partner with us

Ep 70: NY Community Solar is Changing | $175k in Savings for Our Latest Client & Changes to the Podcast

by | May 28, 2025

SUMMARY: Dakota shares updates on the evolving community solar landscape, including a recent $175,000 annual savings deal secured for a manufacturer in upstate New York. He warns that proposed legislation in New York may restrict future capacity for large anchor tenants, urging clients to act soon. Dakota also announces the launch of a newsletter and plans to expand the podcast to cover broader energy topics and feature expert guests.

Introduction and Podcast Update (0:00 – 0:12)

Dakota Malone, co-founder of Community Solar Authority, opens the episode by noting his recent travel and podcast hiatus. He shares that this episode serves as a catch-up and update on key developments in the community solar space, along with announcements regarding the podcast’s future direction.

Case Study: $175K Annual Savings for NY Manufacturer (0:33 – 1:14)

Dakota highlights a recent project in which his team helped a large manufacturer in upstate New York secure $175,000 in annual savings using the community solar program. He emphasizes that for many manufacturers, energy is a top overhead cost and community solar presents a valuable savings opportunity. Although he typically doesn’t do deal reviews on the podcast, he shares this one due to its relevance to upcoming legislative changes in New York.

Urgency Around New York Legislation Changes (1:15 – 2:52)

Dakota explains a critical shift in New York’s community solar market. Proposed legislation from the governor would move the program to a utility-controlled model—eliminating the ability for large anchor tenants to choose and subscribe to specific solar projects. As a result, Community Solar Authority is urging all interested parties to act quickly, since many future projects will not be accessible to direct subscribers due to these legislative shifts. Dakota underscores the value of his firm’s relationships with major developers, which allows early insight into market changes.

Project Execution Details and Timeline (2:53 – 3:34)

The manufacturer originally had nine locations, but one was destroyed by a snowstorm, resulting in eight accounts being enrolled under the community solar program. The project took about four to five months to complete due to delays from the storm and a facility closure, although the typical rollout timeline is about 90 days. Despite the delays, the savings outcome was successful.

Announcing the Sustainability Strategies Newsletter (3:34 – 4:03)

Dakota announces a companion newsletter to the podcast, offering sustainability content targeted at large energy users. This will serve as a comprehensive, one-stop resource for those navigating energy transformation and resiliency strategies. He sees a market need for this type of focused communication.

Expanding Podcast Content and Guest Features (4:03 – 5:08)

In addition to the newsletter, Dakota plans to bring guests onto the podcast—industry experts and peers—to share insights and personal experiences related to sustainability. While community solar will remain a topic of discussion, the show will broaden its focus to include enterprise sustainability, resiliency, and energy independence, addressing larger-scale energy challenges and joint ventures.

Future Topics and Community Engagement (5:08 – 5:44)

Dakota previews upcoming content, including case studies and deeper dives into sustainability strategy. He reiterates his appreciation for listeners and invites them to connect with him on LinkedIn or via email with any questions. He wraps up by thanking the audience and promising more valuable content to come in future episodes.

Conclusion:
This episode serves as both a progress report and a roadmap for what’s ahead in both the community solar industry and the podcast itself. With changing legislation in New York and the need for proactive energy strategy, Dakota emphasizes the importance of acting quickly. He also outlines exciting expansions to his content, aiming to offer more holistic sustainability insights to his growing audience.

To listen to the full episode… go to Spotify to listen.

Want to CONNECT on LinkedIN? Go here

If you’re new to my channel, my name is Dakota Malone. I’m a co-founder of Community Solar Authority. We’re a commercial solar developer & consultant on a mission to streamline clean energy deployment.

We deliver turnkey access to community solar for large users of electricity, & our company has unlocked access to $20M+ in future electricity savings for our clients.

Today, we’re focused on educating municipalities, corporations, stakeholders- & other entities consuming lots of electricity to help them benefit from the trillion-dollar clean energy economy.

To our future procurement, facilities, & finance teams we speak to.. we’re here to serve you well with this content ahead of time so that we have a productive conversation when we meet.

Want to access enhanced sustainability & improved operating profit in 90 days?

