KINGSTON – Stakeholders from throughout the Hudson Valley met with state Public Service Commission officials in Kingston Tuesday, for a regional meeting of the Low-Income Forum on Energy (LIFE), designed to better assist disadvantaged households coping with high utility costs.
Established in 1998, LIFE is the nation’s longest running statewide dialogue on low income issues.
“It’s important for us to exchange ideas, and to learn best practices from each other, so we can help our communities,” explained Leonard Silverstein, the steering committee chairman from the state PSC.
Local participants attended who are unable to attend the annual conference in Albany. Included in the Kingston meeting were representatives from RUPCO, Ulster County Social Services, Orange County RECAP, Town of Poughkeepsie, Citizens for Local Power, and others.
This was the last in a statewide tour of seven regional LIFE meetings. Previous forums were held in New York City, Long Island, Watertown, Saratoga, Buffalo and Corning. The steering committee also holds periodic webinars online.
Topics included consumer protection from identity theft, utility updates,
community aggregation, EmPower (low-income heating system upgrades), and
Reforming the Energy Vision initiative (REV), noted Silverstein.
“The idea behind REV is to empower customers to better manage energy through animating markets for distributed energy resources, such as wind or solar,” Silverstein noted. “Higher efficiency, lower environmental impacts, and increased affordability are the goals.”
REV is just one aspect of Governor Cuomo’s overall strategic energy plan. Other facets include NY-Sun, Charge NY, Build Smart NY, Greenbank, and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Silverstein added.
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