . UM, THE, THE CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW IS THAT A PARKING LOT IS CONSIDERED PART OF THE PARK FOR THE PURPOSE OF RIGHT. OTHER KINDS OF USE THAT'S BEEN AN IMPEDIMENT TO CONSTRUCTING SOLAR, EVEN THOUGH MOST PEOPLE WOULD AGREE, PUTTING SOLAR ON A PARKING LOT IS NOT TAKING AWAY PARKLAND. RIGHT. UM, SO I THINK HER BILL IS INTENDED TO CORRECT THAT. RIGHT. [00:15:01] UH, THERE'S CERTAINLY A, A WIDE RANGE OF OTHER INCENTIVES FLOWING FROM BOTH THE FEDERAL AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT. WHAT, WHAT I CAN SAY TO YOU, SUPERVISOR, IS THAT AS A GENERAL MATTER, OUR SOLAR TEAM IS AVAILABLE TO CONSULT WITH MUNICIPALITIES AND UTILIZE OUR EXPERTISE. THINK OF, UH, LEO YES. HAS WORKED WITH ROD. HE ALREADY'S ALREADY HELPED IT. YEAH. HE'S ALREADY BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT. EXACTLY. SO ANY, AND THAT'S A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE WAY IN WHICH WE CAN AUGMENT YOUR OWN INTERNAL CAPACITY WITH, WITH OUR EXPERTISE. UM, AND WE ARE PREPARED TO DO THAT ON A ROLLING BASIS WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE THERE'S A NEED. THAT'S WHY WE EXIST. UH, SO WESTCHESTER POWER, UM, IS THE PROGRAM WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT RIGHT NOW. IT IS BY ALMOST ANY METRIC THE THE MOST IMPACTFUL OF OUR PROGRAMS. UM, AND JUST TO KIND OF GO THROUGH THE BASICS OF, OF HOW IT WORKS. SO MUNICIPALITIES JOIN TOGETHER IN ORDER TO AGGREGATE THEIR ELECTRIC DEMAND AND THEREFORE MAXIMIZE THEIR BARGAINING POSITION WITHIN THE ENERGY MARKETPLACE. SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER SERVES AS YOUR AGENT AND REPRESENTATIVE AND ADMINISTRATOR. UH, WE STRUCTURE AN OPEN AND BIDDING PROCESS IN WHICH ELECTRIC SUPPLIERS COME TO US AND WE SELECT THE BEST BID. WE THEN OBTAIN RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES ON THE NEW YORK STATE MARKET IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR A CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY, UH, PUBLIC NOTIFICATION ONCE THE CONTRACT IS SET, IS PROVIDED TO EVERY RATE PAYER, UH, SPELLING OUT WHAT THE RATES ARE AND, AND ALSO OUTLINING WHAT THEIR OPTIONS MAY BE. AND BOTH PRIOR TO AND AT ANY TIME THEREAFTER, UH, ANY PARTICULAR RATE PAYER HAS THE OPTION OF, UH, OPTING OUT OF THE PROGRAM FOR THAT MATTER, OPTING BACK IN. SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE MECHANICS, BUT WHAT ARE REALLY THE GOALS? WHY DO WE HAVE THIS PROGRAM IN THE FIRST PLACE? SO IT'S, IT'S THREEFOLD. IT'S FIRST TO PROVIDE CLEAN ENERGY. IT'S SECOND TO EXPAND CONSUMER CHOICE, AND IT'S THIRD TO CAP ELECTRICITY COSTS. SO I WANT TO LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER AT EACH OF THOSE IN TERMS OF PROVIDING CLEAN ENERGY. THIS IS WHERE THE PROGRAM HAS REALLY BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS STORY. IN 2023 ALONE, IT MITIGATED AS YOU CAN SEE, MORE THAN 368,000 METRIC TONS OF CARBON. NOW, I KNOW THAT NUMBER CAN JUST BE A LITTLE BIT OF AN ABSTRACTION. SO TO PUT THAT IN SOME PERSPECTIVE, UH, 368,000 TONS OF CARBON IS THE EQUIVALENT OF TAKING MORE THAN 87,000 GAS POWER POWERED CARS OFF THE ROAD. THAT AMOUNT OF CARBON IS THE EQUIVALENT OF PLANTING MORE THAN 6 MILLION TREES AND LETTING THEM GROW FOR 10 YEARS. UH, YOU MAY KNOW THAT THERE'S AN EFFORT NOW TO ESTIMATE THE SOCIAL COST OF CARBON AND INTEGRATE IT INTO OUR ECONOMIC MODELS. ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION STATISTICS, IT'S THE EQUIVALENT OF 47, UH, MILLION 888,000, UM, IN AVERTED SOCIAL COSTS, UH, RESULTING FROM THE CARBON MITIGATION. AND I THINK MAYBE THE BEST WAY TO PUT IT INTO PERSPECTIVE IS TO THINK ABOUT ALL THE GREAT WORK THAT I'M SURE YOU'RE DOING HERE IN GREENBERG, AND I KNOW MANY OTHER MUNICIPALITIES ARE DOING TO SWAP OUT YOUR LIGHTS SO YOU HAVE MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT MODELS TO GREEN YOUR FLEETS WITH, WITH EVS, UH, TO WEATHERIZE YOUR, YOUR BUILDINGS. THIS SINGLE PROGRAM IS DOING MORE TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN THE REGION, THEN ALL OF THOSE OTHER MUNICIPAL ACTIONS COMBINED. SO IT IS ENORMOUSLY IMPACTFUL IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS. AND I HOPE YOU'LL TAKE SOME PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT GREENBERG HAS BEEN PART OF AN EFFORT THAT HAS DONE SO MUCH GOOD. SO THE SECOND THING I MENTIONED IS EXPANDING CONSUMER CHOICE. AND HERE IT'S KIND OF NECESSARY TO REMIND OURSELVES OF, OF HOW THIS WORKS WITHOUT CCA, THE TRADITIONAL MODEL, WHEN THIS PROGRAM DOES NOT EXIST, CONSUMERS REALLY HAVE TWO OPTIONS. ONE IS THE UTILITY IN THIS CASE, CON EDISON, WHICH DELIVERS FOSSIL FUEL BASED ENERGY WITH A VARIABLE RATE THAT CHANGES MONTH TO MONTH. OR CONSUMERS CAN ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH A PRIVATE ENERGY SERVICE COMPANY IN ESCO, WHICH CAN EITHER BE FOSSIL FUEL OR RENEWABLE, DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE CONTRACT. AND THAT WORKS FOR SOME PEOPLE. BUT MANY OTHER PEOPLE FIND THAT PROCESS DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE. THEY DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE THE EXPERTISE TO MAKE AN INFORMED CHOICE. AND SOMETIMES THERE ARE PREDATORY PRACTICES. THERE MIGHT BE PENALTIES OR FEES OR, OR RATES THAT ESCALATE. SO WITH CCA, THOSE SAME TWO OPTIONS STILL EXIST. THE UTILITIES STILL THERE. PRIVATE ESCOS ARE STILL THERE. BUT NOW THERE IS A THIRD OPTION. IT'S WESTCHESTER POWELL, WHICH IS DELIVERING RENEWABLE ENERGY AT A FIXED RATE. UH, AND WHAT YOU SEE IS IN BOTH THE TRADITIONAL AND THE CCA MODEL, THEY OPT OUT, WHICH WILL BE YOUR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IF YOU DO NOT AFFIRMATIVELY CHOOSE TO MAKE IT SOMETHING ELSE. THE DIFFERENCE IS THERE ARE MORE CHOICES UNDER CCA AND THERE ARE FEWER CHOICES WITHOUT C, CA. AND FINALLY, CAPPING ELECTRICITY COSTS. THIS IS REALLY JUST ANOTHER WAY TO THINK ABOUT WHAT A FIXED RATE MEANS. UM, DURING THE LIFETIME OF THIS PROGRAM, THE UTILITY RATE, THE MONTHLY RATE IS VARIED FROM 4 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR TO A HIGH OF 22 CENTS A KILOWATT HOUR. THAT 22 CENTS WAS IN THE NIEC TERRITORY. A LITTLE BIT LOWER IN THE CONNET TERRITORY. BUT NONETHELESS, [00:20:01] YOU COULD SEE A GREAT DEAL OF VARIABILITY. WHEN YOU HAVE A FIXED RATE, YOU HAVE A GUARANTEE THAT THE PRICE WILL NEVER EXCEED THAT CONTRACT LEVEL. AND SO IT SHIELDS CONSUMERS FROM ENERGY SPIKES. AND FOR SOME PEOPLE HAVING THAT PREDICTABILITY IS AN ASSET IN AND OF ITSELF WHEN THEY'RE DOING THEIR BUDGETARY PLANET. SO THOSE ARE THE THREE BIG GOALS. UH, THERE ARE ALSO SOME ADDITIONAL BENEFITS THAT ARE WORTH MENTIONING PARTICIPATION IN CCA ENTITLES MUNICIPALITIES TO ACCESS TO STATE GRANTS THROUGH NY SERTA'S, UH, CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES, UH, PROGRAM. UH, AND IN FACT, YOU CAN SEE GREENBERG HERE HAS ALREADY ACCUMULATED 3,300 POINTS IN THIS PROGRAM. YOUR PARTICIPATION IN CCA ACCOUNTS FOR THE LION'S SHARE OF THAT 1500 POINTS COME FROM CCA, YOUR NEXT MILESTONE IS. NEXT MILESTONE IS TO GET TO 5,000 POINTS. IF YOU RE-UP WITH CCA AT A HUNDRED PERCENT RENEWABLE, THAT'LL ENTITLE YOU TO ANOTHER 1500 POINTS. AND THEN YOU'RE ONLY 200 POINTS AWAY FROM A $200,000 GRANT, WHICH YOU'LL BE ENTITLED TO AUTOMATICALLY FROM, UH, FROM NYER. SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A DOLLAR VALUE TO THE TOWN OF GREENBURG IN PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROGRAM. ANOTHER BENEFIT IS CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND EDUCATION. UM, WE FIELD CALLS, WE FIELD INQUIRIES BY PHONE OR EMAIL. UH, WE CAN PROVIDE LINKS TO OTHER PROGRAMMING, INCLUDING PROGRAMMING THAT PROVIDES GUARANTEED SAVINGS ON UTILITY BILLS. WE OFFER BILINGUAL SUPPORT. AND OF COURSE, UH, ASSISTANCE TO MUNICIPAL STAFF IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE. AND I WANNA CREDIT YOU SUPERVISOR, WE ACTUALLY JUST CREATED A VIDEO, WHICH IS ONLINE AND PROVIDES STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW YOU CAN GET AN ONLINE CONED ACCOUNT, WHICH PROVIDES YOU WITH REAL TIME COMPARISONS, THE WESTCHESTER POWER RATE, UH, TO THE UTILITY RATE. UH, AND THAT WAS A SUGGESTION THAT, UH, CAME OUT OF AN EMAIL EXCHANGE YOU AND I HAD, AND I'M GLAD TO SAY IT'S