State approves siting permits for solar projects in Cortland, Jefferson counties

The state has approved siting permits for three solar projects located in both Cortland and Jefferson counties.

The siting permits are for the Homer Solar Energy Center in Cortland County and for Tracy Solar and Riverside Solar, both in Jefferson County.

The New York State Office of Renewable Energy issued the siting permits that will deliver enough clean energy to power more than 69,000 New York homes for at least 20 years, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday.

The siting permits total about 309 megawatts (MW) of renewable-energy capacity.

Homer Solar Energy Center is a 90 MW solar electric-generating facility in the towns of Homer, Cortlandville, and Solon in Cortland County.

Tracy Solar is a 119 MW facility in the towns of Orleans and Clayton in Jefferson County. Riverside Solar is a 100 MW facility, located in the towns of Lyme and Brownville, also in Jefferson County.

The projects are expected to provide nearly $20 million in the first 20 years to the host counties, towns, and school districts 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 each facility.

In addition, the projects are expected to spur more than $458 million in capital investment and create over 460 short- and long-term jobs in development, construction, and facility operations and maintenance.

Once operational, these projects will add 542,000 megawatts of new renewable-energy capacity annually. They are expected to generate enough clean energy to power more than 69,000 homes each year and reduce carbon emissions by more than 356,000 metric tons annually, the “equivalent to taking over 76,000 cars off the road every year.”