City Urged To Encourage Solar Power

The city should look for new ways to encourage New Yorkers to install solar power, energy experts and elected officials said at a public forum organized by the City Council in Manhattan yesterday.

Currently, building owners who wish to install solar power have to go through a costly process in order to connect their solar panels to Con Edison's grid, Council Member Daniel Garodnick said yesterday at the event.

He suggested the city look into creating "solar empowerment zones," in which buildings could band together and go through the process simultaneously in order to reduce the costs of installing the necessary infrastructure for solar power. According to Mr. Garodnick, these "solar empowerment zones" could eventually lower the cost for other neighborhoods to follow suit and install solar panels.