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Thread: I Am Curious About This Solar Simplified Letter,Are You?

  1. #1
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    I Am Curious About This Solar Simplified Letter,Are You?

    I received this letter from Solar Simplified which seemingly offers me energy cost savings.

    My curiosity is peak by the letterhead and the signatures...




    image (94).jpg
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; September 9th, 2020 at 09:31 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  2. #2
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Oh I didn't catch this posted here.

    Mark and I started to chat about this here

    https://www.facebook.com/permalink.p...00000473135939

  3. #3
    Member gorja's Avatar
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    From the town site regarding the first letter -
    Community Solar Program
    A mailer was sent to Lancaster residents giving them the opportunity to sign up and save 10%. This was discussed at the Town Board meeting on June 1, 2020 when we approved the contract between the Town of Lancaster and Solar Simplified. The mailer was sent by Solar Simplified at no cost to the Town, it was simply sent to give our residents the opportunity for a cost savings.Solar Simplified requested permission to send the letter on my behalf so that people would not think it was a scam and our attorney approved this action. The company used a mail house to send the lettersout and apparently, on the final version, they added a header and left the D off of my first name.

    From the Lancaster Bee -
    Residents, businesses, municipal properties have opportunity to participate in initiative to reduce electric bills
    June 03, 2020

    by MARIA PERICOZZI Editor

    The Lancaster Town Board unanimously approved a Community Solar Services agreement for the Town of Lancaster at the meeting Monday.

    The agreement with Solar Simplified of Chicago will save the town around $9,000 a year, said Supervisor Ron Ruffino. With this agreement, a solar farm in Troupsburg will be providing electricity for all eligible municipality buildings in the town. The solar farm is projected to go live in September of 2020, and the credits will appear on utility bills shortly after.

    Representatives from Solar Simplified were supposed to present at Monday’s meeting, but due to the pandemic, it was unable to be arranged. Instead, each residence in Lancaster will receive information in the mail about how to participate in the initiative and reduce their energy costs.

    “They will be sending sheets to every resident offering this to them as well, [up to] 10% off their electric bill by simply switching over,” Ruffino said.

    Ruffino said there will be no “switchover,” as town buildings will continue receiving electricity from the NYSEG grid.

    There is also a tiered system in place for the town, meaning that for each residence that switches over, the town will receive a rebate.

    Ruffino said the town can walk away from the contract at any time. He said the town could look at local companies, which could reduce the bill even more.

    “It’s an open-ended, five-year agreement,” Ruffino said, adding if someone comes along offering more savings, they can switch to that company.

    The town first discussed switching to use of a solar farm in the beginning of the year, when a third-party solar company made a presentation to the board. They were a customer of Solar Simplified, and only offered 5% savings for the town, keeping the other 5% for profit, Ruffino said.

    Georgia L Schlager

  4. #4
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    From the town site regarding the first letter -
    Community Solar Program
    A mailer was sent to Lancaster residents giving them the opportunity to sign up and save 10%. This was discussed at the Town Board meeting on June 1, 2020 when we approved the contract between the Town of Lancaster and Solar Simplified. The mailer was sent by Solar Simplified at no cost to the Town, it was simply sent to give our residents the opportunity for a cost savings.Solar Simplified requested permission to send the letter on my behalf so that people would not think it was a scam and our attorney approved this action. The company used a mail house to send the lettersout and apparently, on the final version, they added a header and left the D off of my first name.

    From the Lancaster Bee -
    Residents, businesses, municipal properties have opportunity to participate in initiative to reduce electric bills
    June 03, 2020

    by MARIA PERICOZZI Editor

    The Lancaster Town Board unanimously approved a Community Solar Services agreement for the Town of Lancaster at the meeting Monday.

    The agreement with Solar Simplified of Chicago will save the town around $9,000 a year, said Supervisor Ron Ruffino. With this agreement, a solar farm in Troupsburg will be providing electricity for all eligible municipality buildings in the town. The solar farm is projected to go live in September of 2020, and the credits will appear on utility bills shortly after.

    Representatives from Solar Simplified were supposed to present at Monday’s meeting, but due to the pandemic, it was unable to be arranged. Instead, each residence in Lancaster will receive information in the mail about how to participate in the initiative and reduce their energy costs.

