ALBANY, NY—The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES or Office) today issued a final siting permit for Invenergy’s Horseshoe Solar Energy LLC to develop, design, construct, operate, maintain, and decommission a 180-megawatt (MW) solar electric generating facility to be located in the Town of Caledonia, Livingston County and the Town of Rush, Monroe County.

This solar facility is expected to generate enough clean energy to power over 50,000 New York homes, and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 40,000 cars off the road. This project and other major renewable energy facilities permitted and currently under ORES review are vital to meet the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s (CLCPA) aggressive carbon reduction and clean energy targets to combat climate change.

On December 23, 2021, Horseshoe Solar Energy LLC transferred its pending Public Service Law article 10 application with a completeness determination from the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment to the Executive Law § 94-c process. The transfer application was deemed complete upon filing pursuant to section 94-c. With today’s decision, the Office has now issued eight siting permits since 2021. The Office’s decision for this facility follows a timely, detailed and transparent review process with robust public participation to ensure the proposed project meets or exceeds the requirements of Executive Law § 94-c and its implementing regulations.

Office of Renewable Energy Siting Executive Director Houtan Moaveni said, “The approval of Horseshoe Solar is a big win for New Yorkers, continuing our accelerated path to a zero-emission grid by 2040. ORES continues to move the State's pipeline of large-scale renewable energy projects forward while carefully and meticulously reviewing each project. This solar facility demonstrates that the protection of local and State resources and economic development can go hand-in-hand with our efforts to combat climate change.”

This solar facility is expected to provide over $12 million in the first 20 years to the counties, towns and school districts in in the form of payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) and host community agreements to invest in infrastructure, additional services, and resources for residents in the communities hosting the facility. Further, this solar facility is expected to spur over $30 million in local economy investment and create over 300 short and long-term jobs. This solar facility would be the largest solar grazing operation in the Northeast, preserving the productivity of the farmland while giving farms the opportunity to increase their flock and expand their business.

Today’s decisions may be obtained by going to the Office’s website at https://ores.ny.gov/permit-applications.

New York's Nation-Leading Clean Energy Initiative

New York State's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $35 billion in 120 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting nearly 158,000 jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2020, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.

About ORES

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting ORES is the first-of-its-kind state agency dedicated solely to environmentally responsible and cost-effective siting of renewable energy facilities and was established by the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act in April 2020. The Office consolidates the environmental review and permitting of major renewable energy facilities to ensure that siting decisions are predictable, responsible, and done in a timely manner with input from local governments and host communities. On March 3, 2021, the Office adopted comprehensive regulations including a set of uniform standards and conditions to implement the Act. The Office is designed to enable New York to obtain 70 percent of the state's electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as required under New York's nation-leading climate plan, enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. For more information on ORES, please visit www.ores.ny.gov.