The City of Peekskill and six other municipalities in Northern Westchester are taking steps to come up with new ways to reduce energy consumption in order to save money.

The municipalities, all members of the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC), were awarded a grant earlier this year from NYSERDA to cover costs of the study. Two companies, Ecology and Environment Inc and Blue Springs Energy LLC were awarded a $280,000 contract to assist the communities by coming up with recommendations to reduce their energy consumption patterns.

Westchester officials say 2009 was a record-breaking year with the County reaching its highest-ever recycling rate of 61%. The majority of the increase is said to be due to a number of large local construction jobs, specifically the Ridge Hill project in Yonkers, which recycled a huge amount of recyclable construction debris.
In addition, more and more residents continued to recycle material after the County in 2008 began enforcing its recycling laws.