Croton has officially become the first municipality in Westchester County to leverage its streetlight accounts for community solar savings, netting the village $4,000 in immediate credits and an estimated $3,000 in annual ongoing savings. The hard-fought victory, which took 18 months to finalize with the New York Power Authority (NYPA), was a highlight of the Sustainability Committee’s final meeting of the year on December 7. NYPA applied the accrued credits to the Municipal Building account, completely zeroing out November’s electric bill and knocking $1,000 off December’s tab. “Croton is (so far) the only Westchester muni to secure such financial credits via its street lighting accounts,” the committee noted in its minutes. The meeting also brought updates on the village’s expanding EV infrastructure. A contract with Plug-In Stations Online (PISO) was signed on November 18 to install 18 EV charging ports at the train station. Installation will focus on sections D and E, located east of canopy #3 along the west side of Veterans Plaza. Because of a recent spike in copper thefts driven by higher commodity prices, the chargers will be equipped with newly available theft-resistant power cables. Meanwhile, the village’s e-bike sharing program is heading into hibernation on December 19 after a highly successful debut. Between July 9 and October 31, residents initiated 1,088 rides. When the program wakes back up in early April, it will expand from six to eight hubs. While Sleepy Hollow is testing winter riding to gauge cold-weather demand, Croton’s program will rest. The current NYSERDA grant funding the six-town initiative expires in 2027, prompting officials to consider fee adjustments and hub advertising to sustain it long-term. On the solar front, the long-awaited commissioning of the train station solar canopies and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is slated for completion by the end of December. However, plans for a second, larger BESS behind the Municipal Place facility hit a snag. A revised proposal from developer Luminace—scaled down by half to accommodate ongoing DPW operations—offers roughly half the original leasing revenue and is currently under review by village officials. Exploring an alternate site by purchasing a narrow strip of state DOT land near Route 9 was dismissed by Mayor Brian Pugh, who noted past problematic dealings with the agency. A subsequent review of moving the salt shed to make room for the original BESS also fell through after discovering the adjacent power line lacks sufficient hosting capacity. Residents looking to participate in the Food Scrap Recycling program should note that the new shed is now operational, and the program is expanding to more households this January. The Sustainability Committee will reconvene via Zoom on Sunday, January 18, 2026, at 10:00 AM.