    “They will be sending sheets to every resident offering this to them as well, [up to] 10% off their electric bill by simply switching over,” Ruffino said.

    Ruffino said there will be no “switchover,” as town buildings will continue receiving electricity from the NYSEG grid.

    There is also a tiered system in place for the town, meaning that for each residence that switches over, the town will receive a rebate.

    Ruffino said the town can walk away from the contract at any time. He said the town could look at local companies, which could reduce the bill even more.

    “It’s an open-ended, five-year agreement,” Ruffino said, adding if someone comes along offering more savings, they can switch to that company.

    The town first discussed switching to use of a solar farm in the beginning of the year, when a third-party solar company made a presentation to the board. They were a customer of Solar Simplified, and only offered 5% savings for the town, keeping the other 5% for profit, Ruffino said.
    The document appears to have a hybrid cut-and-paste letterhead.

    The letter makes reference to "we" and "us," and bears the signature of both the Supervisor and the President of the company. Why is that?
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  5. #5
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    I get it now

    This was discussed at the Town Board meeting on June 1, 2020 when we approved the contract between the Town of Lancaster and Solar Simplified.
    Save the town some money. That is a good thing.

    Most agents who "sell" these types of services do make some money based on the electricity usage. This is how they make their living. Which is totally fine.

    As long as a "town employee/elected official" isn't a reseller for Solar Simplified there is no conflict of interest. All good and the town may save some dollars on electricity.

    Now who is going to monitor billing for the next 12 months to make sure there were savings. Did the town hire an "electricityl manager"? Let's pay someone $60,000 a year to save $500 a month on our electric bill

  6. #6
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]
    A mailer was sent to Lancaster residents giving them the opportunity to sign up and save 10%. *This was discussed at the Town Board meeting on June 1, 2020 when we approved the contract between the Town of Lancaster and Solar Simplified.
    Did this letter, constructed, written, and signed as it appears in this thread, have prior Town Council approval before it was disseminated?
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  7. #7
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    “They will be sending sheets to every resident offering this to them as well, [up to] 10% off their electric bill by simply switching over,” Ruffino said.
    This does not seem to be a an ironclad guarantee of any specific savings, correct?
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; September 10th, 2020 at 10:30 AM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  8. #8
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gorja View Post
    Ruffino said there will be no “switchover,” as town buildings will continue receiving electricity from the NYSEG grid.
    So, the customer will receive two bills, one from Solar Simplified and another for service charges from NYSEG, correct?
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  9. #9
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    I still have had no response to this question...


    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    Did this letter, constructed, written, and signed as it appears in this thread, have prior Town Council approval before it was disseminated?


    I have asked, and continue to ask, that question because of this rather curious singular vs. plural distinction present in the Town's website posting...



    A mailer was sent to Lancaster residents giving them the opportunity to sign up and save 10%. This was discussed at the Town Board meeting on June 1, 2020 when WE approved the contract between the Town of Lancaster and Solar Simplified. The mailer was sent by Solar Simplified at no cost to the Town, it was simply sent to give our residents the opportunity for a cost savings.Solar Simplified requested permission to send the letter on MY behalf so that people would not think it was a scam and our attorney approved this action. The company used a mail house to send the letters out and apparently, on the final version, they added a header and left the D off of my first name.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  10. #10
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Quote Originally Posted by mark blazejewski View Post
    So, the customer will receive two bills, one from Solar Simplified and another for service charges from NYSEG, correct?
    No. I believe you receive one bill. Discount included on the bill.

  11. #11
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    No. I believe you receive one bill. Discount included on the bill.
    Would not NYSEG be an authoritative source?
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

  12. #12
    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    Why would it make any difference in this case. I think you are wasting too much time on this at this point in time.

  13. #13
    Member mark blazejewski's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident View Post
    Why would it make any difference in this case. I think you are wasting too much time on this at this point in time.
    It is just getting all of the information in the interests of making an informed decision and an agreement that I will want to keep a few months from now.

    Due diligence and Caveat Emptor Res.

    Seems that others are concerned as well. From today's Lancaster Bee...

    Recent mailings to the residents of Lancaster regarding a Community Solar Services agreement raised questions at Monday’s Town Board meeting about who paid for it and why the “advertisements” were sent out from Supervisor Ron Ruffino’s office.

