Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency,
Renewables & Sustainability (ACEERS)

In 2014, the Huntington Town Board established the Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Renewables & Sustainability (ACEERS)¹ to replace the former Renewable Energy Task Force (RETF) formed in 2007 to help prioritize energy issues, research renewable technologies and report findings to the Town Board.

The decision to re-establish this citizens group as a Town Board advisory committee with the new name of ACEERS reflects a growing public interest in the broader fields of energy science and climate change and how they interrelate. It also reflects the Town’s growingly diverse commitment to advance policies and programs that go well beyond the topic of renewable energy alone and extend to the spheres of efficiency and sustainable living. 

ACEERS members represent a wide range of experience in the public, commercial and residential sectors that can be called upon when making recommendations to the Town Board.  These include energy efficiency, clean and renewable energy technologies, air pollution reduction, water quality protection, job creation and energy cost-savings for taxpayers.

ACEERS is at work on a draft Geothermal code for consideration by the Town Board.  It is also helping to craft the elements of a Climate Action Plan as part of the Huntington’s Climate Smart Communities Pledge. ACEERS also helped to promote the “Solarize Huntington” initiative, part of a joint undertaking with the City University of New York under the NYSolar Smart program awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy under its Rooftop Solar Challenge II grant.

As part of its public outreach and education function, the Committee confers with counterparts in other municipalities, industry experts and agencies like PSEG Long Island. It researches new technologies and potential funding sources and conducts reviews of educational, legislative, and other initiatives that encourage green building practices. It then shares this information with Huntington residents on the Web and in a variety of public forums.

¹Town Board Resolution #2014-225