Book a call and get started.
Here In Service,
Dakota

Read the transcript

(0:00 – 0:12)
Hey guys, this is Dakota Malone. I co-founded Community Solar Authority and welcome back to Sustainability Strategies. I have been traveling the last couple of weeks and I have not posted a podcast.

(0:13 – 0:33)
I wanted to make this episode as a way to catch up on some things that are top of mind for our business. Some of the things we’re working on with the changes in the community solar landscape. And to really just stay consistent with my podcast and come out with a few announcements.

(0:33 – 1:14)
First of all, maybe playing a little catch up, we recently helped a large manufacturer in upstate New York access $175,000 a year in savings using the community solar program. These guys, just like any other manufacturer are always looking for ways to reduce costs, especially in the energy space, with this being typically one of their largest overhead expenses. So I talk a lot about community solar on this podcast and how we’ve unlocked access to over $35 million with community solar, but I don’t always do these deal reviews, but thought it was worth mentioning because of changes in New York legislation.

(1:15 – 2:16)
We are advising all of our clients that if they have hesitated on accessing community solar, or they just haven’t gotten around to it, that they take action sooner rather than later, because we are seeing the New York community solar market change. It started as one of the first markets, one of the most stabilized community solar markets, and with the new proposed legislation from the governor, she is suggesting that community solar be moved to a utility model, meaning the utility chooses where these bill credits go, who gets them and ultimately changes the way that large anchor tenants can participate and subscribe. So with these new developments taking place in the market, we essentially don’t know how much capacity we’re going to have in the future, because most of what we’re seeing and the big advantage to working with our company is that we’re consulting alongside some of the largest community solar developers in the space.

(2:17 – 2:52)
So we see into their future pipelines and a trend that we’re noticing are that many of these new community solar developments are going under this new legislation and therefore will not be available for an anchor tenant to subscribe to. So if community solar was something that you wanted to take a look at, get educated on, take action on, we are telling our clients that this is the year to do it simply because we’re not sure how much capacity we’ll have for you next year. So this was the conversation we had with this upstate New York manufacturer.

(2:53 – 3:02)
They had nine locations at the time. One was destroyed in a snowstorm for those in the Northeast. You know how brutal the winters were this past year.

(3:02 – 3:21)
And so we ultimately ended up enrolling eight of their utility accounts across the national grid territory. The deal took us four to five months to complete with some changes from those from the snowstorms and them having to close a facility. Normally our rollouts take about 90 days.

(3:21 – 3:34)
This one took slightly longer, but we got the deal done. And again, they were able to access $175,000 a year in savings. Next, I want to talk about some changes to the podcast.

(3:34 – 4:03)
I am going to be launching a newsletter alongside Sustainability Strategies as the podcast, and it is going to have a newsletter version as well. I am noticing a call from our clients and really just seeing a need in the market as a one-stop shop for large energy users to better understand sustainability principles and strategies that will help enhance resiliency at their organization. There are some great newsletters out already.

(4:03 – 4:36)
I think of Utility Dive and stuff that PV Magazine puts out, but our newsletter is going to have certain flavors and features and be rich with content, most importantly from other people. And so another big change that I want to dive into on this podcast is to start to invite some of my friends, some guests, and some experts onto the show where we can hear about what’s going on in their world, their views of sustainability. And attempt to add even more value to what we’re doing here.

(4:37 – 5:08)
Community solar is something that we’ve talked about endlessly. It’s been a very niche product that we’ve offered over the last half decade plus. And as we talk about going into some joint ventures, working on some larger projects, tackling some of the biggest problems in the energy space, I want to open up this podcast to talk about more than community solar and really get into topics like enterprise sustainability, maximizing resiliency, and energy independence, so stay tuned.

(5:08 – 5:36)
I’m going to be inviting some future guests. Of course, we’re going to be continuing to talk about community solar and all of the wins that we’re creating along the way, but we’re also going to be talking about some of these bigger problems that we’re solving, showcasing the solutions that we have, doing deal breakdowns of the case studies, and I always appreciate you guys tuning into these episodes and checking us out. I encourage you to connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com slash in slash Dakota Malone.

(5:36 – 5:44)
Feel free to email me if you have any questions at dmalone at communitysolarauthority.com. Thanks for tuning in and I will catch you on the next episode.

Contact Us

Full name(Required)