NOW ON OUR WEBSITE. SO APPRECIATE THAT. THAT, UH, CONSUMER, THAT'S ASSISTANCE PACK BIG. BUT I, I HAD A QUESTION JUST GOING BACK TO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GRANTS OF THE TOWN MM-HMM. MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE FOR. YEAH. UM, COULD YOU JUST ELABORATE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO GET THAT GRANT, WHAT THOSE TYPES OF GRANTS WOULD BE? FOR SURE. SO, UM, UH, THE CLEAN ENERGY COMMUNITIES PROGRAM IS RUN BY NYSERDA. UM, IT'S DESIGNED TO CREATE INCENTIVES FOR MUNICIPALITIES TO TAKE A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ACTIONS. UH, EACH OF THOSE ACTIONS HAS A PREDEFINED, UH, LEVEL OF POINTS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. WHEN YOU HIT DIFFERENT POINT MILESTONES, YOU'RE ENTITLED TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GRANT. AND IT'S TWO TIERED BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE COMMUNITY. GREENBERG FALLS INTO THE, THE LARGER COMMUNITY CATEGORY 'CAUSE IT'S MORE THAN 40,000 PEOPLE. UM, SO, UM, THE, YOU COULD SEE WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY DONE. UH, COMMUNITY CAMPAIGNS RELATED TO HEATING AND COOLING, LED STREETLIGHTS, PACE FINANCING, UH, AND COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION. UH, ALTHOUGH I DON'T KNOW IT AT THE TOP OF MY HEAD. THERE ARE A VARIETY OF OTHERS ON THE CEC CHECKLIST. AND CERTAINLY OUR TEAM AT SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER, OR THE TEAM AT THE HUDSON VALLEY REGIONAL COUNCIL COULD ASSIST YOU, UM, IN IDENTIFYING THE SPECIFIC MEASURES WHICH ARE MOST WITHIN REACH FOR YOU. UM, WHAT I SAID EARLIER IS THAT IF YOU RE-UP WITH CCA WITH COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION, THAT GETS YOU ANOTHER 1500 POINTS. YOU THEN ONLY BE 200 POINTS SHORT OF THE 5,000 MARK, WHICH GETS YOU TO $200,000. SO YOU MENTIONED THAT WE'D BE ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS AT THE 5,000 POINT MARK, WE WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR A $200,000 GRANT. CORRECT. AND HOW, WHAT ARE THE CONSTRAINTS OR WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF THAT WE CAN USE THE GRANTS FOR? UH, TO MY RECOLLECTION, AND I, I DON'T WANNA PRETEND TO BE AN EXPERT, BUT TO MY RECOLLECTION, IT, THE, THE FUNDS NEED TO BE USED FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY RELATED PURPOSES. HOWEVER, THAT IS DEFINED SO BROADLY THAT IT WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY ENCOMPASS THINGS THAT YOU ARE ALREADY DOING. SO, LIKE, IF WE'RE DOING SIDEWALKS, WE COULD USE IT FOR THAT. I DON'T WANNA SAY THAT FOR SURE, BUT PERHAPS IF YOU WERE INCORPORATING GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INTO THE SIDEWALKS, IF YOU WERE DOING BIOSWALES OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE, DON'T DOING A SOLAR PROJECT, WHICH WE ARE, WE COULD, WE'RE EVEN, OH, UH, IS IT DAN WELSH? THANK YOU FOR CHIMING IN, DAN. YEAH, JUST WANNA SAY I, I BELIEVE THEY HAVE THREE APPROVED MEASURES THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO WITH THOSE, THEN THERE'S NO BIG, UH, ANALYSIS THEY HAVE TO DO. AND IF YOU VENTURE OUTSIDE OF THOSE, THEN YOU HAVE TO MAKE PROJECT PROPOSALS TO THEM. UH, THEY DO, THEY DO LIKE TO SEE SOME KIND OF ANALYSIS OF A GREENHOUSE GAS, UH, UH, MITIGATION. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY NOW HAVE, UH, UH, ELECTRIC LANDSCAPING AS ONE OF THE PRE-APPROVED MEASURES. AND YOU PICK THE EQUIPMENT AND THEY, IT AUTOMATICALLY SHOWS YOU SORT OF WHAT THE, WHAT THE MITIGATION IS. AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GO WITH THAT. BUT, SO IT IS POSSIBLE TO VENTURE OUTSIDE THOSE, BUT YOU HAVE TO CREATE YOUR OWN, UH, SORT OF PROJECT PROPOSAL AND HAVE THEM VETTED. SO THAT WAS A BETTER ANSWER THAN MINE. THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE. DAN, THANK YOU FOR, FOR CHIMING IN AND [00:25:01] DON'T HESITATE TO, TO DO SO AGAIN. I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU. SO, SO STAYING ON A GRANTS TOPIC, SO ONLY THOSE THAT ARE PART OF SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER WILL HAVE BE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THOSE GRANTS OR APPLY FOR THOSE GRANTS? UH, NO, I DON'T WANT TO. OKAY. THAT'S, I WANTED TO BE, OKAY. YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PART OF SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER OR UH, WESTCHESTER POWER IN ORDER TO BE ELIGIBLE. BUT IT IS THE CASE THAT WESTCHESTER POWER COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION IS AMONG THE HIGHEST SCORING ITEMS WITHIN THE C YOU GET CHECKLIST. SO WHEN WE SCORE, WHEN WE SCORE THE BID. GOT IT. SO IT, IT GETS YOU SIGNIFICANT CREDIT THROUGH THE PROGRAM. YOU GET YOUR BETTER POINTS. AND, AND AGAIN, UM, OUR TEAM IS VERY HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU, UH, OFFLINE AND PROVIDE WHATEVER LEVEL OF DETAIL THAT YOU WANT ON, ON THE PROGRAM. SURE. AND ALSO TO ASSIST YOU, BY THE WAY, IN PREPARING THE DOCUMENTATION, WE DO THAT ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH OUR MEMBER MUNICIPALITIES AS JUST ONE OF OUR SORT OF STANDARD SERVICES. THANK YOU. UH, OKAY. SO, UH, WHERE WAS I? OH, FINALLY, LAST SORT OF ADDITIONAL BENEFIT, UM, IS THAT THE CCA STRUCTURE CAN SERVE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR ADDITIONAL FUTURE ACTION. WE HOPE THE STATE WILL AUTHORIZE US TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY SOLAR ON AN OPT OUT BASIS, UH, THAT WOULD, UH, ENABLE US TO SCALE UP LOW AND MODERATE INCOME ENROLLMENT IN COMMUNITY SOLAR, UH, TO A DEGREE THAT WE CAN'T WHEN IT'S DONE ON A PURELY OPT-IN BASIS. AND IT'S ALSO A FRAMEWORK FOR ENTERING INTO LONG-TERM POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS WITH DIRECT ENERGY SUPPLY. THAT'S A WAY OF DE-RISKING THE INVESTMENT IN, UH, NEW ENERGY GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION. AND SO COULD BE A USEFUL PART OF, UM, OF THE OVERALL STATE EFFORT TO ACHIEVE, UM, UH, CLEAN ENERGY GOALS. NO. CAN I JUST STOP YOU FOR A SECOND? SO JUST EXPLAIN THE OPT OUT VERSUS THE OPT IN A LITTLE BIT. ALRIGHT. SO I, I'LL I'M GONNA GET TO, TO THAT IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROGRAM. SURE. FOR COMMUNITY SOLAR PARTICULARLY MM-HMM. , UH, WE HAVE FOUND THAT, UM, THE PROCESS OF ENROLLING, UH, LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HAS BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW. MM-HMM. , THERE ARE OFTEN TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS OR TRUST BARRIERS OR LANGUAGE BARRIERS. MM-HMM. . UM, AND, AND THEREFORE THE, THE PEOPLE WHO CAN BENEFIT MOST FROM THE UTILITY CREDITS THROUGH COMMUNITY SOLAR ARE OFTEN NOT GETTING THEM, AT LEAST NOT AT THE SCALE THAT WE WOULD LIKE. MM-HMM. , IF IT'S DONE INSTEAD AS AN OPT OUT PROGRAM, WHICH PROVIDES TO BE CLEAR GUARANTEED SAVINGS TO LOWER INCOME POPULATIONS, THEN THE NUMBER OF ENROLLMENTS CAN, CAN SKYROCKET, OF COURSE. AND SO WE THINK THAT IS A SUPERIOR MODEL FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM. SO, UH, SPEAKING OF OPT OUT, GETTING TO THE QUESTION OF EMPOWERMENT, UH, I WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR THAT CONSUMERS CAN ALWAYS OPT OUT OF THE WESTCHESTER POWER PROGRAM AT ANY TIME THAT THEY WANT. THEY CAN DO IT BY MAIL BEFORE ENROLLMENT. THEY CAN DO IT ONLINE, THEY CAN DO IT BY EMAIL, THEY CAN DO IT BY PHONE CALL. WE'LL HOLD PEOPLE'S HANDS THROUGH THE PROCESS. THERE'S NEVER ANY FEE OR PENALTY, UH, FOR OPTING OUT. UH, AND YOU CAN COME AND GO AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE. WE HAVE SOME PEOPLE WHO LEAVE ONE MONTH AND RETURN THE NEXT MONTH. THEY'RE RATE CONSCIOUS AND THEY SORT OF MONITOR THINGS MONTH TO MONTH. AND WE, WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DO THAT IF THEY, IF THEY LIKE. AND YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF THE QUESTION, WHICH I KNOW MANY PEOPLE DO, WHY IS OPT OUT NECESSARY? WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE DONE ON AN OPT OUT MODEL? WHY NOT DO IT ON AN OPT END BASIS? RIGHT? MM-HMM. , GINA, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE NODDING YOUR HEAD. MM-HMM. . SO, TWO PRINCIPLE REASONS. FIRST, JUST ON THE LEVEL OF PRACTICALITY AND VIABILITY, THE