    In June, the Lancaster Town Board unanimously approved a Community Solar Services agreement with Solar Simplified of Chicago, which will save the town around $9,000 a year and save residents who opt in 10% off their electric bills.

    With this agreement, a solar farm in Troupsburg will be providing electricity for all eligible municipal buildings in the town and residents.

    “This is a great opportunity for our residents,” Ruffino said.

    Due to COVID-19, representatives from Solar Simplified were unable to make a presentation at a town meeting, so instead, each residence in Lancaster received information in the mail on how to participate in the initiative to reduce energy costs.

    In July, residents received mailings on how to sign up with Solar Simplified. Solar Simplified had requested to send the mailings on Ruffino’s behalf, so residents would not think it was a scam. On the final version of the first mailing, a letter was left off of Ruffino’s first name on the letterhead. A mail house was also used to send the letters out, and some of the residents’ names on the envelopes were not up to date. This left many residents asking whether or not the mailer was a scam.

    Solar Simplified sent a second mailer in early September, and Council member Bob Leary said he is receiving phone calls from residents regarding the mailers.

    “The Solar Simplified letter that has been sent out to all the residents of Lancaster… I get a lot of phone calls,” Leary said. “It appears to be coming from your office. It appears to be an advertisement from Solar Simplified.”

    According to Ruffino, the town did not pay for the mailings, and the town attorney approved the agreement.

    “They thought the response would be better, so they don’t think it’s some kind of scam coming from us,” Ruffino said. “It’s an opportunity to save our residents money, and they offered me the opportunity to send this out to them and I agreed to it.”

    Leary asked to be sent the contract with Solar Simplified, adding he was unaware they would be doing advertising for the company, or allowing them to send mailers on the town’s behalf.

    Ruffino said there are approximately 400 people signed up for the Community Solar Services Agreement, and there are only 800 slots total.

    “In my opinion it doesn’t look 100% appropriate that we’re sending out things to our residents, which is really an advertisement for this private company,” Leary said, adding he did not know the town would have their name attached to mailers when he voted to approve the agreement.


    Lancaster resident Gregory Sojka questioned whether or not the supervisor’s office will send out additional “advertisements” from local companies, as opposed to a company from Chicago.

    Sojka said it was the first mailer he’s received from the supervisor’s office for private companies.

    “Is this going to be done for local Lancaster companies, like roofing companies, pool companies and restaurants? This solar company is from Chicago, it’s not even from Lancaster. Are you doing anything during these troubled times of COVID-19 to help the local Lancaster small businesses?” Sojka asked.

    Ruffino said the town would not pay for local companies to send advertisements out. If companies would pay for mailings, Ruffino would run it by the attorney before allowing it to be sent out.

    “I am doing everything I can to help local businesses,” Ruffino said.

    Leary asked how much research was done on Solar Simplified before the agreement was made. Town Attorney Kevin Loftus said he did not do research into the company, but did review the agreement.

    “I haven’t had time to do the due diligence on the company itself, so I’m asking, has anybody done that and do we really know who we’re dealing with here?” Leary asked the board.

    Ruffino responded by saying it was an opportunity to have residents saving 10% on their electric bill.

    “I think we should do more research on this and revisit it,” Leary said. “I’d like to take a look at the contract, and if we can do a little following up on the company itself. I think we need to do a little bit more with this.”

    Leary said he will be taking a look at the contract and company and may revisit the agreement at a later meeting.

    “Personally, I’m not comfortable with this, putting the letterhead from the supervisor’s office,” Leary said, adding more research is warranted.

    The next Lancaster Town Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21. Residents can dial into the meeting by calling 800-4267 and using the PIN 1232. Residents are asked to mute their phones until they would like to speak during the public comment period.
    This is particularly concerning to me...

    Town Attorney Kevin Loftus said he did not do research into the company, but did review the agreement.
    Reference: https://www.facebook.com/LancasterBe...58695235314031
    Last edited by mark blazejewski; September 10th, 2020 at 07:43 PM.
    LIDA Member Rinow to Member Ruda: You were a sitting Trustee on the Board. Did you help support Mr. Sweeney getting a seat on the CDC Board?"

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