Green energy projects are growing in number and branching out to various municipalities. Perhaps where you live. Clifton Park currently has several solar arrays of various sizes and a couple more that are scheduled to be built later this year. Why is this area attractive for solar providers? The location is conducive for the utility companies, who are forced to buy the expensive energy, to onload the green energy into the grid. But, dont feel bad for the utility companies. They are afforded hefty price increases approved by New York State to make up for the cost of taking the green energy and moving it along their grid system to the customers. And the customers? We ultimately pay the bill on multiple sides of the equation. We pay the higher rates and we also fund the enormous amount of money that subsidizes each and every green energy project. There are 3 segments of your utility bill where money is siphoned from your bank account to subsidize these projects. One is visible(SBC charge), then there are two that are not itemized on your bill. Instead, those charges are conveniently built into your total charges for the month. The charges are New York State mandated. I recently said to an employee of a utility that my inbox is frequently gifted with a barrage of information about how this utility or that utility is committed to green energy and 0 emissions and similar initiatives. I was told these informational/marketing materials are also State mandated. So, its easy to follow the money. Enough money to subsidize green energy projects to make them economically viable is derived from public money and your energy bills, the expensive energy generated by the projects is purchased by the utility companies and rate increases are approved to help the utilities cover the cost of the energy. Then you get mad at the utility for rising energy costs, when actually this whole system is government mandated. Is there private money invested in green energy projects? Yes. There are pools of private investment dollars that cover the difference between the government subsidy and the actual cost of the project. However, its an easy sell for the investment houses since the subsidy has made the project to green to fail. If I gave you, not loaned you, enough money to ensure your investment would be successful I assume you would eagerly push your chips to the middle of the table.
There is so much money available for green energy projects and the money is very easy to obtain, therefore it’s difficult for a landowner to say no when companies knock on their door with an incredible deal. Green energy has become a stiff competitor for other uses of a property including the option of perhaps not doing anything with a property. It has even become a competitor to smaller scale housing developments.
An October 2023 press release from the Governor’s office detailed some of the expenditures of money in the effort to change the global temperature. The release stated, “investments, including more than $55 billion in 145 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce building emissions, $3.3billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $2 billion in NY Green Bank commitments.”
That is an incredible amount of money. Particularly from one state. Everyone will make their own decisions about their support of the future of these programs. It’s at least important to know where the money is attained for these initiatives. If after reading this missive you still are not quite sure who is paying for it. It’s YOU! Then again its always you.
Clifton Park and Beyond 