Southampton Town Lauded For Clean Energy Leadership

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Southampton Town was recently given a nod for its record in clean energy leadership.

Southampton Town Councilman John Bouvier, on behalf of the town, was awarded a certificate on April 29 by the Clean Energy Leadership Task Force and the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College.

The honor was given in recognition of the town's clean energy efforts; town officials adopted the NYStretch Energy Code-2020, and maintained "stringent" third-party verification of energy performance for all new homes, a release said.

In addition, 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 every high-impact action it completes, town officials said. Once the community earns a certain number of points, it becomes eligible for larger grants. Currently, the town has achieved the highest number of points, 3,000, on Long Island from completing high-impact actions and has submitted for two CEC action grants, town officials said.

Southampton Town is also designated a bronze-certified community in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Climate Smart Community program and recently hired the engineering company Ramboll for the development of a climate action plan.

Once the plan is completed, the town is aiming to obtain the silver designation in the CSC program, officials said.

“The Town of Southampton is proud to be a leader in the transition to clean energy and combat climate change,” said Bouvier. “We look forward to continuing our efforts to promote sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint, and we encourage other municipalities to join us.”