Tag: RGE

Categories
Campus News

Solar Panels Prove Profitable

Last spring, the new array of solar panels on Houghton’s field of dreams promised a viable option for energy.

It was the result of the initiative that began three and a half years ago when Houghton was first contacted by Smart Energy with the idea for solar panel partnership. “Houghton was not in a financial position to pay for anything like that,” said sustainability coordinator Brian Webb. Through the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Houghton was able to begin installing the solar panels in September of 2014. The financial arrangement allows Houghton to lease the land for WGL Energy without paying capital, buying the energy it produces at a “predetermined price” for twenty-five years. Webb explained that “because the energy is connected to the grid it, is sold to RGNE,” Houghton’s utility company.

According to Webb, there are two aspects determining the overall success of the endeavor. “It’s automatically successful, environmentally speaking,” he said, since the driving factor was “wanting to install renewable energy and lower the carbon footprint.” The solar panels produce nearly fifty percent of Houghton’s energy. “It’s the equivalent of 300 homes worth,” Lauren Bechtel ‘16 explained, recalling the visual representation of the 300 paper homes on the quad last spring. Bechtel was involved in the installation of the solar array as one of the student representatives, a link “between the student body population and the leaders that made it happen.”

Webb also discussed the “side benefit” of the financial yield. While he admitted that examining savings is “preliminary analysis” due to the differing billing cycles of the solar and utility companies, it looks promising. “The difference between what we pay and what get paid is really attractive,” he said.  Since the solar panels were finished in April, Houghton’s savings have amounted to $73,000 according to Webb. These savings counter the concerns of some Houghton students regarding the solar panels last spring. “There was a lot of confusion and misunderstanding,” Bechtel explained. She noted that while students worried about the cost of the solar panels, the PPA and likely financial benefits attest that “Houghton wasn’t choosing solar panels over student interests.”

Both Bechtel and Webb are pleased with the success of the solar panels. Bechtel noted that Houghton still has the largest solar array of any New York State campus. “Even if the students don’t see them everyday, they’re still contributing to the sustainability of our college,” she said. “It’s been exciting to see it go up,” Webb said. Having overseen the project through the phases of organizing grants, funding, design, and construction, he expressed “finally getting it installed is a big success.”

Categories
News

Broken Greenway Trail Runs Through Houghton

The Genesee Valley Greenway trail, which runs between Rochester and Hinesdale, south of Cuba, is closed in the section that goes through Houghton. Though students and community members run, walk, and bike on the Houghton section of the Greenway daily the interruptions prevent them from connecting to the rest of the trail.

The Greenway is a park originating from the land formerly occupied by area canals and railroads. Described as “an open space corridor” by the New York State Park Service, it is intended to be used for walking, hiking, and biking, and other outdoor recreation. It also has a crucial role in conservation, allowing organisms to travel on an uninterrupted wild space throughout Western New York.

Kristina Shoepfer, park manager for the Greenway, said that the land passed through several hands before becoming a state park. “The Genesee Valley Greenway follows the old Genesee Valley Canal and later, the Rochester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The railroad eventually sold the property to RG&E [Rochester Gas and Electric], who later sold the property to New York State for use as a recreational trail.” Because of the long history of the property, the Greenway runs past pieces of regional history, including ruins of stone locks, culverts, and historic inns such as the Yard of Ale and the National Hotel. One section near Black Creek, NY runs past areas of the canal which are still full of water, allowing trail users to imagine the canal in its heyday.

GreenwayTrailCMYKThe Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway (FOGVG), a local nonprofit organization, in partnership with the state park system, attempts to promote and care for the Greenway to users of the trail. The Friends have brought more than $4 million in grants to the Greenway to develop it further, and often run events to promote and care for the trail. They also provide information about the length of the trail for potential users.

According to FOGVG there are several areas of the trail that are currently closed for use. One of the areas that is currently closed, according to the trail guide found on the FOGVG website, includes the section that goes through Houghton. Shoepfer pointed out that the trail nearest Houghton has a few obstacles that prevent it from connecting it to the rest of the trail. North of Houghton, “a bridge is needed to cross the creek adjacent to the Houghton soccer fields” while to the south, “there is a RG&E substation located on what used to be the old rail bed (and what would have been the path of the Greenway),” she said. Beyond these interruptions, the trail is maintained as it continues north to Rochester and south past Cuba.

“Having the Greenway connected in Houghton would be an asset to the college and community” for several reasons, Shoepfer said, as it would provide increased recreational opportunities over the length of the trail for activities including hiking, biking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horseback-riding. Shoepfer also suggested that for students who currently run along Route 19, having the Greenway connected would allow for a safer alternative to running along the road.

The RVER Group, or Regional Ventures in Economic Revitalization, stated that one of its goals for the near future is to refurbish the park in the town of Houghton. Helping to connect the section of the Genesee Valley Greenway that runs through Houghton to the rest of the path would be a related goal worth pursuing.

The Greenway is a feature of Houghton that deserves to be more well-known and utilized. With a few improvements, the Genesee Valley Greenway could “stimulate business and tourism for the local community and benefit the community as a whole,” Shoepfer said.

For more information, including trail maps and updates on events, visit the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway website at fogvg.org, or the New York State Park website at nysparks.com

Categories
News

Solar Panel Installation to Begin Next Week

Houghton College plans to begin construction on 11 acres of solar panels in the Field of Dreams at the end of next week in hopes of reducing electrical costs by half. A grant for a fully funded and operated solar array, given to Houghton College by Groundwater and Environmental Services (GES), will generate roughly three million kilowatt hours of electricity per year; this is equivalent to fueling electricity to 400 homes for a year.

The process started about two years ago with Brian Webb, Houghton College’s Sustainability Coordinator. As per his job title, Webb looks for ways to “be good stewards of the environment and achieve as many renewable energy options as we can,” one of these options he has chosen to pursue has been the installation of the solar array. The installation of the solar array will reduce the college’s carbon footprint by 23% each year by the use of natural sunlight.

GES and Houghton have agreed on a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, that will save the college anywhere from $1 to $3 million over the course of the years. The process of the PPA is as follows: GES operates the solar array while the college pays for the energy at a set amount and receives the energy generated. Rochester Gas and Electric (RGE) will then buy the energy generated from Houghton at market rates.

According to Webb, “There are few issues more important than how we, in the twenty-first century, treat the natural environment.”

“But at what cost?” asks, Katherine Tomlinson, one of Houghton College’s Eco-Representatives.  Students like Tomlinson question, not just the monetary cost of the solar array, but also the environmental cost such as the habitats that will be affected in the marshland where the panels will be placed.

Nonetheless, the The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) affirms that Houghton College will not only have the largest solar array in Western New York, but the largest on-campus solar array in the country. Webb said, “People will recognize Houghton as a school that is willing to make efforts towards clean energy and students can learn first-hand how to promote it.”

The road used to access the solar array will extend from the trail, and will not interfere with the athletic fields, during or after construction.  Construction of the array will continue through to the end of January. After construction, GES and RGE will work with Houghton activate the panels so they will be ready for use by early spring.