SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Southampton Town recently received a nod for its clean energy leadership record.
Southampton Councilor John Bouvier, on behalf of the city, received a certificate on April 29 from the Clean Energy Leadership Task Force and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College.
The award was given in recognition of the city's clean energy efforts. City officials adopted the NYStretch-2020 Energy Code and maintained “rigorous” third-party energy efficiency verification for all new homes, a release said.
Additionally, Southampton is a regional leader in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Clean Energy Community Program.
The CEC program provides grants to eligible municipalities to implement energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable development projects.
Municipalities earn points for each high-impact action it completes, city officials said. Once the community earns a certain number of points, it becomes eligible for larger grants. Currently, the city has achieved the highest number of points, 3,000, on Long Island for completing high-impact actions and has applied for two CEC action grants, city officials said.
Southampton Town has also been designated a bronze-certified community in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Climate Smart Community program and recently hired engineering firm Ramboll to develop a climate action plan.
Once the plan is complete, the city aims to achieve the silver designation in the CSC program, officials said.
“The City of Southampton is proud to be a leader in the transition to clean energy and the fight against climate change,” said Bouvier. “We look forward to continuing our efforts to promote sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint and encourage other municipalities to join us.”
