Southampton Town might expand a pilot program it offered in 2015—tiered pricing for households to go solar. According to Christine Fetten, the town’s director of municipal works, the more people sign up, the more the cost would go down—a kind of volume discount on installation costs.
In the first year of the program, which was open only three months, Southampton Town chose Green Logic to install the panels. The company spoke to 184 interested parties during the initiative, and 23 installations were in contract at the end of the three-month period. According to Ms. Fetten, more people eventually joined in, but only the applicants who were in contract by the end of the registration period were counted.
“We would like to go forward with it for this year, and since it is a new year, step off on the right foot,” Ms. Fetten said at a recent Southampton Town Board work session. “It would be for a little bit longer, giving more people the ability to go into contract.”
This year, the town hopes to keep the registration period open four to five months, although it is not yet clear when enrollment will start. The town also plans to launch a publicity campaign—through newspaper ads and by setting up information tables at community events—to draw interest.
More information will be posted on the town website at www.southamptontownny.gov when the program dates are finalized.
Erin McKinley on Mar 7, 2016