PROGRAM CANNOT WORK ON AN OPT-IN BASIS BECAUSE WE CAN ONLY ENTER THE ENERGY MARKET AND ENTERTAIN BIDS WHEN WE CAN REPRESENT A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF DEMAND THAT CANNOT BE DONE ON AN OPT-IN FASHION. AND IN FACT, IT'S NOT EVEN AUTHORIZED UNDER THE STATE LEGISLATION OR STATE, UH, REGS, I SHOULD SAY, UH, THROUGH WHICH CCA IS OPERATED. THE SECOND BIG REASON IS IMPACT. IF WE'RE GONNA GET ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE STATE'S CLEAN ENERGY GOALS TO THE GOALS THAT I KNOW WE ALL SHARE, IT'S NOT GONNA BE BY SIGNING PEOPLE UP FOR CLEAN ENERGY IN THE TENS AND TWENTIES. IT'S GONNA BE BY ENCOURAGING CLEAN ENERGY UPTAKE BY THE THOUSANDS AND THE TENS OF THOUSANDS. MM-HMM, . MM-HMM. . AND YOU CAN ONLY DO IT WITH A PROGRAM THAT'S STRUCTURED THIS WAY. SO JUST, JUST ENTERTAIN ME FOR TWO SECONDS. SO GREENBERG OPS IN, AND THEN YOU HAVE HALF OF GREENBERG SAYS, I DON'T WANNA BE A PART OF IT. OKAY. SO THEN WHAT HAPPENS? SO, SO WHERE, WHERE DO WE FALL? DO, DO WE NOT HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS OTHER MUNICIPALITIES BECAUSE MAJORITY OF OUR RESIDENTS DECIDED TO OPT OUT? SO WHERE DO, WHERE WILL WE FALL? UH, THAT WOULD NOT IN FACT IMPACT THE PROGRAM FOR GREENBERG AS A WHOLE, NOR WOULD IT IMPACT THE PROGRAM FOR THE GREENBERG RESIDENTS WHO CHOOSE TO STAY IN THE PROGRAM. MM-HMM. . SO THERE'S ONE DECISION THAT'S MADE AT A MUNICIPAL LEVEL. MM-HMM. WHETHER YOU'RE GONNA PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM AT ALL. AND THEN THERE'S A SECONDARY DECISION THAT'S MADE BY EVERY CONSUMER, WHETHER THEY WANNA STAY WITH THE PROGRAM OR NOT. THE QUANTITY OF PEOPLE WHO STAY IN OR LEAVE DOESN'T IMPACT THE PROGRAM AT ALL. OKAY. REALLY? AND SO IN NEGOTIATING RATES, DOESN'T THE ECONOMY OF SCALE HAVE ANY PURCHASE IN THAT? IT, IT DOES EQUATION, BUT, UH, SUPPLIERS AS WELL AS SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE ROUGHLY HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO OPT [00:30:01] OUT. AND SO WHILE YOU CAN'T GET THAT NUMBER TO THE PENNY, OF COURSE, 'CAUSE IT'S, IT'S CONSTANTLY FLUCTUATING. UM, THE OPT OUT MODEL IS SUFFICIENT TO MAKE, UH, GOOD SOLID ESTIMATES. AND THAT WORKS IN THE MARKETPLACE. UH, AND ONE OTHER THING I WANNA SAY ABOUT THIS, AND I SAID IT BEFORE, BUT IT, IT BEARS REPEATING. THERE IS ALWAYS A DEFAULT. THERE IS NO SCENARIO IN WHICH THERE'S AN ELECTRIC SUPPLY THAT IS NOT AN OPT-OUT DEFAULT FROM A CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE. AND SO THE REAL QUESTION FOR A MUNICIPALITY IS NOT WHETHER THERE'S GOING TO BE A DEFAULT. THE QUESTION FOR YOU IS, WHAT SHOULD THAT DEFAULT BE? AND IN OUR ESTIMATION, WHAT WE'RE OFFERING IN CCA IS SOMETHING WHICH REALLY EMPOWERS EVERYBODY FOR RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES. THEY CAN MAKE THE BEST CHOICES FOR THEMSELVES. THEY CAN CONSIDER PRICE, THEY CONSIDER PREDICTABILITY. THEY CAN CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION, WEIGHT, THOSE THINGS ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN VALUES AND PRIORITIES, AND THEN MAKE THE ENERGY CHOICE THEY WANT FROM A BROADER MENU OF OPTIONS THAN THEY WOULD'VE HAD OTHERWISE. FOR A MUNICIPALITY, IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO DEMONSTRATE AND EMPHASIZE COMMUNITY-WIDE VALUES AND PRIORITIES AND DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO ENCOURAGE. AND IF THOSE VALUES INCLUDE REALLY DEMONSTRATING SORT OF INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP ON ENERGY CHOICE, CLEAN RENEWABLE POWER, CONSUMER PROTECTIONS BY THOSE METRICS, WESTCHESTER POWER IS A VERY ATTRACTIVE THING FOR A MUNICIPALITY TO EMBRACE. AND I CERTAINLY AGREE THERE IS A, HOWEVER, AND THAT IS THAT IT, EVERYONE IS VERY CONSCIOUS OF THEIR POCKETBOOKS. MM-HMM. . AND, UM, ESPECIALLY IN, IN AN ECONOMY WHERE, WHERE WE DO HAVE PRICES THAT HAVE ACCELERATED SIGN SIGNIFICANTLY. SO PEOPLE IN EVERY ASPECT, NOT JUST ENERGY AS YOU KNOW, THINK IN THE SHORT TERM AND YOU KNOW HOW THEY'RE MAKING ENDS MEET. SO THE THE WAY, ONE OF THE BEST WAYS IS TO EDUCATE, RIGHT. AND, AND MAKE THE CLEAR ANALOGY OF THE IMPACTS OF NOT, OF HAVING A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT VERSUS SO WILL SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER WORK WITH US TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE? IT'S NOT, PEOPLE AREN'T NECESSARILY GONNA SEARCH IT OUT ONLINE. SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO BRING THE, THE WATER, THE HORSE TO WATER INFORMATION. YEAH. SO, UM, I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN FACILITATE THAT AND, AND HOW WE CAN, UM, FACILITATE IT AND WHAT IT IS WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF THE OUTREACH. SO LIKE A CAMPAIGN OF SOME KIND, LIKE A, A MARKETING CAMPAIGN THAT, A NEWSLETTER, A CONTINUOUS 'CAUSE THAT WAS, I MEAN, WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THAT. THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE ONE, ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT, UM, OUR RESIDENTS HAD THAT THEY WERE NOT INFORMED OF THE RATE FLUCTUATION. AND THEN WHAT THEY WERE FINDING WAS THAT CONED WAS LOWER. MM-HMM. . SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, FULL TRANSPARENCY. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS MANY A TIMES HERE. SO I THINK THAT THAT IS A CONCERN HERE. HOW, HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE SURE THIS TIME, UM, IF THERE'S, I'M NOT, I'M NOT CONFIRMING ANYTHING, SO I JUST WANTED TO BE CLEAR, BUT HOW DO WE CONFIRM WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE COMMUNICATION? YOU KNOW, IS IT GONNA BE CONTINUOUS EMAILS? IS IT GOING TO, IS IT, IS IT GOING TO FALL ON THE TOWN BOARD OR YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, IS IT GONNA FALL ON US TO DO IT? OR ARE WE GOING TO KEEP TO OUR WORD AND SAY WE ARE, WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE WILL ALERT OUR CONSUMERS OF THE DIFFERENT RATE CHANGES OR THE FLUCTUATION I SHOULD SAY. AND THE PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE DON'T, NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE READ ONLY A SMALL SEGMENT OF THE COMMUNITY READ THE EMAILS OR, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE REALLY DON'T, THERE'S NO NEWSPAPERS PRACTICALLY ANYMORE. SO IT'S VERY HARD TO COMMUNICATE. YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAD THE DISCUSSION, YOU KNOW, A WHILE BACK I THOUGHT, UM, AND MAYBE THAT IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION, BUT MAYBE, UH, ON EACH CON ED BILL, MAYBE THERE COULD BE A COMPARISON. SO THIS WAY YOU COULD SAY, WELL, NOT ON A CON ED BILL ON A, NO, IT'S NOT ON THE CONED BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET A SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER BILL. YOU GET A CON ED BILL UTILITIES BILL WOULD CON WHY WOULD CON ED WANT TO DO THAT? NO, IT, THIS PSC COULD SAY, IF THIS PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION WOULD BE ABLE TO SAY, OKAY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT, UH, WE WANNA ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SUSTAINABLE MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, WESTCHESTER. AT THE SAME TIME, WE WANNA MAKE IT LIKE SIMPLE SO PEOPLE, SO NOBODY COULD FEEL THAT THEY'RE NOT BEING UNIFORM. BUT IF WE CAN'T GET THAT APPROVED, BECAUSE THAT WOULD REQUIRE THE STATE LEGISLATURE OR THE PSA, I'M SORT OF WONDERING IF, UM, DURING THE RENEWAL PROCESS, MAYBE THERE COULD BE, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT SAY IF CONED RATES ARE HIGHER, LOWER THAN, UH, WESTCHESTER POWER FOR SAY A CERTAIN [00:35:01] NUMBER OF MONTHS, SAY THREE MONTHS OR SOMETHING, THEN THE TOWN THEN SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER WOULD, UM, WOULD PAY FOR SAY, A POSTCARD THAT THE TOWN COULD WRITE AND SEND OUT JUST SAYING TO PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, THIS IS THE RATE COMPARISONS THE PAST FEW MONTHS, AND IF YOU WANNA OPT OUT, THIS IS HOW YOU, YOU DO IT. BECAUSE THAT, I FEEL IF WE HAD, LIKE, IF WE COULD WRITE OUR OWN POSTCARD AND IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, NOT LIKE A LETTER WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, IN AN ENVELOPE THAT PEOPLE AREN'T GONNA OPEN, UM, AND WE DO THAT PERIODICALLY, THEN NOBODY COULD SAY THAT WE'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE NOT PROVIDING THE INFORMATION WE'RE MAKING REALLY. WELL IT'S, IT'S NOT ONLY ABOUT PROVIDING THE INFORMATION, BECAUSE PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT LOOK AT THOSE POSTCARDS EITHER, BUT, YOU KNOW, SO CAN WE, CAN WE HAVE A DOG AND PONY SHOW FOR INSTANCE, WHERE WE GO TO ALL THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITY BOARDS? 