O&R Customers Increasingly Choose Solar Power

By Sarah Morgenstern

 

The 300,000 customers of Orange & Rockland Utility (O & R) are increasing choosing to install solar panels and solar fields, rather than burning fossil fuels, to provide power in their homes and businesses.

 

Solar electric panels create electricity directly from sunlight, rather than the fossil fuels, such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas that have traditionally been used to generate electricity.

 

“When sunlight hits the panels, semiconductors inside the solar panels are activated to produce usable electricity,” explains the website of the National Resources Defense Council (nrdc.com.) “The panels rotate from east to west throughout the day: to follow the sun.”

 

By choosing solar power, Rockland County residents avoided the production of 108,271 tons of carbon emissions and the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those that would be produced by more than 23,000 cars, O & R’s website explained.

 

In 2021, O & R, which is owned by Con Ed, added approximately 29 megawatts of solar power, which is the second largest annual increase of customer solar to O&R’s electric system in the past 10 years. 

 

Since 2001, O&R customers have completed more than 10,650 projects with the capacity to produce more 180 megawatts of electricity, the utility company’s website reports.

 

“Our customers are the keys to our clean energy future,” said O&R Vice President of Operations Orville Cocking, who encourages all utility customers to consider solar energy. “Customers’ continued strong support for solar energy contributes to meeting vital environmental and sustainability goals that are essential to creating a viable future for ourselves, our children, and for generations to come.”