AGRICULTURE ENERGY AUDITS

Submitted by Sean Welsh, Senior Energy Resource Educator

The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) offers technical assistance to look at strategies and measures for eligible farms and on-farm producers, including but not limited to dairies, orchards, greenhouses, vegetables, vineyards, grain dryers, and poultry/egg operations. NYSERDA will assign a Flexible Technical Assistance Program Consultant to perform an energy audit for eligible farms. An energy audit can provide building owners with information to save energy and money for years to come. Additionally, greenhouse facilities can receive a free benchmarking report through the NYS Greenhouse database and benchmarking tool. The report gives energyuse insight and benchmarks the facility alongside peer facilities.

To apply, the farm operation must be customers of a NYS investor-owned electric utility and pay the System Benefits Charge (SBC), which can be found on current utility bills.

There are generally two ways that the agriculture energy audit can be done, allowing the level of audit that best suits the farms’ needs. A Flexible Technical Assistance Consultant will visit your farm and enact the audit with no cost to the farm owner.

• Comprehensive audit, a detailed energy audit, the report will include calculated evaluations of appropriate energy efficiency measures including simple paybacks, (ANSI/ASABE S612 standards)

• Targeted audit, energy audit that looks at a specific system, energy efficiency measures, or renewable energy. The report will be a system specific energy analysis.

A grower can also request a greenhouse benchmark report, which will result in NYSERDA sending a consultant to visit the facility to collect data and input that information into the State’s greenhouse data base and benchmarking tool to generate the report. There is no cost to the greenhouse facility for this service offered.

How to apply for the agriculture audit or the greenhouse benchmarking report: contact Sean

Welsh in Sullivan County, NY at sw288@cornell. edu, or 845-292-6180 ext. 127 for a paper copy or complete the application online here: https://nyserda. seamlessdocs.com/f/ AgriculturalEnergyAudit. Cornell Cooperative Extension also offers New York State Farmers a resource guide on agricultural practices to improve on farm operations savings and productivity through Ag Energy NY program found here: https://agenergyny. org/. In addition, EnergyRelated Farm-Management Best Practice Guides for dairies and greenhouses can be found at https:// www.nyserda.ny.gov/ All-Programs/AgricultureEnergy-Audit/Energy-BestPractices-for-Agriculture.

Sources:

“Energy Efficiency for Agriculture in New York.” Ag Energy NY. Accessed May 2, 2023. https://agenergyny.org/. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), ed. “Agriculture Energy Audit Program.” NYSERDA. Accessed May 1, 2023. https:// www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/ Agriculture-Energy-Audit.