Has your church been experiencing increasingly high energy bills?
Are you concerned about the effects of climate change?
There is one simple step that your church can take to help reduce both the energy you are using and the cost of energy for your church. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers energy audits to churches for a fee of $100, which will help identify areas where you can take action to reduce your energy usage. You can find out more information at this link:
Small Commercial and Not-for-Profits Green Jobs – Green New York Energy Studies
How to Get Started
The Contact Information is included in the above link. I spoke with Michael, the program’s primary coordinator. There is an application to fill out, a fee, and they require a copy of your church’s last 12 months of utility bills. When scheduled, a walk-through is done with their recommendations and information regarding grants that may be available to assist in funding those recommendations.
Recently, the Small Commercial and Not-for-Profits Green Jobs – Green New York Energy Studies congregation in Saratoga completed an audit. One recommendation was to replace around 100 incandescent and fluorescent light fixtures. With some grant money, the cost to the church was about $4,000. But the savings in electrical costs were over $1,300 per year and resulted in a reduction of carbon into the atmosphere of over 13,000 pounds! A manageable up-front cost for most churches and the savings will continue for years.
Albany Presbytery Peacemaking Task Force Helps with the Application Fee
The Peacemaking Task Force thought this was something that should be celebrated and encouraged. Therefore, we are offering churches the opportunity to apply for $50 off the $100 fee for an energy audit on a first-come, first-served basis through Dec. 15th or until the funds set aside have been depleted.
If you are interested, apply here: Peacemaking Task Force Grant Application
Any questions, please email the Peacemaking Task Force Chair, Nancy Pienta. If you need her contact information, please refer to the Albany Presbytery Directory.
Submitted by Susan Hawkes-Teeter, Peacemaking Task Force
