Senator James Tedisco, alongside Common Energy and Kearsarge Energy, cut the ribbon yesterday to officially open the Oppenheim Solar Array facility. The sun shined down as the community and other local officials celebrated the new source of renewable energy for Oppenheim and the rest of Fulton County.

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“I was looking at this beautiful array of alternative energy and thinking this is the first of its kind community partnership with NYSERDA in Fulton County, which is a tremendous achievement,” Tedisco said.

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Senator Tedisco was joined by the local Girl Scout troop and Eagle Scouts troop, as well as Chad Handy’s family, who owns the land for the project, and about 20 other community members.

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Each year, the solar array will produce roughly 2,395,000 kWh of renewable energy for the area. That clean energy flows into the local grid in partnership with NYSERDA and National Grid.

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In about 5 minutes, local residents can subscribe to the solar field with Common Energy. All they need to sign up is their National Grid account number. Then, clean energy credits from the array appear on their existing National Grid bill. Finally, Common Energy invoices the customer for 90% of the value of the credit, creating a guaranteed 10% savings.

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Common Energy’s Vice President of Partnerships Malcolm Bliss emceed the event and proudly received a citation from Senator Tedisco for the work Common Energy is doing in the community.

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“When you join a solar farm, you save money,” said Bliss during the event. “You’ll pay 10% less when you join this farm. You’ll pay 10% less next week, in a month, and in years to come.”

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