'CAUSE WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF THEM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO REMIND, WE DID SEND OUT A POSTCARD, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE YOU SENT UP TO THE LAST YEAR. YEAH, WE DID, WE DID SEND OUT A POSTCARD. RIGHT. AND, AND, AND THEN, AND AGAIN, WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THERE WAS SOMETHING SAID THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THAT COMMUNICATION AND PEOPLE WILL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE RATES ARE. MM-HMM. CAN I JUST SWITCH GEARS FOR TWO SECONDS? I KNOW, I KNOW OF INTEREST OF TIME. UM, YOU MENTIONED, YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING THAT WITH REGARDS TO THE RFP AND THAT PEOPLE WILL WANT TO, UM, WE PUT WHEN WE'RE GOING ON OUT TO BID MM-HMM. , MY CONCERN WITH THAT IS LIKE IF YOU HAVE GREENBERG AND WE SAY YES, WE HAVE 25 MUNICIPALITIES BIDDING. I MEAN TONY MUNICIPALITIES WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE, WE GO OUT FOR A BIDDING. WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU'RE PUTTING THAT SCOPE OF WORK TOGETHER, YOU'RE PUTTING THERE WITH THE NUMBER, ESTIMATED NUMBER, I'M ASSUMING MM-HMM. OF HOW MANY HOUSEHOLDS YOU'RE GOING TO BE MM-HMM. . WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT, IF THAT NOT IF THAT WE DON'T MEET THAT HOUSEHOLD. NOW YOU SAID ONE OR TWO MAY NOT OPT IN, BUT THEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE WHO WON THE PROPOSAL AND THEN THEY FIND THAT, OH MY GOSH, YOU SAID I WAS GOING TO GET, I'LL MAKE THIS NUMBER. YOU SAID I WAS GONNA GET 10 MM-HMM. I ONLY GOT FIVE. SO THEN WHAT HAPPENS? 'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT RATE IS GONNA BE PASSED ON TO THE CONSUMER. SO WHAT HAPPENS AT THAT POINT? SO LET ME RESPOND TO THAT AND I'D LIKE TO COME BACK TO THE ISSUE OF INFORMATION. SO, UM, NOTHING HAPPENS TO THE CONSUMER IN THAT CASE. LET ME JUST, UH, BE VERY CLEAR. MM-HMM. , IT'S A FIXED RATE. IT'S SET BY CONTRACT. UH, THE SUPPLIERS UNDERSTAND THE DYNAMICS OF COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION, UNDERSTAND THE RISKS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE, THE DEMAND NUMBER MOVING, UH, UP OR DOWN. UM, AND THAT IS PART OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO BEAR. SO THERE'S, THERE'S NO CIRCUMSTANCE IN WHICH AN AGREED UPON RATE WOULD BE ADJUSTED IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE DYNAMIC THAT YOU DESCRIBED. OKAY. UM, I'M SORRY, JOY, GO AHEAD. YEAH, JUST TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT. SO I I I GUESS I'M CONFUSED BY THE TERM FIXED RATE. IF IT'S A FIXED RATE, THEN WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT FLUCTUATIONS. CORRECT. SO WHAT IS THE CONCERN? CONED RATE CONCERN IS THAT THE CONED SUSTAINABLE RATE IS MUCH HIGHER THAN, THAN THE CON ED RATE. CONED CONED FLUCTUATES QUITE A BIT. YEAH. HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY, AND, YOU KNOW, AND I, I WAS ACTUALLY, IT'S A GOOD SEGUE. I WAS GONNA TALK, I WAS GONNA CONFRONT THAT HEAD ON MM-HMM. . BUT I, I DO WANNA JUST SAY ON THE ISSUE OF, OF INFORMATION FLOW. SO FIRST, AS A GENERAL MATTER, OF COURSE, WE'RE PLEASED TO WORK WITH YOU TO THINK THROUGH THE BEST MEANS OF REACHING YOUR RESIDENTS. UM, I KNOW THAT WE ACTUALLY PROVIDE A MONTHLY EMAIL SPECIFICALLY FOR GREENBERG, WHICH SUPERVISOR, THANK YOU. YOU, YOU CIRCULATE, UH, MORE BROADLY, UH, WE HAVE BUILT INTO THIS NEXT CONTRACT AND ADDITIONAL MAILING BEYOND, UH, THE BASIC ONE THAT WE DO AT THE CONTRACT INCEPTION AND BEYOND, UM, UH, WHAT WE DO FOR NEW ENROLLMENT. UH, IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE PUBLIC AWARENESS, WE'RE HAPPY TO DO, UH, COMMUNITY MEETINGS. WE HAVE DONE SO IN THE PAST. WE'RE GLAD TO DO SO. AGAIN, IT'S OUR GOAL TOO, TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY ISN'T AS WELL INFORMED AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THEIR CHOICES. MM-HMM. , UH, WE THINK THAT'S, THAT'S THE WAY THIS OUGHT TO WORK. UM, WE HOPE PEOPLE WILL CHOOSE TO TAKE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY ACTION. UH, BUT NONETHELESS, THAT'S FOR EVERYONE TO DEC DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES. UM, AND, UH, AND WE, WE SUBSCRIBE TO THAT PHILOSOPHY. UM, SO JUST, UM, UH, AGAIN, IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, UM, MOVING ON TO SORT OF THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, WHICH IS PRICE STRUCTURE. MM-HMM. AND, AND THE OLD CONTRACT. UM, SO HERE ARE THE NUMBERS. UH, THE RENEWABLE RATE IS ABOUT 15 AND A HALF CENTS PER KILOWATT HOUR. UH, THE CONED, UH, TRAILING RATE HAS BEEN JUST UNDER 10. SO, UH, SIGNIFICANT DELTA. AND TO BE CLEAR, NOBODY IS HAPPY ABOUT THAT. UH, WE RECOGNIZE THAT, UH, THIS HAS NOT BEEN, UH, A GREAT CONTRACT IN TERMS OF ITS, UH, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE. BUT THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT. AND IT HAS TO DO WITH THE UNIQUE TIMING AND CHALLENGES THAT CONFRONTED US IN 2022. YOU MAY REMEMBER THE WAR IN UKRAINE WAS BREAKING OUT. THERE WAS AN EXPECTATION THAT ENERGY PRICES WERE GONNA SKYROCKET AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THAT. UH, INSTEAD THE REVERSE HAPPENED AND ENERGY PRICES DECLINED. AND SO THE FIXED RATE THAT WAS ESTABLISHED AT THAT UNIQUELY BAD MOMENT ENDED UP BEING PERSISTENTLY HIGHER THAN THE UTILITY RATE. [00:40:01] SO THAT IS WHAT OCCURRED. UH, THERE'S NO REASON TO EXPECT THAT A SIMILAR DYNAMIC WOULD OCCUR THIS YEAR. AND IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT THE BROADER HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM, THE LONGER HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM, UH, AND I KNOW THOSE NUMBERS ARE A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO SEE, BUT YOU CAN REVIEW THEM AT YOUR LEISURE, YOU WILL SEE THAT THE YEARS IN WHICH OUR RATE HAS EXCEEDED THE UTILITY AND THE YEARS IN WHICH OUR RATE HAS BEEN BELOW THE UTILITY ARE ABOUT EQUAL TO EACH OTHER. UM, SO IT'S BEEN, IT'S BEEN A, A CLOSE CALL FOR THE OVERALL HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM. THE LAST CONTRACT LOOKS LIKE AN OUTLIER WHEN YOU COMPARE IT, UH, TO THAT HISTORIC EXPERIENCE. AND I ALSO WANNA MAKE THIS POINT LOOKING AT US COMPARED TO THE UTILITIES. A LITTLE BIT OF APPLES AND ORANGES. 'CAUSE THE UTILITY IS DELIVERING FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY. WE'RE, WE'RE PAYING FOR CLEAN ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES. IF YOU COMPARE OUR RENEWABLE PRODUCT TO WHAT HAS BEEN AVAILABLE FROM PRIVATE ESCOS IN TERMS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY, THEN EVEN IN THIS LOUSY LAST CONTRACT, WE COME IN AT THE LOW END OF THE PRICING. SO FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS RENEWABLE ENERGY, EVEN THIS LAST CONTRACT HAS BEEN A GOOD DEAL. UM, SO AS WE LOOK AHEAD TO THE NEW CONTRACT, 2024 CIRCUMSTANCES ARE VERY DIFFERENT. FIRST OF ALL, THE INDICATIVES THAT WE HAVE TODAY SUGGEST THAT, UH, THE PRICE, THE CONTRACT RATE WILL BE LOWER. UH, THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT DELTA AND THE ENERGY PRICES, UH, TODAY RELATIVE TO WHAT THEY WERE TWO YEARS AGO. TO BE CLEAR, THAT'S NOT A GUARANTEE UNTIL WE GET TO THE BIDDING, I NEVER WANNA MISREPRESENT THAT. THERE'S ALWAYS SOME DEGREE OF, OF UNCERTAINTY. BUT THE INDICATORS RIGHT NOW ARE, ARE PRETTY GOOD. AND THAT IS AN INCENTIVE TO MOVE QUICKLY BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO RUN THE RISK OF ENERGY PRICES INCREASING AS WE GET INTO THE TEETH OF THE SUMMER. WE WANNA TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT WE THINK IS A PRETTY, UH, GOOD ARRANGEMENT RIGHT NOW. UM, THE MARKET CONTEXT, BROADER