EAST HAMPTON

In 2013 East Hampton, a municipality of approximately 22,000 residents, committed to becoming “a leader in sustainable energy policies and practices by substantially reducing energy consumption through conservation and energy efficiency while significantly increasing the use of renewable energy technologies.” They immediately added an Energy & Sustainability Committee with the task of advising and assisting the Town reach their renewable energy goals. These were spelled out in 2015’s Climate Action Plan. In 2016, the Town had already received a Bronze Certification in NYS’s Climate Smart Communities program.

By 2021, under the leadership of Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, a number of the extraordinary actions had moved forward, often recommended by the Energy & Sustainability Committee (facilitated by liaison board member Sylvia Overby), and passed swiftly by the town with much important support coming from the Town’s Natural Resource Department:

• The Accabonac Solar Farm, the first megawatt solar farm on the South Fork, was completed.
• Second utility scale battery storage facility on Long Island completed in Montauk.
• A collaboration with the New York Power Authority will result in the first installation of solar and battery energy systems on Long Island. This construction was complete in 2023 at the Parks and Maintenance Building. 
• Legislation was authorized for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) allowing the Town to explore the potential for procuring renewable power from an alternative supplier. FYI: LIPA is currently holding this up.
• Gas and diesel powered leaf blowers were banned –from May 20 to September 20.
• Solar powered, off-grid lighting has been installed in the Amagansett Village parking lot.
• The Town Board implemented a policy for the replacement of fossil fuel burning heating systems in municipal buildings with electric heat pumps.
• A Fleet Efficiency Policy was established to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles for the municipal fleet.
• Electric charging stations were installed, from 12 fast chargers in Montauk (at no cost to the Town) to Level-2 stations at Town Hall and the Amagansett Village parking lot.
• The Town commissioned and received a Coastal Resiliency Assessment Plan (CARP) which clarified some of the challenges ahead: “During the next 30 years, the chance of experiencing a flood event with a magnitude similar to that of the Hurricane of ’38, at least once, is about 60%. Overtime, the currently projected range of sea level rise will transform East Hampton into a series of islands with permanent submergence of low-lying areas, as early as 2070.” It was adopted in the fall of 2022. 
• A Climate Emergency Declaration was unanimously adopted in 2021 with the goal of viewing all Town decisions through the lens of climate change. This has yet to be adopted into the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.
• In 2021, an easement agreement with the South Fork Wind Farm was signed and a resolution to approve the Host Community Agreement between the Town and the South Fork Wind Farm was passed, which, when the final approvals come through from the NYSPSC and BOEM, will yield $29 million in payments over 25 years to the Town and the Trustees.
• BOEM's review of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine, 132 MW project, with a cable landing in Wainscott, a hamlet within the Town of East Hampton, was complete and approved in January, 2022 and construction began immediately.. By March, 2024, that South Fork Wind Project was fully operational, with power being delivered to 70,000 homes. 
• The Town added a new program to the Energize East Hampton initiative called the Green Heating and Cooling East Hampton campaign.
• The Town requested bids for a consultant to complete their 100% Renewable Energy Roadmap, outlining strategies and steps required to meet the Town’s sustainability goals of meeting community-wide energy consumption with renewables by 2030. GDS Associates & Optony USA, the consultants selected, delivered the Roadmap in 2024. It has not yet been adopted into the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.

In 2022,2023,2024, outside of grants (both applications for and receipt of), webinars, an award for Clean Energy Leadership, the creation of a pollinator garden, the creation of recycling brochures, conversion to LED streetlights, encouragement for rooftop solar installations, and follow-thorough on earlier actions, there were no newly created energy initiatives. 

At the end of 2024, Cate Rogers, Town Board Member since 2022 when she also replaced Sylvia Overby as Liaison to the Town’s Energy & Sustainability Committee, redirected the Energy & Sustainability Committee’s to shift its priorities to Sustainability. 

All Town Accomplishments listed here.