PowerBank clears permits for New York brownfield community solar duo

• PowerBank secured municipal approvals for two community-solar projects totaling 14.4 MW in Skaneateles, NY, with DEC clearance up next and output for ~2,100 homes

PowerBank Corporation has ticked a major box for its next New York builds, confirming it has secured all municipal approvals for a pair of community-solar projects in Skaneateles, Onondaga County. The 14.4-MW bundle—planned on former industrial brownfields—now advances to state environmental clearance with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the last procedural hurdle before construction can begin.

According to the developer, local authorities have signed off on variances, site-plan approval, and special-use permits—an increasingly common three-step for distributed-generation sites in upstate towns balancing clean-energy goals with land-use concerns. PowerBank says the two projects will operate under New York’s community-solar model and are expected to deliver bill-credit savings to roughly 2,100 households once online.

Siting on brownfields offers both optics and pragmatism. Reusing disturbed land typically shortens timelines, eases community acceptance, and keeps arrays close to load—important in a state where interconnection headroom can vary feeder by feeder. In Skaneateles, proximity to existing substations should help compress interconnection work, while standard single-axis trackers and high-efficiency modules maximize annual output through Central New York’s seasons. (PowerBank has not yet disclosed final equipment selections.)

The approvals arrive as New York leans harder on distributed assets to meet statewide targets and temper price volatility. Community solar remains a standout: customers enroll without rooftop panels, receive transparent credits on their utility bills, and can switch addresses within a service territory without losing benefits. For financiers, portfolios of mid-sized arrays—often built to common designs and operated under centralized O&M—have proven bankable even in a higher-rate environment. PowerBank underscores that point by flagging a development pipeline exceeding 1 GW and more than 100 MW delivered to date.

What’s next? The projects must clear DEC review before shovels hit the ground. Expect the developer to lock long-lead gear—transformers and protection equipment—early, and to finalize vegetation and pollinator-friendly planting plans that New York towns increasingly expect in site conditions. If schedules hold, the Skaneateles duo could deliver tangible savings to subscribers and fresh, local daytime capacity to the grid—an example of how well-structured community solar turns state policy into neighborhood-scale megawatt