MARKET CONTEXT SUGGESTS SOME ADVANTAGES FOR FIXED RATES. UM, AND GINA, THIS IS SOMETHING YOU'LL KNOW BETTER THAN ME. UH, THE STATE EXPERTS ARE LOOKING TO 2025 AS A CHALLENGING YEAR. A LOT OF THE DIRTIEST ENERGY GENERATORS ARE GONNA BE COMING OFFLINE FOR GOOD REASON. BUT A LOT OF THE NEW RENEWABLE POWER WILL NOT YET BE ONLINE. AND SO THOSE THINGS ARE GONNA PRESSURE UP UTILITY PRICES IN ALL LIKELIHOOD. AND SO THERE IS A COMPELLING REASON TO THINK THAT A FIXED RATE SET IN 2024 WILL PROBABLY COMPARE FAVORABLY WHEN WE GET TO 2025. UM, AND LAST THING IN TERMS OF CHANGING MARKET CONTEXT, AND I'M GONNA HAVE TO GET A LITTLE BIT IN THE WEEDS HERE, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT AND IT'S RELEVANT TO YOUR DECISION. UM, THIS IS A CHANGE IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKET. SO JUST A LITTLE BIT OF KIND OF 1 0 1 HERE. WE OBTAIN OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY BY PURCHASING RECS, RENEWABLE ENERGY CERTIFICATES, AND THEY COME IN KIND OF TWO FLAVORS. SO TIER TWO, WHICH YOU CAN THINK OF AS SORT OF LIGHT GREEN IS MAINLY MAINTENANCE OF LEGACY, UH, CLEAN ENERGY GENERATION. IT'S A LOT OF HYDRO POWER. OKAY? TIER ONE, WHICH YOU CAN THINK OF AS KIND OF A DEEPER SHADE OF GREEN, HELPS TO CREATE NEWER, UH, CLEAN ENERGY PRODUCTS, PRINCIPALLY WIND AND SOLAR. TIER TWO, WHICH IS HOW WE'VE TRADITIONALLY PURCHASED OUR WRECK 'CAUSE THEY'RE LESS EXPENSIVE, IS NOW IN LIMITED SUPPLY. AND SO NOT AS MUCH AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET FOR US TO PURCHASE. TIER ONE, BY CONTRAST, IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR PURCHASE FROM CCAS. WE WERE NOT PREVIOUSLY ABLE TO ACCESS THEM. SO THIS IS WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING TO DO. THE CURRENT CONTRACT, THE CONTRACT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW OFFERED A MUNICIPALITY TO POTENTIAL DEFAULTS. ONE WAS A STANDARD RATE OF JUST FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY, WHICH WAS ONLY TAKEN BY TWO OUT OF THE 29 MUNICIPALITIES, NOT GREENBERG. THE OTHER, WHICH WE'RE CALLING SORT OF MEDIUM GREEN WAS A HUNDRED PERCENT RENEWABLE, COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF TIER TWO RECS. OKAY? SO STANDARD SUPPLY IS NO LONGER GONNA BE OFFERED IN THIS CONTRACT. NEW YORK STATE REGULATIONS ACTUALLY DON'T ALLOW IT AT THIS KIND OF PRICE POINT. AND AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE WAS LIMITED DEMAND FOR IT IN ANY CASE. AND WE'RE NOT ABLE TO OFFER THE MEDIUM GREEN AS A DEFAULT, BECAUSE AS I SAID, THERE'S A LIMITED SUPPLY OF TIER TWO RECS. SO NEITHER OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE GONNA BE AVAILABLE. INSTEAD, WHAT WE WANNA OFFER AS A, AS A DEFAULT OPTION FOR MUNICIPALITIES IS EITHER A BASIC, WHICH IS KIND OF, YOU COULD THINK OF IT AS LIGHT GREEN THAT'S COMPOSED OF 50% TIER TWO RECS. THAT'S THE MOST THAT WE CAN GET IN TERMS OF TIER TWO OR WHAT WE'RE CALLING A DARK GREEN, WHICH WOULD BE A BLEND OF TIER ONE AND TIER TWO RECS 50% EACH. AND WHAT'S NOTABLE ABOUT THAT DARK GREEN OPTION IS IT WOULD BE THE GREENEST OFFERING WE'VE EVER PROVIDED IN THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM. AND SO QUITE ATTRACTIVE. BUT THE WAY WE'RE STRUCTURING THE PROGRAM IS THIS IS PRICE DEPENDENT. SO WE'LL MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION. ONLY IF THE PRICE DELTA BETWEEN TIER ONE AND TIER TWO IS ACCEPTABLY SMALL. IF IT EXCEEDS THAT TARGET, THEN WE WON'T MOVE IN THIS DIRECTION. WHAT'S THE TARGET? UH, THE TARGET IS 1 CENT DIFFERENCE OVERALL, A HALF CENT DIFFERENCE IN THE RATE BECAUSE IT'S ONLY 50% THAT WE'RE BUYING. SO HALF CENT DIFFERENCE FROM WHAT WOULD BE THE MEDIUM GREEN, WHICH IS, HAS, HAS BEEN THE DEFAULT TODAY. SO OPTIONS FOR GREENBERG, JUST [00:45:01] TO KIND OF PUT IT ALL TOGETHER, LIKE WHAT ARE THE CHOICES BEFORE YOU? SO CHOICE NUMBER ONE IS TO EXIT THE PROGRAM ENTIRELY. SAY WE DON'T WANNA RENEW THE WESTCHESTER POWER CONTRACT, WE'RE OUT. IF YOU DO THAT, THEN THE DEFAULT ENERGY SUPPLY IN THE MUNICIPALITY WILL BECOME CON EDISON WITH ITS FOSSIL FUEL RATES. AND THERE'LL BE NO FURTHER OPTIONS FOR CONSUMERS UNDER WESTCHESTER POWER. THERE'S NOTHING THAT THEY CAN OPT INTO. OPTION TWO IS TO SAY, WE WANT TO CONTINUE IN WESTCHESTER POWER AND WE WANT THAT LIGHT GREEN, THE 50% TIER TWO RECS TO BE OUR DEFAULT IN THE MUNICIPALITY. AND IF YOU DO THAT, THEN CONSUMERS ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS WILL, IF THEY BE, IF THEY WANT, CAN OPT UP TO THE MEDIUM GREEN OR CAN OPT OUTTA THE PROGRAM ENTIRELY AS WE DISCUSSED EARLIER. AND FINALLY, YOU CAN SAY, WE WANT TO GO FOR THE DARK GREEN OPTION. WE WANNA MAKE THAT THE MUNICIPAL DEFAULT. THAT'S THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY AMBITIOUS OF THE THREE. AND IN THAT CASE, CONSUMERS CAN OPT DOWN TO THE LIGHT GREEN IF THEY PREFER THAT, OR ONCE AGAIN, OPT OUT OF THE PROGRAM ENTIRELY. UM, AS I SAID, IT IS PRICE DEPENDENT BASED ON TIER ONE COST. AND SO IF YOU CHOOSE THE DARK GREEN, BUT THEN THE PRICE COMES IN TOO HIGH, YOU'LL END UP AT THE LIGHT GREEN. SO THOSE THINGS WILL, UH, DEFAULT BACK TO OPTION TWO. WOULD THERE BE A TIME AT WHICH YOU COULD GIVE A, A NUMBER COMPARING THE DARK GREEN TO THE LIGHT GREEN SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A CHOICE AS TO WHAT OUR DEFAULT WOULD BE? YES. YES. AND IN FACT, UM, YOU, YOU, YOU'VE ALL DONE MARVELOUS JOBS OF ANTICIPATING WHERE THE CONVERSATION IS GOING. SO YES, THERE ARE KIND OF, UM, TWO VARIETIES OF OPTION THREE. UH, ONE, UH, AND THIS IS ALL SPELLED OUT IN THE CONTRACT MATERIALS THAT, UH, I'M SURE YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO MAYBE REVIEW, BUT YOU HAVE IN HAND. UH, SO, AND WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO SIT WITH YOU IF, IF, YOU KNOW, STAFF, STAFF LEVEL DISCUSSION WOULD BE HELPFUL. UM, SO, UH, ONE OPTION IS TO SAY, WE SHALL GO WITH THAT DARK GREEN DEFAULT AS LONG AS YOU HIT THE PRICE TARGET. MM-HMM. . THE OTHER OPTION IS TO SAY WE'RE INTERESTED IN THIS, BUT JUST AS YOU SAID, JOY, WE WANNA SEE WHERE THE PRICE LANDS. AND IN THAT CASE, YOU ARE ASSIGNING TO YOUR CHIEF ELECTED OFFICIAL OR CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR THE AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO THE CONTRACT. PROVIDED YOU'RE ALL SATISFIED. WHAT WE WANNA AVOID IS COMING BACK TO YOU FOR A SECOND LEGISLATIVE ACT. MM-HMM. . BECAUSE WE'RE WORRIED THAT THE, THE TIMETABLES WILL MAKE THAT IMPRACTICAL. MM-HMM. . AND SO BOTH OF THESE OPTIONS ARE INTENDED TO BE ABLE TO FUNCTION WITHOUT YOU HAVING TO VOTE AGAIN. SO IN ONE, IT'S AN AUTOMATIC TRIGGER. IN THE OTHER YOU'RE ENTRUSTING, UH, YOUR, YOUR CHIEF ELECTED WHO PRESUMABLY WOULD BE CONSULTING WITH YOU BEFORE. I HAVE TO SAY THAT'S A PRETTY SMART STRUCTURE ON YOUR PART. WELL, UH, SAVING US TIME. THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT. IT IS A, IT IS A TEAM EFFORT. SO A LOT OF THOUGHT PUT INTO THIS. UM, SO YOU COULD SEE THE, THE SUGGESTED TIMETABLE HERE ON THE LEFT SIDE IS WHAT MUNICIPALITIES NEED TO DO ON THE RIGHT SIDE IS WHAT SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER NEEDS TO DO. THE FIRST STEP FOR YOU IS APPROVING AND SIGNING A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING, WHICH WE HOPE YOU WILL DO AS EARLY AS YOU FEEL PREPARED TO DO IT. UH, THEN AFTER, UH, THE BASE CONTRACT BID COMES IN, THE CONTRACT HAS TO BE SIGNED. IF YOU, UH, IF YOU OPT FOR THAT DARK GREEN OPTION, THEN THE NEXT SET OF, UH, ISSUES BECOME RELEVANT. IF NOT, THEN THEY'RE NOT RELEVANT. UH, NOTIFICATION TO THE PUBLIC AND OPT OUT PERIOD WOULD BE IN THE FALL, SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, AND THE NEW CONTRACT WOULD COMMENCE ON NOVEMBER ONE. I JUST HAD ONE ADDITIONAL THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF NOTIFICATION, YOU KNOW, WHAT MONTHLY NOTIFICATIONS, BECAUSE AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I'D SAY LIKE MOST PEOPLE HAVE LIKE NO IDEA WHAT THAT THEY'RE IN THE RATES OR THE COMPARISONS. WHAT ABOUT, UM, UM, WHEN YOU'RE NEGOTIATING OR IN THE BIDDING, WHAT ABOUT HAVING, UM, LIKE A REQUIREMENT OF LIKE SAY MONTHLY ADS ON NEWS 12 OR SOMETHING BECAUSE THAT YOU HAVE 29 COMMUNITIES IN WESTCHESTER THAT ARE PARTICIPATING? MM-HMM. . AND, UM, IF