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Climate Smart Kingston narrows 2025 priorities: benchmarking, community solar, PACE and outreach among options
Summary
Commission members reviewed the city’s climate action strategies and identified specific items to prioritize in 2025, including benchmarking, community solar outreach, solar readiness/permitting review, and expanded public education; several potential initiatives were marked as either already underway or requiring new work.
At its Feb. 26 meeting, the Climate Smart Kingston Commission reviewed the city’s climate action plan strategies and began narrowing priorities for 2025, focusing on measures the commission can either advance directly or support through outreach.
Chair Julie Noble presented a list of about 20 strategies from the plan and asked commissioners to identify what is already happening and what is not. Commissioners and staff repeatedly flagged benchmarking of commercial and multifamily buildings, increasing local participation in community solar, improving solar permitting, and boosting public education and outreach for electrification and resilience as top candidates for near-term work.
Commissioners said some items are already under city-led implementation. Noble and staff noted active work on municipal fleet electrification, expanding public EV charging and bus-route improvements led by county partners, a municipal composting program in development, a clean-mobility grant that includes a planning phase for a bike-share program, and approval of the community choice aggregation (CCA) program’s adoption earlier in the process. However, staff also said CCA implementation and the state regulatory context have shifted; an attendee reported that a recent request for an opt-out arrangement “did not get approved … by the PSC,” and staff said the dynamics and pricing in the CCA marketplace have changed, reducing its near-term appeal and necessitating further evaluation.
Multiple commissioners urged the group to “benchmark” energy performance and to pursue a “performance standard” rather than benchmarking alone, pointing to a two-step NYSERDA grant pathway and regional technical assistance available through entities like the Hudson Valley Regional Council. Commissioners discussed PACE financing (property-assessed clean energy), which staff said is available but currently underused locally, and suggested the commission review whether PACE or an emerging state revolving loan fund is a better vehicle for financing decarbonization projects.
Permitting for small-scale installations also drew attention: one commissioner described the Kingston permitting process for rooftop solar or mini-split heat-pump installations as more onerous than nearby municipalities and urged targeted recon with local installers. Commissioners recommended compiling best-practice permit checklists (analogous to the unified solar permit) and sharing them with installers and residents to reduce barriers.
Participants identified several practical, small-lift actions for 2025: host or co‑host public outreach sessions tied to the county’s bike-share planning grant, update the Climate Smart Kingston landing page and public brochures, create a centralized resource listing community gardens and garden hosts, and run outreach tied to Kingston Organics and municipal composting. Commissioners proposed organizing work into task teams so substantive work happens outside full meetings and reporting back at regular meetings.
Commissioners asked staff to return to the March meeting with a cleaned-up list of potential goals, proposed deliverables, and suggested owners for each item so the commission can select a limited number of priorities and form working teams.
