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Dan Welch presents 'Greenlight Power' REC subscription to Ossining board
Summary
Sustainable Westchester's Dan Welch outlined Greenlight Power, a subscription product that lets residents and businesses buy and retire Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to claim renewable electricity impacts. Trustees pressed for clearer consumer savings data and asked who will handle resident communications and outreach.
Dan Welch, identified to the board as director of a power initiative with Sustainable Westchester, presented the new "Greenlight Power" subscription at the meeting, describing it as an easy, opt-in way for residents and businesses to support renewable energy.
Welch said the product is built around renewable energy certificates, or RECs, which are created each time a megawatt-hour of renewable energy is generated. "These certificates are created each time one megawatt hour of renewable energy is generated," Welch said, adding that when a REC is purchased and retired on behalf of a customer, "you own the environmental benefit" and prevent that REC from being used again.
He described a block-pricing approach — low-dollar monthly "blocks" mapped roughly to household usage — and said participants would receive an online portal showing quarterly records of purchases and retired RECs. He also said program participants could get priority access to community solar capacity coming online.
Trustees asked whether the subscription will reduce customers'bills. "Is there a saving to the consumer?" a trustee asked. Welch responded that Greenlight Power is likely to be a modest premium product intended to fund renewables and provide a stable price signal: "It's a modest premium on your bill," he said, and noted it is not a direct replacement for on-bill community solar savings.
Board members pressed staff and Welch about communications: who will draft resident mailings that display the village logo, how the village could avoid confusing residents about sponsorship, and how renters and condo residents will participate. Welch said Sustainable Westchester will draft outreach materials and collaborate with municipal staff on messaging; staff emphasized the need for clear, multilingual communications to avoid past confusion with the community-choice aggregation program.
No formal action was taken. Welch said he will follow up with the village on communications and next steps, and trustees signaled interest in receiving additional data on consumer costs and expected savings before any formal endorsement or resolution.
What's next: Welch will supply more detailed cost comparisons and the village will coordinate who will review and approve outreach materials before broader resident contact.