EVERY, YOU KNOW, IF THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH MM-HMM. , UH, THERE WOULD BE, WE JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW, UH, UH, MOST PEOPLE ARE HAVE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S 29 COMMUNITIES THAT ARE PART OF, UM, UH, UH, OUR WESTCHESTER POWER, UH, SYSTEM. IF YOU'RE PART OF, IF YOU LIVE IN THESE COMMUNITIES, UM, THIS IS THE COMPARISON. UH, WE BELIEVE THAT, UM, UM, BY PARTICIPATING YOU'RE HELPING SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER, WELL, LIKE A PSA CAMPAIGN IS WHAT A PSA, BUT IT WOULD BE A PA LIKE THEY WOULD, IT WOULD BE A COMMITMENT BECAUSE YOU KNOW, NEWS 12 AND YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE MEDIA, THEY DON'T COM THEY'RE NOT PROVIDING ANY INFORMATION. SO, UM, FIRST WE'RE OPEN TO ANY CONCEPT. YEAH. UM, I, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER NEWS 12 WOULD NECESSARILY HAVE THE PENETRATION THAT I THINK YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION AND MOST PEOPLE SORT OF TAKING IN THE INFORMATION. ALTHOUGH IT, IT'S WORTH LOOKING AT THE BASIC PUSH PULL THAT WE CONFRONT IN THIS IS THAT ANY ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATION RESPONSIBILITY [00:50:01] THAT WE BUILD INTO THE CONTRACT ALSO INCREASES THE CONTRACT PRICE. RIGHT. I UNDERSTAND THAT. AND SO IT'S LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO FIND THAT RIGHT BALANCE, UM, WHICH IS RESPECTFUL OF CONSUMERS FROM BOTH A PRICE PERSPECTIVE AND AN INFORMATION PERSPECTIVE. AND WE, WE, WE WELCOME A DIALOGUE ON THAT TOPIC. AND THAT'S THE IMPORTANT THING LINKING THE TWO. BECAUSE IF WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT DOLLARS AND CENTS, THEN IT DOESN'T MAKE THE CONNECTION TO WHAT IT, WHY IT IS BENEFICIAL. MM-HMM. . AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHERE THE AD CAMPAIGN BECOMES REALLY IMPORTANT. YEAH. IN ORDER FOR PEOPLE TO LINK THAT. MM-HMM. , UH, UNDERSTOOD. UM, IS MY SCREEN SHARE GONE? OR, OR IT IS THAT'S, I FEEL LIKE THAT'S THE ACADEMY AWARDS HALL . SO, UM, WERE THERE OTHER SLIDES? OTHER SLIDES? THERE WERE, BUT IT REALLY, IT WAS JUST KIND OF A WRAP UP AND A, AND A AND A CALL TO ARMS. BUT I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT'S NECESSARY. WILL YOU SEND THAT TO US, PLEASE? I'M HAPPY TO DO THAT. THANK YOU. SO I THINK, I THINK FOR, I THINK FOR MYSELF, AND I WON'T SPEAK TO THE, FOR THE REST OF THE BOARD, I THINK, UM, MY BUDDY OVER HERE, AS SOON AS HE DOES HIS REVIEW OF THE CONTRACT, I THINK WE CAN HAVE MORE OF A DISCUSSION AMONGST ALL OF US SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, AND THEN GET, YOU KNOW, FEEDBACK AND HIS COMMENTS FROM, FROM OUR TOWN ATTORNEY. SO I THINK WE, WE WOULD NEED TO DO THAT. IT SOUNDS GOOD. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, DO, AGAIN, I KEEP REFERENCING OUR CONVERSATION. MY CONCERN IS MAKING SURE THAT OUR CONSUMERS ARE GETTING WHAT WE PROMISED THEM. MM-HMM. AND LAST CONTRACT PERIOD. WE DIDN'T, WE'VE ALREADY ADDRESSED THAT AND WE DON'T NEED TO BEAT THAT HORSE AGAIN. BUT THAT, THAT IS FOR ME, MY CONCERN. 'CAUSE IT WAS, IT WAS VERY CONCERNING, VERY ALARMING, YOU KNOW, JUST TO HEAR THE FEEDBACK THAT WAS COMING. AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO BETTER THIS TIME. UM, AND I KNOW SOME THINGS WAS NO FAULT TO YOUR OWN, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T EXPECT THE RATES TO GO THE WAY THEY WERE TO GO LOWER THAN WHAT THEY WERE. BUT WE NEED TO JUST, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, REALLY LISTEN TO OUR CONSTITUENCY AND ALSO FROM WHAT OUR TOWN, FROM WHAT OUR TOWN ATTORNEY BRINGS BACK TO US. I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION TO FOLLOW UP ON WHAT GINA SAID. SO WOULD YOU SAY THAT OUR, UM, CONSTITUENTS DID NOT HAVE AN E WAS THERE NO OPTOUT PROCESS IN THE LAST CONDUCT? THERE IS THEY JUST, THEY JUST FELT LIKE THEY WEREN'T EDUCATED. THEY, THEY WEREN'T INFORMED ENOUGH. I USED THE WORD INFORMED. I WON'T USE EDUC. I JUST, PEOPLE WERE HAVING SOME ISSUES WITH OPT OUT RATHER THAN OPT IN. MM-HMM. . SO, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE FELT THAT THAT TIED THEM IN. THEY, THAT'S WHERE THE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN IS SO IMPORTANT. BUT WE'VE BEEN, UH, PROVIDING COMPARISONS ON THE WEBSITE EVERY MONTH. MM-HMM. , IT'S THE SAME PEOPLE WHO GET THE COMPARISON. SO THERE MIGHT BE 3000 PEOPLE WHO GET OUR E LIST AND THERE'S 37,000 WHO DON'T. SO, UH, SO THE THING IS MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALLY, NO. THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, LET'S, LET'S FORGET THE MUNICIPALITY, BUT WHAT, LET'S SAY THERE'S SOMEBODY WHO IS INTERESTED IN SOLAR OR INTERESTED IN SOME OF THE PROGRAMS. WHAT, UH, SPECIFIC PROGRAMS COULD YOU, COULD AN INDIVIDUAL BENEFIT BY? BECAUSE MAYBE WHAT WE COULD, MAYBE WHAT WE COULD DO IS WE COULD SAY, IF YOU CALL SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER AS A RESULT OF THE TOWN PARTICIPATING IN THESE PROGRAMS, THESE ARE ADDITIONAL, UH, SERVICES THAT YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL COULD, YOU KNOW, RECEIVE. UH, DO YOU FOLLOW WHAT I'M SAYING? I CERTAINLY DO, AND I THANK YOU FOR ASKING THE QUESTION. UH, IT GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, TOOTH THE HORN OF, OF A FEW OF OUR PROGRAMS THAT ARE SORT OF VERY OUTWARD FACING AND ARE VERY BENEFICIAL TO, TO RESIDENTS. UM, UH, NUMBER ONE IS GRID REWARDS, WHICH I, I TOUCHED ON VERY BRIEFLY EARLIER. MM-HMM. , THAT'S A DEMAND RESPONSE PROGRAM. UH, WHEN YOU SIGN UP, UM, YOU THEN RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS PRIOR TO HOURS OF PEAK ENERGY DEMAND, USUALLY SORT OF HEAT WAVES. AND YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO REDUCE YOUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR A FEW HOURS. UH, THE, THE BENEFIT OF THAT IS YOU REDUCE PRESSURE ON THE GRID. MM-HMM. LESS LIKELY THAT THE UTILITY NEEDS TO FIRE UP PEAKER PLANTS, WHICH REALLY GENERATE A LOT OF POLLUTION. AND YOU GET PAID TO DO THAT. IT'S GUARANTEED MONEY. WELL, THAT'S SOMETHING ALSO, UH, FOR US AS A MUNICIPALITY, NEW ANDROGEN, IT PROVIDES THE COUNTY. I BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE BOARD IN 2019. UM, BUT I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN CONSIDER TOO. I, I, I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. THE NEW ROCHELLE SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTICIPATED IN OUR PROGRAM AND EARNED, I THINK $25,000 IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF OPERATION. RIGHT. YOU CAN'T LOSE, IT'S A NO-LOSE PROPOSITION. SO, UH, SO NO, YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF PROGRAM AS PERTAINS TO MUNICIPALITIES THEN TO LARGER OKAY. I LARGER ENTITIES, BOTH IN INDIVIDUALS AND SO MUNICIPALITY AS AN INSTITUTION CAN PARTICIPATE MM-HMM. AND INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY AS WELL AS BUSINESSES CAN PARTICIPATE. RIGHT. YOU BOTH. SO WE, WE ABSOLUTELY ENCOURAGE THAT. OKAY. SECOND PROGRAM, WHICH WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IS COMMUNITY SOLAR. MM-HMM. , UH, IF YOU ENROLL, UM, NOW THERE'S A WAITING LIST FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT LMI, UH, BUT LMI CAN GET ON ALMOST IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE AS I SAID, IT'S BEEN HARD TO LMI, [00:55:01] I'M SORRY, LOW AND MODERATE INCOME, FORGIVE ME FOR THE ACRONYM, BUT THAT ALSO PROVIDES GUARANTEED SAVINGS ON THE UTILITY BILL. THIRD PROGRAM I'LL MENTION IS ENERGY SMART HOMES. UM, LOTS OF PEOPLE WANT TO ELECTRIFY THEIR HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS, WANNA WEATHERIZE THEIR HOMES, BUT IT CAN BE A LITTLE DAUNTING FIGURING OUT THE INCENTIVE PACKAGE, FIGURING OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH CONTRACTORS. WE DON'T DO THE WORK OURSELVES, BUT WE'LL HOLD PEOPLE'S HANDS THROUGH THE PROCESS. WE'LL HELP TO DECIPHER THOSE INCENTIVES. SO WE'LL HELP TO, UH, PROVIDE A VETTED CONTRACTOR LIST. WE'LL MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE. SO YOU HAVE THAT, YOU HAVE A VET CONTRACTOR LIST? YES, WE DO. THAT'S GREAT. OKAY. YOU SEE, BECAUSE IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE'VE BEEN MARKETING THIS, WE'VE