By JEFF MORRIS //
In a contentious meeting July 8, the Lewisboro Town Board blocked a presentation by Noam Bramson, executive director of Sustainable Westchester, that was to have contained information about the upcoming renewal of electricity contracts through Westchester Power.
Westchester Power is a community choice aggregation program started in 2016 that was designed to control costs and increase the use of renewable energy in Westchester County. It has 29 participating municipalities, of which five, including Lewisboro, are in NYSEG territory, with the rest serviced by Con Edison.
Lewisboro Councilman Daniel Welsh is the program director of Westchester Power. He has come under fire from a group of residents who contend that his dual roles present a conflict of interest, though he has recused himself from any votes determining the town’s participation in the program.
At the May 13 town board meeting, Councilman Richard Sklarin introduced a motion to immediately withdraw the town from its Westchester Power contract. He contended that the program has not saved residents money, has in fact caused them to overpay for electricity, and that they should not automatically be “opted in” to the program.
The motion passed 3-1, with members Andrea Rendo and Mary Shah joining Sklarin in favor, Supervisor Tony Gonçalves against, and Welsh abstaining. Gonçalves said he wanted to schedule an informational meeting to present arguments for Westchester Power that he had heard at a meeting of county officials. Also, Shah expressed frustration with a lack of information from neutral sources on the pros and cons of the contract.
At the June 24 town board meeting, Gonçalves stated that the Westchester Power contract was still in place. He explained to The Recorder that legal requirements in the contract limiting the circumstances under which a member town could terminate the contract had not been met.
On the Friday prior to the July 8 meeting, Gonçalves added a work session, to include a presentation by Bramson, to the agenda. By explanation at the meeting, he said he had participated in another Sustainable Westchester meeting with other municipalities the previous week, and wanted the information that was shared to be presented to and discussed by the board.
Sklarin protested that no materials were forwarded to the board prior to the presentation. He made a motion to table the presentation until later in the year, which he then clarified to be a 90-day postponement, stating that would be well in advance of the current contract’s expiration Nov. 30. He contended that there was no advance notice that Bramson and his deputy program director, who were on hand, would be presenting at the meeting. Rendo agreed the work session needed to be postponed to another time because it is summer, and a lot of interested people are away. Shah also supported the motion to postpone, saying, “We need time to understand.”
Gonçalves maintained that in order to discuss the topic well, “you need to understand the background, because there were misstatements made,” referring to arguments Sklarin had made May 13. Nonetheless, Sklarin’s motion to postpone was passed, again with Gonçalves voting against and Welsh abstaining.
Gonçalves then allowed Bramson to speak. Bramson said he just wanted to comment on the timing. “There is a critical path,” he said. “You have to work backwards. It is not possible in 90 days for Lewisboro to choose to remain in the program. My suggestion is if you want to preserve your option to join, you should schedule earlier than 90 days.”
Both Sklarin and Rendo objected to Bramson having been allowed to speak at all after the motion to postpone the presentation was passed. Rendo said she wanted to make a motion that Lewisboro not enter into any future agreement with Sustainable Westchester.
Shah proposed a motion to postpone the presentation for 60 days instead of 90; Bramson responded that he wasn’t sure if even that was within the possible timeline. Shah expressed frustration, saying they should have been given specifics about the deadline. “When we get information in a piecemeal manner it is patronizing,” she said.
Arguments continued regarding how details about the Westchester Power renewal should have been provided to the board, and whether the presentation should have been shared with the board prior to scheduling a work session. Gonçalves said the board still needed to reschedule the work session, and Bramson said he would come back whenever they would like to discuss the matter.
After reviewing the board’s meeting calendar for August, Gonçalves said he would poll the board and schedule “when people can be here.”