Spurred by the events of September 11 and the resolution passed calling for closing Indian Point until an "adequate and sufficient" evacuation plan is in place, the New Castle Town Board recognized that conservation of energy must be part and parcel of any revision in the sources of energy supplies for Westchester.

New Castle Resolution

Accordingly, New Castle passed a resolution in February which recognized that current sources of energy often compromise the environment and ecology, that the international political climate calls for caution concerning our dependence on fuel oil from other countries, and that the total fossil fuel energy resources available to this region and to the country are limited. New Castle resolved to "promote energy conservation as a matter of public policy and calls upon other levels of government as well as the private sector to seek ways to further energy-conserving measures wherever possible." Consistent with this goal, New Castle has embarked upon several energy saving initiatives.

Solar back-up generation

Town officials have focused on energy conservation measures not only because they save scarce energy resources but also because they make fiscal sense, as they lower the costs paid by the Town to energy suppliers. For instance, at the Millwood Water Treatment Plant (a partnership between New Castle and the Village of Pleasantville), solar panels that augment electricity purchased from the New York Power Authority were installed several years ago. Backup generators there and at New Castle's Department of Public Works headquarters not only give the Town the ability to take those heavy-use facilities off the power grid during summer electricity supply crises but also provide electricity during power outages caused by winter storms. This summer work began on installation of a new backup generator at Town Hall in Chappaqua to cover the New Castle Police Department and Town government offices. On another front, New Castle is in the process of changing street lighting from incandescent to inductive, a step that will save about $40 per year per fixture in electricity costs as well as use fewer energy resources.

Transportation Initiatives

Transportation and parking are big issues in New Castle. The Town provides as many parking spaces as possible at the Chappaqua station in order to encourage use of mass transportation into New York and has also embarked upon other initiatives. In 2000, a regularly scheduled park-and-ride service, "Trail to the Rail," started meeting morning and evening rush hour trains in Chappaqua for commuters who had parked in designated spots some distance away from the station. Fuel is saved at the same time that parking opportunities are expanded.

Willing to participate in energy saving experiments, in 2001, the Town became one of 10 communities in the metropolitan area to participate, with MetroNorth and the New York Power Authority, in a pilot program to explore the viability of using electric cars to drive to and from the train station. Commuters lease the diminutive two-person cars, which can be driven up to 50 miles on a single charge, plug the cars in while they are at work in the city and pick them up to drive home when they return.

They can use the cars around town for shopping, going to the library and to meetings, and for other activities, since they also are provided with at-home charging stations. For its enthusiastic participation in the program, and its marketing efforts that ensured success, New Castle shared with White Plains the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation's 2002 Planning Achievement Award.

Public Education

In order to educate residents and businesses to conserve water and energy, New Castle began a series of Conservation Conversations which brought together experts from both the public and private sectors. The meeting was open to all and cablecast live over New Castle's community access television channels; many repeat showings were scheduled throughout the following month. The message stressed by all panelists was the same. Conservation awareness should be foremost on everyone's agenda.

Betsy Shaw Weiner is the Public Information Officer for the Town of New Castle

Editors Note: After this article was submitted the “New York Times” reported that Ford was discontinuing the production of the electric car as the movement is towards hybrid cars. Continued pressure must be put on the industry and the public to reduce the horrendous contribution cars make to global warming and air pollution. Toyota has begun to advertise the imminent availability of its first fuel cell car which only emits water.

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