4 Reasons Broome County Residents Are Choosing Community Solar
Many Broome County residents have recently started taking advantage of the benefits of solar by buying solar farm memberships offered by Solar Farms New York.
Community solar farms consist of acres of panels that produce clean electricity that is delivered into the NYSEG grid. NYSEG then puts dollar credits on members’ bills that represent the value of the solar electricity the farms generate.
Residents choose community solar programs for both financial and environmental benefits, without the costs and headaches of traditional rooftop solar panels. Besides, renters can opt into community solar farms whereas they can’t have rooftop solar unless their landlords make the investment.
Solar Farm NY reports that a recent surge in demand from Broome County residents has reduced the number of available spots for NYSEG customers.
So why are so many Broome County homeowners and renters switching to community solar farms?
We’ve reached out to the savvy money- and environment-conscious Broome County residents who have been enjoying the benefits of Solar Farms NY to find out why:
Click the button below to check whether your home qualifies
(limited availability)
Go solar and save on electricity costs while getting $600 in annual discounts and rewards...without actually investing in expensive and risky rooftop panels.
4) Get $600 in Annual Rewards with the “Solar Saver Rewards” Program
Some Broome County report that their favorite perk of joining Solar Farms NY is the $50 VISA gift card they get for signing up. It’s like being paid to go solar.
Others are big fans of the Solar Saver Rewards program. Members of the program get $600 a year in annual discounts at popular local brands, restaurants, hotels, and movie theaters, including Nike, Kate Spade, Ray-Ban, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Chili’s and more
The Solar Saver Rewards program is not just convenient, it helps support the local Broome County community by providing discounts to brands and restaurants that residents are patronizing.
The savings from this program alone may make it worth joining.
Wondering about the recent popularity of local community solar farms programs? You’re not alone. We asked local participants to find out more.
Solar Farms NY’s “Guaranteed Savings Plan” saves Broome County residents money each month. NYSEG reduces members’ bills by the value of solar made on the farm, up to 100% of their electricity costs. They then pay 95% of the amount of the solar credit, a 5% savings.
Many Broome County residents have been burned by ESCOs promising savings and then pulling off a “bait and switch.” Solar farms are not ESCOs or electricity suppliers. Unlike ESCOs, they really can guarantee savings because members do not pay anything until AFTER they receive credits from NYSEG on their bills.
While 5% doesn’t seem like much at first, it compares favorably to the 1% savings from most bank credit cards.
Solar Farms NY does not charge members to join and members can cancel any time without penalty. Broome County residents say that since it’s free to participate, the program is a “no brainer.”
“At the end of the day, savings are savings,” said one local participant in the program.
Did you know that an average household in New York uses enough electricity to create 8.9 metric tons of emissions?
That’s the equivalent of greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions from:
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21,889 miles driven by an average passenger car
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9,771 pounds of coal burned
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1,005 gallons of gasoline consumed
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365 propane barrels for BBQ use (that’s one per day!)
Environmentally conscious Broome County residents are realizing that when it comes to reducing carbon emissions and preserving the environment for future generations, every little bit counts.
“I have 3 kids...and I want to make sure that their kids are able to enjoy this planet,” said one local resident. “It’s great to see something like community solar farms get created, where anyone can help support renewable energy...even if they can’t afford expensive rooftop panels.”
3) You Don’t Need Solar Rooftop Panels to Benefit from Solar Energy
Thought that you need solar panels on your roof in order to benefit from renewable solar energy? So did we.
Turns out, with community solar farms, you don’t.
Rather than using solar rooftop panels which are costly and can make it harder to sell your home, community solar costs nothing to join and nothing to leave.
Both renters and homeowners in Broome County can benefit from solar energy because of the flexibility that community solar farms are able to provide... WITHOUT the headaches and high costs of expensive solar rooftop panels.*
*Not all homes are qualified - check to see if yours is.
Interested in Community Solar? Here’s How to Participate.
Interested in becoming a member of a local community solar farm project?
Not all homes qualify.
And availability is limited -- unlike a major power plant, each solar farm can only support a few hundred homes.
One consideration we had is...every upstate resident has heard a pitch from an ESCO. Many of these are bait and switch programs that rope customers in with promises of savings which then disappear when you’re not looking.
So is community solar just another ESCO or big energy company? Solar Farms New York is not an ESCO and is not associated with any large energy company or any ESCO.
“The residents of New York have been burned by big energy companies time and time again -- they have a right to not trust another energy company. That’s why at Solar Farms NY, we make sure that our members receive their utility solar credits before they are billed by us. That way we can honestly say that savings are guaranteed, said Jeffrey Mayer, CEO of Solar Farms New York. What’s more, there are no penalties for early cancellation: We want to make sure that our customers are not locked into something they don’t want.”
For a limited time, Solar Farms New York is providing new members who sign up online with a $50 Gift Card as a welcome bonus. “We save money on sales and marketing costs with online enrollments,” Mayer said, “and we can share the savings with our customers.”