New York State Senator Pete Harckham announced that $2.1 million in grant funding is available to local municipalities for electrification projects; the announcement came at a press conference held at the EV charging station here in Louis Engel Waterfront Park. Each municipality in the 40th Senate District is eligible for up to $100,000 in grants, which are part of the State Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability, and Technology Program (CREST) funding.
Joining Harckham was a bipartisan group of more than a dozen local municipal leaders who spoke about how they plan to use the grant funding for projects that transition away from fossil fuels and promote a clean energy future.
“There are many compelling reasons to support the electrification of our local economies, including the severe effects of climate change we are now experiencing, public health problems related to air pollution and the simple fact that fossil fuel combustion is not a cost-effective way to heat and cool our buildings and power our vehicles,” said Harckham. “In order to meet the carbon-free, reduced greenhouse gas emissions goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, we need to partner with our municipalities right now to help them participate in this energy transition, and that’s what this grant funding will do.”
Harckham said that as chair of Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee, he would prioritize municipal grant applications that support projects such as:
- Electric vehicles (Heavy trucks and emergency only)
- EV charging stations
- Renewable energy generation
- Municipal building electrification (heat pumps, geothermal, etc.)