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Woodstock Hopes To Make Power From Sunshine

An Ulster County town is looking to outfit its municipal facilities with solar power - there are questions, conerns... and a catch to making it work. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Facing an approaching deadline, the Woodstock Town Board decided in favor of designating a Kingston-based vendor to seek state-funding through NYSERDA to construct a photovoltaic power array that would transmit electricity to town-owned properties. 

The town board selected as "preferred vendor" Solartech of Kingston, would own the solar generation station, selling power to the town under a special agreement for 20 years, after which Woodstock would take possession of the solar facility at fair market value.

Proponents of Solar Power believe if town government is able to follow through and power its properties with sunshine by the year 2015, it won't be long before the entire town is in the position to "go solar."

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.