Community Benefit Agreements

By Jeff Jones, Alliance for Clean Energy New York

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) has been staffing up and expects to significantly increase the number of projects it will permit in 2024 and beyond. Some of the projects likely involve the controversial need to override local municipal restrictions put in place to slow the rate of clean energy progress in New York. For example, six public hearings – both virtual and in person – have recently been scheduled for January as part of the permitting process for the Shepherd's Run Solar Farm in the Hudson Valley town of Copake.  

Complaints about clean energy projects will be heard ranging from a desire to maintain existing community character, to protecting working farmland and maintaining fossil fuel-based and nuclear power options. These concerns, however, usually fail to take into account the long-range costs of failing to modernize the state’s energy system, including costs related to the climate crisis and the health and economic benefits of clean energy to residents.

To address these concerns and invite more local acceptance as the clean energy transition goes forward, developers and municipal leaders will increasingly be taking advantage of Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs). A recent report from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School can be a helpful guide. The report, published in September, outlines 35 recommendations for developers and host communities when negotiating and drafting CMAs for clean energy projects. The report is based on interviews with experts who have experience negotiating dozens of CBAs for climate infrastructure and other projects.