County Executive Ryan announces a five-year $2.5 million capital plan to upgrade decades old HVAC equipment to increase energy efficiency and create long term savings
County Executive Ryan announces that Ulster County will start to see savings from solar projects through a community distributed generation project which will provide power for both Ulster County Government and local community solar subscribers
County Executive Ryan announces that three electric bus chargers will be installed at UCAT
Earlier this week County Executive Ryan announced that 2021 budget investments will put Ulster County ahead of schedule to meet his goal of using 100% renewable electricity by 2030
KINGSTON, N.Y. – Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan unveiled a number of green proposals as part of his 2021 Executive Budget. Through the budget, the county will start a five-year $2.5 million dollar capital project to upgrade decades old HVAC equipment and fund electric bus charging infrastructure. In addition, the County will start to see $60,000 in annual cost savings from solar projects through a community distributed generation project which will provide power for both Ulster County Government and local community solar subscribers. All of these initiatives are part of one of County Executive Ryan’s “Big Five” priorities for a Green New Deal for Ulster County and they implement actions from the County’s Government Operations Climate Action Plan.
“Now more than ever, we are seeing the need for our government to step up and commit to addressing our climate crisis,” County Executive Ryan said. “My 2021 Executive Budget puts real dollars behind my priority to have a Green New Deal right here in Ulster County. We need urgent climate action now and my administration is working daily to make Ulster County a model for communities around our state and nation.”
As part of a five-year $2.5 million dollar capital plan, Ulster County will invest over $800,000 in 2021 to update decades old HVAC systems at the Ulster County Courthouse, the Ulster County Government Building, Ulster County Hall of Records and the Trudy Resnick Building in Ellenville. Over the next five-years, the county will look to upgrade systems in 14 buildings. The project will reduce heating and cooling energy use by up to 20%, resulting in significant operational cost savings, and replace older refrigerants, which are powerful greenhouse gases, in HVAC equipment.
In addition, Ulster County recently executed an agreement with the NY Power Authority for UCAT electric bus charging infrastructure. This project which utilizes VW settlement funding, upgrades the electrical service of the UCAT facility at 1 Danny Circle, Kingston will commence along with the installation of three 150KW DC fast chargers in the bus garage. It is anticipated that work will be completed by the end of 2021.
Through an agreement on the future site of Ulster County’s second solar array located in the town of Saugerties, Ulster County will develop a community distributed generation project which will provide power for both Ulster County Government operations and local community solar subscribers. Ulster County will also subscribe to receive community solar credits from multiple sites within Central Hudson’s service territory, including the ELP Myer solar project located on Warren Myer road in Saugerties. Both projects will lead to an anticipated annual cost savings of $60,000.
Earlier this week, County Executive Ryan announced that through the 2021 Executive Budget, Ulster County will have over 50% of its electricity produced by locally generated renewable energy sources. One of County Executive Ryan’s first acts upon taking office was signing an Executive Order Committing Ulster County to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030, these key investments put the county ahead of pace to meet that goal.
County Executive Pat Ryan will deliver his 2021 Executive Budget at Quimby Theater on the campus of SUNY Ulster on Thursday, October 1st at 11am.