Westchester Launches $4/Month Renewable Energy Program

After a decade-long clean energy program ended last year, Westchester County residents have a new way to support renewable power without installing a single solar panel.

Sustainable Westchester just launched Green My Power, a subscription service that lets residents, businesses, and even local governments fund renewable energy certificates for as little as $4 per month. The certificates ensure utilities add clean electricity from wind and solar sources into the power grid.

Here's how it works: apartment dwellers pay $4 monthly to direct 1,000 kilowatt hours of clean electricity into the grid. Typical homeowners pay $6 for the same amount, while larger homes pay $12. Subscribers can cancel anytime.

"It's a simple way for people to get back on the renewable energy horse," said Dan Welsh, who directs the program. The subscription buys renewable energy certificates, which officially track clean energy added to the grid by renewable generators.

The program fills a gap left by Community Choice Aggregation, which ended last fall after serving more than 130,000 homes and small businesses across 29 Westchester communities. That initiative reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 1.5 million metric tons during its run.

Welsh presented the new program to the Bedford Town Board in early August, emphasizing its simplicity. Subscribers just fill out an online form and get access to a portal showing their month-by-month impact, complete with registration numbers and environmental data.

The Ripple Effect

The program costs about a penny per kilowatt hour, but Welsh noted subscribers can potentially cancel out that cost by signing up for community solar programs simultaneously. That approach doubles the environmental impact by supporting renewable energy on two fronts.

Sustainable Westchester, which includes 44 municipalities plus the county itself, runs several other environmental programs beyond the new certificate subscriptions. These include solar energy installations, electric vehicle charging stations, building improvements to reduce carbon emissions, and home energy assessments.

The voluntary subscriptions mean anyone can support clean energy regardless of whether they own their home, have suitable roof space for panels, or live in a participating municipality. It's climate action made accessible, one simple monthly payment at a time.