Work Begins On Camp Smith Solar Project That Will Save Taxpayers $360,000 Annually

CORTLANDT MANOR, NEW YORK (03/12/2026) (readMedia)-- Work is underway at the New York National Guard's Camp Smith Training Site on a solar power project that will produce 12,300 megawatt hours of electricity annually.

4,053 megawatt hours of that power will be used to power the 39 buildings at the training site.

The solar panels are expected to reduce the amount New York State pays to power the 1,560-acre training facility to $280,000 annually. Currently the Division of Military and Naval Affairs pays $640,000 annually to Consolidated Edison to power the site.

The remaining power--about 8,000 megawatts-- will be sent into the power grid.

Eight thousand megawatt hours of solar power is estimated to be enough to power 8,000 homes.

This power will be available to the public through a program called Community Distributed Generation.

This program, overseen by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, allows area residents to purchase that energy at a five to 10 percent savings.

Tree cutting for the project began on March 9. The solar power system will occupy 27 acres.

The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027.

The Division of Military and Naval Affairs partnered with Consolidated Edison and the New York Power Authority to design the project which is being constructed by PowerBank Corporation.

This is a Canadian-based company with offices in Rochester which focuses on renewable energy projects.

The project will also include a one-megawatt storage battery system, which will provide emergency power to the site.

The land where the project is located-in the area northeast of the site's main campus-is not regularly used for training purposes.

The $19.3 million cost of the project is being covered by PowerBank. The state, in return, will buy power from the solar array for 25 years.

The project also includes three roof-top solar panel systems and three parking lot solar panel systems.

Where no natural buffer areas are maintained, trees will be planted to obscure the solar panel arrays.

The locations for the solar arrays were chosen to ensure that there were no impacts to endangered species and wetlands.

Camp Smith Training Site is the New York National Guard's primary state-owned training facility. The New York National Guard has used the location- located just north of Peekskill- for training since 1885. It was renamed for Governor Al Smith in the 1920s.

The facility is used by Soldiers conducting weekend training, firing on the ranges, and conducting state emergency operations.