Hecate Energy Invests in Western New York with State's Largest Solar Farm

Hecate Energy announced today that it has applied with the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) to build a 500-megawatt solar farm in the Western New York towns of Elba and Oakfield, the State's first new application under the State's new permitting process for large-scale renewable projects. If approved and built, the Cider Solar Farm would be the biggest solar project ever developed in New York State.

The $500 million-plus private infrastructure investment is estimated to generate over 500 construction jobs and provide 920,000 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year – enough to power over 120,000 average New York households.

Initially, the project sought leases and options on around 4,000 acres of land in the Genesee County towns of Elba and Oakfield. As Hecate gained a better knowledge of local needs, detailed siting and study efforts enabled them to reduce the project's footprint to around 2,800 acres of land spread across two towns. The solar project's energy is expected to offset over 420,000 tons of CO2 each year, which is the equivalent of removing over 92,000 average automobiles from the road each year.

The new ORES and guidelines for the approval of large-scale renewable energy projects were created by New York State's Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefits Act, which contains Section 94-c of the Executive Law and was passed in 2021. Its purpose is to improve the siting and construction of environmentally responsible, cost-effective, and delivered projects on time with involvement from local communities.

Hecate's Cider Solar 94-c Application, prepared by Buffalo-based Stantec Consulting Services in collaboration with the law firm Foley Hoag LLP, is the first new application submitted to ORES under 94-c standards, marking a critical step forward in the State's project permitting process.

About Hecate Energy
Based in Chicago, Illinois, Hecate Energy is a developer of solar farms, wind farms, and energy storage projects. Hecate Energy, founded in 2012 by a team of energy industry veterans who have worked together for over 25 years, has developed thousands of megawatts of clean energy projects across North America.

About ORES
The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefits Act (the Act) established the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES or Office) in April 2020 as the first-of-its-kind state agency dedicated only to environmentally responsible and cost-effective siting of renewable energy facilities. ORES streamlines the environmental review and approval of major renewable energy facilities to ensure that siting choices are predictable, reliable, and made on schedule with involvement from local governments and host communities. The Office established comprehensive regulations on March 3, 2021, which included a set of uniform standards and conditions to implement the Act.

The Office is intended to help New York get 70% of its power from renewable sources by 2030, as needed by Governor Andrew Cuomo's nation-leading climate plan, incorporated into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.