Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.89
Liaison Marian Brown
Submission Date Dec. 13, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Wells College
IN-27: Innovation D

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Marian Brown
Director
Center for Sustainability and the Environment
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Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Wells' Active Engagement in Regional Solar Initiative

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:

Wells College has been the only non-public, non-municipal partner in a large-scale regional procurement aggregation for solar energy, with the potential to install up to 40MW of solar generation within the five-county Central New York region - tripling the amount of installed solar. The College played an active role in project development and implementation, as well as in advocacy to potential municipal partners in adjoining communities.

This large-scale regional solar aggregation project was the largest such effort undertaken to date in the U.S. - covering municipalities in five upstate NY counties, encompassing over 3,600 square miles and home to nearly 800,000 residents. This project was supported by the Solar Roadmap Initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy, the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as a model for how to implement successful regional solar aggregation projects.

Wells College's active participation moved this project from its initial presentation as a public municipal aggregation project to a multisector project (private/public, institutional/governmental), demonstrating that such multi-sector partnerships around renewable energy aggregation can work well and be additionally beneficial for all parties. Other institutional representatives and municipal planning organizations in New York State are reviewing the CNY Solarize multi-sector aggregation model program materials to assess its applicability for their regions.


Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Public Engagement
Energy

A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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