Senator Marcellino Announces Public-Private Solar Initiative

Senator Carl L. Marcellino, LIPA President & CEO Kevin Law, New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and the Jericho Water District joined together today to announce a project to install solar panels at the Jericho Water District.

The Solar panels will be designed to not only provide energy use for the buildings but to allow excess power to be net metered with LIPA to provide offsetting revenue to the Water District. The cost of the installation maybe reduced through LIPA’s nationally recognized Solar Pioneer Program. This design would thus provide a dual purpose and enhance the energy savings to the utility and ultimately to the public.

 “As public stewards of their natural resources, Jericho Water District is ever-conscious of the impact their operations have on the environment. Just as they have assumed a leadership role in promoting conservation and other water sensible activities, they have also been fiscally prudent stewards of  taxpayers’ money. This is one more example of  thinking ’outside the box’ to bring to the residents of the Jericho Water District an environmental and economical benefit,” said Senator Carl L. Marcellino

 “I applaud Senator Marcellino, NYIT and the Jericho Water District for their forward thinking and commitment to clean renewable energy on Long Island,” said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. “The engineering students participating in the design of this system are contributing to making Long Island cleaner and greener, while helping to foster new clean energy jobs in our region.”   

"I applaud Senator Marcellino, NYIT and LIPA for working together to improve energy efficiency, save Long Islanders money, and help New York become the nation's clean technology leader," said Rep. Steve Israel.

 “The Commissioners of the Jericho Water District are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Senator Marcellino and New York Institute of Technology to install solar energy power at District facilities.  We are enthused over the prospect of reducing the District's dependence on fossil fuel generated electrical power and are committed to conserving water and electricity,”  said Nicholas Bartilucci, Commissioner Jericho Water District.

This project will demonstrate to both the public and private sector that a viable facility that is powered solely on renewable energy can be constructed. The actual system will be designed by NYIT engineering students and faculty with the guidance and expertise of local Long Island firms. The systems performance will be monitored both by the Water District and a team of students, creating a public-private partnership that will serve the community well. 

“The partnership between New York Institute of Technology and the Jericho Water District is ideal as it enriches our students’ education with real-world applications and teaches them to serve the surrounding community.  There is no better way to celebrate Earth Day than to contribute to the greening of Long Island through the design, installation and monitoring of solar installations at the water pumping stations and on the roofs of the district’s offices,” Nada Marie Anid, Ph.D. Dean, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, NYIT

 LIPA’s Solar Pioneer and Entrepreneur Program are part of Efficiency Long Island, a 10-year, $924 million energy efficiency program that offer a wide array of incentives, rebates and initiatives available to LIPA’s residential and commercial customers to assist them in reducing their energy usage and thereby lowering their bills. Efficiency Long Island is one of the most ambitious efficiency programs in the country and will delay the construction of the next fossil-fueled power plant on Long Island.

 “Earth Day is important in helping raise awareness about our environment, but if we want a healthy and vibrant environment we must make structural changes and educational changes that go far beyond acting one day a year. This project does just that; the  highest-level thinking skills that the students are applying, are vital skills for today’s  students to be tomorrow’s leaders in solving the many environmental challenges before us,” concluded Senator Marcellino.

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