Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and the Albany Community Land Trust held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, September 4 on Orange Street for geothermal drilling underway at two properties in the Sheridan Hollow neighborhood. These boreholes will enable highly efficient geothermal energy to be used to heat and cool three residential units and a commercial business. This pilot program, spearheaded by NYSERDA and Aztech Geothermal, will hopefully lead to a district geothermal system that will provide heating and cooling to up to 100 homes in the neighborhood that for more than a century has been polluted by the state’s Sheridan Avenue Steam Plant used to power the Capitol and Empire State Plaza Complex. In this recording by Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine, we hear from Sue Cottner of the Land Trust, Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Geoff Hoffer of Aztech, Albany County Legislator and SHARE Co-Chair Mert Simpson, and Christine Hoffer of NY Geo.
See also: Albany New York News Release