BEEN SAYING, UH, THIS IS LIKE A CO-OP, UH, AND EVERYBODY, IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GETTING BETTER RATES BECAUSE WE ARE PARTICIPATING WITH 29 OTHER COMMUNITIES. WE'VE NEVER REALLY HIGHLIGHTED THE FACT THAT THE GOAL OF THIS INITIATIVE IS BASICALLY TO SAVE THE PLANET. AND BASICALLY BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS, THE EXTRA DOLLARS THAT, YOU KNOW, IT MAY COST IS GOING, UH, TO, UM, TO PROGRAMS THAT YOU'RE, UM, THAT YOU'RE BASICALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, FUNDING AND ENABLES US TO DO WORK AND THAT THE RESIDENTS MAY GET MONEY BACK FROM. RIGHT. ALSO, YOU'RE ALSO, BUT, BUT DO WE REMEMBER ALSO HAVE TO CONCERN? I DON'T, AGAIN, I'M, I'M NOT TRYING TO, UM, PLAY THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE HERE, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO BE CONCERNED AS WELL. PEOPLE ARE ALREADY WATCHING THEIR WALLETS. MM-HMM. PEOPLE ARE ALREADY TRYING TO MAKE THAT BILL. SO JUST TO SAY IT'S ONLY GOING TO BE AN EXTRA DOLLAR OR AN EXTRA 5 CENTS, 50% THAT WELL, THAT, WELL, THAT'S, I MEAN, YOU HAVE THE EXPERIENCE AND LET ME JUST SAY I, I REALLY RESPECT THAT VIEW. YOU REALLY HAVE TO CONFRONT THAT, THAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PAYING BY YOUR DATA 50% MORE FOR ELECTRICITY. YOU KNOW, I KNOW I'VE SPENT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS MORE ON ELECTRICITY, UM, BECAUSE I'M IN THE PROGRAM. MM-HMM. SO TO SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY, YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE BECAUSE YOU HAVE A FIXED RATE, BUT THAT RATE IS SO MUCH HIGHER, DOESN'T GIVE ANYBODY COMFORT. AND, AND SOMEHOW THAT HAS TO BE ADDRESSED. MM-HMM. , WHILE YOU'RE COMING UP FOR ANOTHER CONTRACT, I AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY, FRANCIS. AND, AND, AND THAT'S WHY, UH, I TRIED IN MY COMMENTS EARLIER, BUT LET ME EMPHASIZE IT NOW, TO BE VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD ABOUT OUR DISCONTENTS WITH THE CURRENT CONTRACT, AND NOT TO SUGARCOAT THE, THE FIGURES AT ALL. UM, BUT ALSO TO EMPHASIZE THAT THE PROGRAM OUGHT TO BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO ITS FULL HISTORY AND ITS FULL CONTEXT, RATHER THAN CHERRY PICKING ONE DATA SET OUT OF THAT OVERALL CONTEXT. TWO YEARS, TWO YEARS OUT OF A, OUT, OUT OF A NINE YEAR PROGRAM AND A CONTRACT, AS I SAID BEFORE, THAT WAS CONCLUDED UNDER UNIQUELY DIFFICULT TIMES. SO IF WE'RE TRYING TO FORECAST AHEAD WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CONTRACT, THE HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM SUGGESTS IT'S AN EVEN MONEY BET IN TERMS OF WHETHER IT'S GONNA BE HIGHER OR LOWER THAN THE UTILITY RATE. IT ALSO SUGGESTS THAT THE BIG DELTA WE SAW IN THE LAST CONTRACT IS HIGHLY IMPROBABLE BECAUSE OF, UH, THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES, WELL, YOU CAN SAY WITH CERTAINTY IS THAT IF YOU LEAVE THE PROGRAM OVERNIGHT, GREENBERG'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARE GONNA SKYROCKET CHOICES THAT YOUR RESIDENTS HAVE TODAY, THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE. AND PEOPLE WHO WANT RENEWABLE ENERGY WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE TO SPEND MORE FOR. THOSE ARE THE THINGS, YOU KNOW, WILL 100% CERTAINTY. UM, THE PRICE DIFFERENTIAL WILL ALWAYS BE, TO SOME DEGREE UNCERTAIN BECAUSE A FUTURE VARIABLE RATE CANNOT BE PREDICTED WITH, WITH CERTAINTY. ALL YOU CAN DO IS MAKE INTELLIGENT JUDGEMENTS BASED ON ONE'S KNOWLEDGE OF MARKET FLUCTUATIONS, WHICH I, I THINK IS WHAT WE'RE DOING. UM, AND WE'RE ONLY CITING A ONE YEAR CONTRACT, CORRECT? WELL, UH, GOOD QUESTION. SO WE WILL ENTERTAIN BIDS FOR CONTRACTS OF MULTIPLE LENGTHS AND THEN SELECT THE ONE THAT OFFERS THE BEST DEAL. SO I THINK THE PROBABILITY IS IT'LL BE A ONE YEAR CONTRACT. THE INDICATIVES WE HAVE RIGHT NOW SUGGEST THE ONE YEAR COMES IN AT A LOWER RATE, BUT IF UNEXPECTEDLY AN 18 MONTH OR A 24 MONTH CONTRACT COMES IN AT A LOWER PRICE THAN THE 12 MONTH, THERE'S A GOOD REASON TO TO OFFER THAT. SO THAT'S, THAT'S ALL PART OF THE BIDDING PROCESS. AND, AND GINA, JUST COMING BACK TO YOUR POINT EARLIER, UM, WE ARE, UH, ABSOLUTELY PREPARED IF THERE'S ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, CONVERSATION, WE'RE HAPPY TO SIT WITH YOUR CORPORATION COUNCIL. UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO SIT WITH ANY MEMBER, UH, OF THE, UH, THE TOWN BOARD ONE-ON-ONE OR IN SMALL GROUPS. W WE WANT TO PUT OURSELVES AT YOUR DISPOSAL SO THAT WHEN YOU GET TO THE POINT OF ACTUALLY MAKING A DECISION, YOU DON'T FEEL THERE'S ANY QUESTION THAT'S UNANSWERED. YOU DON'T FEEL THAT THERE'S ANY GAP IN THE INFORMATION YOU NEED IN ORDER TO MAKE THE BEST POSSIBLE DECISION FOR YOUR COMMUNITY. SO WHEN, YOU KNOW WHAT, LIKE THE TIMELINE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING, I KNOW YOU WANT YESTERDAY, BUT, [01:00:01] UH, I SAID MID JUNE, WE, WE HOPE VERY MUCH, WE HOPE THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE THE INITIAL STEP, UH, IN JUNE FOR THE, FOR THE MU TO SIGN THE MOU AND, UH, AND INDICATE YOUR PREPAREDNESS TO PROCEED. AND, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, THERE ARE DIFFERENT VARIATIONS OF HOW YOU COULD ELECT TO GO FOR THAT DARK GREEN OPTION IF THAT'S THE WAY YOU WANT TO GO. UM, BUT THAT'LL ALL BE CLEAR IN THE DOCUMENTATION THAT THE, THE CORP COUNSEL WILL REVIEW. IT'S THERE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE A COUPLE THINGS PUSHING US FORWARD. SO ONE IS, THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE LIMIT TO HOW FAR OUT THIS CAN EXTEND BECAUSE OF THE, THE END OF THIS CONTRACT IN, IN OCTOBER, AND YOU HAVE TO WORK BACK FROM IT. BUT ALSO, IT'S WHAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, IT IS OUR CONCERN THAT PRICES MAY ACTUALLY RISE AS WE GET FURTHER INTO THE SUMMER AND WANTING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT AT THIS MOMENT IS A COMPARATIVELY FAVORABLE PRICE ENVIRONMENT. SO WE WANT TO KIND OF STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT, AND WE CAN'T DO THAT UNTIL WE HAVE A CRITICAL MASS OF MUNICIPAL APPROVALS. OKAY. I APPRECIATE YOU, MOM. THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM MUNICIPALITIES. UH, SO THIS IS OUR, I THINK MAYBE OUR FOURTH PRESENTATION. UM, I WOULD SAY A LOT OF SIMILARITY. LIKE, I THINK, UM, MOST PEOPLE RECOGNIZING THE VALUE OF THE PROGRAM, UM, MOST PEOPLE HAVING CONCERNS ABOUT THE PRICE STRUCTURE IN THE LAST CONTRACT. UM, I THINK SO FAR PEOPLE HAVE FELT LIKE THEY UNDERSTAND THE PROGRAM BETTER AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION THAN THEY DID AT THE BEGINNING, WHICH IS, AND IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY VALUABLE PRESENTATION IF YOU COULD SEND IT TO US SO WE HAVE IT. THAT WOULD BE, YEAH. I'LL, I'LL BE HAPPY TO DO THAT. UM, AND, AND WE'LL SEE. I DON'T, I, YOU KNOW, I, I, IT'S NOT AS THOUGH, UM, IN THE CONTEXT OF THESE MEETINGS, IT WOULD EVER BE APPROPRIATE FOR ME TO PUSH YOU TO YES OR NO. YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT MY ROLE. YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH YOUR DUE DILIGENCE AND SO FORTH. SO I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE MUNICIPALITIES WILL ULTIMATELY LAND, BUT I'M, I AM CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC THAT MOST, IF NOT ALL WILL RECOGNIZE THAT THE PROGRAM HAS ENORMOUS VALUE, THAT IT'S ACCOMPLISHED GREAT THINGS FOR OUR REGION, THAT IT EXPANDS CHOICES FOR RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES AND THAT IT'S WORTH RE-UPPING. AND YOU, COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN AGAIN, YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT NOW THE STATE IS THE CON YOU, THERE'S, UH, A WEBSITE WHERE YOU COULD COMPARE. SO ON OUR WEBSITE, UM, WE, WE CREATED A LITTLE VIDEO, UH, THAT TELLS PEOPLE HOW THEY CAN SIGN UP FOR AN ONLINE CONED ACCOUNT, WHICH PROVIDES REAL TIME RATE COMPARISONS. SO WE JUST WANNA MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE GETTING BACK TO WHAT WE WERE ALL DISCUSSING EARLIER FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ENERGY OPTIONS. OKAY. AND I COULD POST THAT ALSO. ABSOLUTELY. WE'D BE GRATEFUL TO. IT'S ON WEBSITE RIGHT NOW? IT IS ON THE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW. THAT'S GOOD. