[SustainableTompkins] "Solar power shines in Ithaca"

[Marian Brown]

Ok, so maybe this headline is a little easier to believe today - when 
the sun is shining - but this was the headline in the Utility Notebook 
section of the Syracuse Post-Standard yesterday (4/1/07). And contrary 
to the earlier Grist posting about Wal*Mart stepping back from its 
sustainability initiatives, this is NOT an April Fool's Day prank! 
Reporter Tim Knauss went on to write:

Ithaca is the solar power capital of Upstate New York. So says the New 
York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which distributes 
financial incentives for small-scale solar power.
NYSERDA has created a map showing where solar installations have been 
done, and ZIP code 14850 - Ithaca - stands out like supernova.
(See the map at http://www.clean-power.com/PowerNaturally/default.aspx. 
Click on "Systems by Location.")
There are at least 41 houses or businesses with solar panels in Ithaca, 
producing a total of 176 kilowatts. If you add in the smaller 
communities in Ithaca's orbit, such as Trumansburg and Freeville, the 
number is even larger.
No other area of Upstate comes close. Rhinebeck, in Dutchess County, is 
No. 2 with 14 installations.
/[edited out section quoting a solar installer]/
NYSERDA offers grants and other assistance to Upstate customers who 
install photovoltaic systems.
/[edited out section re: Long Island]

/Marian