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. REALLY APPRECIATE THE TIME AND THE GOOD CONVERSATION. GRATEFUL FOR IT. REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION. THANK, THANK YOU. SO THEY, WE NEED AN ANSWER BY JUNE. SHOULD WE PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA, SAY FOR MID JUNE? NO, JUST TURN OFF HERE, MIC. SHOULD WE, SHOULD WE SCHEDULE THIS NOW AND SAY, YOU KNOW, WE WILL REFLECT FOR LIKE A COUPLE WEEKS AND THEN SAY BY THE, BY THE THIRD WEEK IN JUNE OR THE FOURTH, WE CAN LET NO GO FOR THIS PART OF THE CONVERSATION? YES, WE THANK YOU. YOU MOM, APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. SORRY PAUL. OKAY. THAT'S FINE. ALRIGHT. DO YOU WANNA MAKE A MOTION? WELL, WE HAVE SOME THE POINTS. WE HAVE ANOTHER, THE GUARD, THE HARTSDALE METRO NORTH. THAT WAS, UH, THAT'S METRO. THAT'S THE HARTSDALE PARKING DISTRICT. RIGHT. SO THAT, OH, IT COMES OFF THE AGENDA FOR US. RIGHT. OKAY. JUST WANTED AGENDA FOR, I JUST WANNA MENTION FOR EAST, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE, UH, UPSET ABOUT EAST HARTSDALE AVENUE BECAUSE, UH, THERE WAS A SEWER MAIN LEAK AND, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF TRAFFIC INCONVENIENCES RIGHT NOW. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, IS THERE TODAY. UH, FRANK MODO AND, UM, AND, UM, PEOPLE FROM THE WATER DEPARTMENT, UH, WORKED HARD OVER THE WEEKEND. THEY DID A REALLY GOOD JOB. I GOT A NUMBER OF LETTERS AND EMAILS, EMAILS FROM PEOPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, THANKING, UH, YOU KNOW, THE TOWN FOR BEING RESPONSIVE AND FOR REALLY ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM SHORT TERM. AND NOW WE'RE WORKING LONG TERM, BUT NOW WE HAVE TO DIG UNDER THE GROUND. SO IT'S GOING TO, SO PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY GONNA BE ANGRY. YEAH. IT'S A, WELL, IT'S, MAYBE PEOPLE BE JUST, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATE. THEY WON'T BE ANGRY. THEY'LL JUST, IT'S UNFORTUNATE. BE ANNOYED, INCONVENIENCE. IT'S JUST ANNOYING. IT'S AN INCONVENIENCE. THAT'S IT. I DON'T, I DON'T, YOU KNOW, UH, JUST TO CIRCLE BACK TO THE GARDEN. SO SINCE IT'S ON THE AGENDA, UH, JUST WANNA EXPLAIN, RIGHT. THERE'S A, A GARDEN THAT THREE RESIDENTS HAVE TAKEN CARE OF PER YOUR, YOUR EMAIL FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS. AND THEY'RE ASKING FOR A PLAQUE COMMEMORATING THESE THREE PEOPLE. AND IT ISN'T THE TOWN PURVIEW, IT TURNS OUT IT'S THE HEART STILL PARKING FLORIDA. BUT THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF [01:05:01] WHY IT WAS ON THE AGENDA. OKAY, THANK YOU COUNCILMAN. AND REGARDING THE, UH, SEWER BACKUPS, UM, COUNCILMAN JACKSON AS THE LIAISON FOR DPW AND ME BEING THE LIAISON FOR THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT, WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UM, THIS, INITIALLY IT WAS THOUGHT, AND IT MAY STILL BE, BUT NOT SURE. UM, WE HAVE BUSINESSES THAT ARE THROWING GREASE DOWN INTO THE TRAPS, AND IT'S CAUSING A MAJOR PROBLEM IN SEWERS. UM, THIS MAY, THAT MAY BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THIS. IT MAY NOT, IT MAY BE JUST THE, THE WEIGHT OF 40, 40 FEET OF, OF, UH, SOIL ABOVE IT. UM, BUT IN OUR DISCUSSIONS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UM, SEEING WHETHER OR NOT THERE COULD BE CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR BUSINESSES THAT DECIDE TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS AND IN INSTEAD THROW THEIR GREASE DOWN INTO THE SEWER, WHICH OF COURSE CLOGS THE SEWER. AND THEN WE HAVE TO COME OUT WITH OUR JET TRUCK. AND AS YOU MAY HAVE HEARD EARLIER IN THIS MEETING, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A JET TRUCK ON ORDER. IT, IT TAKES MORE THAN A YEAR TO GET IT. UM, AND IT'S VERY PROBLEMATIC. AND EVEN WHEN WE USE THE JET TRUCK, IT PUTS SUCH A FORCE OF POWER WATER INTO THE PIPE THAT, THAT ALSO CAN CAUSE DAMAGE. SO, UM, IF YOU ARE A RE A RESTAURANT AND YOU ARE DECIDING TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS AND NOT HAVE IT HAULED AWAY, AND INSTEAD THROW IT DOWN INTO OUR SEWER, CAUSING SIGNIFICANT COMPLICATIONS IN OUR SEWER SYSTEM, WHICH MEANS TO THE HOMES AND OTHER BUSINESSES, UM, WE'RE LOOKING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. AND I SUGGEST YOU NOT DO IT ANY ANYMORE. YOU'RE, YOU'RE CAUSING TERRIBLE DISTRESS AND INCONVENIENCE TO THE RESIDENTS THAT FREQUENT YOUR RESTAURANTS. YEAH. WE'LL FIND, IT'LL TAKE US SOME TIME TO FIGURE OUT IF THAT WAS THE CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THIS. I'M NOT SAYING IT IS, I'M NOT SAYING IT ISN'T, BUT WE DO KNOW IN OTHER AREAS OF THE TOWN, PARTICULARLY ON CENTRAL AVENUE, THAT HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT CAUSE OF THE SEWER BACKUPS. LEMME ASK YOU A QUESTION, UH, BECAUSE I SPOKE TO FRANK MORO, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO ABOUT THE SAME, SAME THING. UH, DO YOU THINK IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO ASK THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT TO SEND, UM, LIKE A CERTIFIED LETTER TO ALL THE RESTAURANTS, UH, ADVISING THEM THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, ABOUT FLOODING AND ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THESE TYPE OF SEWER PROBLEMS AND WE'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING AT LEGISLATION, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, YOU KNOW, PLEASE DISCONTINUE, UM, UH, DOING THAT BECAUSE I SORT OF FEEL THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE NOTIFY THEM, UH, THEY'LL PROBABLY VOLUNTARILY COOPERATE. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT A HEALTH INSPECTOR COMING TO A RESTAURANT WOULD PICK UP ON? AND ONE OF THE SITUATIONS THAT I'VE SEEN IS THAT THEY'VE ACTUALLY KIND OF CAMOUFLAGED THE TRAP, UH, WHICH SHOWS INTENT. MM-HMM. AND, UM, UH, THE, UH, TOWN PROSECUTOR WAS AWAY AND I BELIEVE IS NOW BACK. YES. AND, UH, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE OUR DISCUSSIONS REGARDING WHAT CAN WE DO. IT MAY BE A LETTER. UM, I THINK THE FIRST TIME SOMEBODY HAS TO APPEAR IN COURT FOR THIS WORD, IT'LL SPREAD AMONG THE BUSINESS IS VERY QUICK , BECAUSE IT'S JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE. WELL, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE MAY NOT BE AWARE AND THE FINES, THEY WILL BE AWARE INS, IF WE WRITE THEY'LL, WELL RESTAURANTS, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE AWARE. PAUL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT'S POSSIBLE FOR A RESTAURANT OWNER NOT TO KNOW THAT THEY CAN'T TAKE THE RESIDUAL GREASE, THICK GREASE AND THROW IT INTO THE SEWER. AND EVIDENCE OF THAT IS THEY TRIED TO COVER UP THE TRAP. MM-HMM. . RIGHT. YOU DON'T COVER UP A TRAP UNLESS YOU'RE TRYING TO HIDE SOMETHING. AND THAT'S WHAT OUR BUILDING INSPECTOR IS FINDING. OKAY. AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT BEFORE, I SUGGEST JUST STOP. RIGHT. BUT THAT'S WHAT I'M JUST SAYING. A CERTIFIED LETTER WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE A GOOD, THAT'S A START. YEAH. YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T, LET'S ASK THE PROSECUTOR WHAT'S WHAT. YEAH. BECAUSE THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD BE GOOD EVIDENCE OF PUT THEIR THERE ON NOTICE. UM, EXCEPT THERE'RE AN AWFUL LOT OF RESTAURANTS AND MOST OF THE RESTAURANTS ARE DOING IT CORRECTLY, AND THEY HAVE THE EQUIPMENT AND YOU GO IN THERE AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THEY HAVE THE, THE GREECE RETENTION SYSTEMS. UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SMALL NUMBER, UH, BUT A SMALL NUMBER CAN DO A LOT OF DAMAGE TO OUR SEW SYSTEM. DOING A LOT OF DAMAGE IS DOING IS DOING A LOT OF DAMAGE. YEAH. DO A MOTION. A MOTION. YOU HAVE A MOTION, UH, A MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSES OF DISCUSSING, UH, PERSONAL MATTERS INVOLVING SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS AND TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE ON VARIOUS MATTERS. SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. AYE. AYE. AND WE WON'T BE COMING BACK TODAY. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.