Hydro-Québec project supplies JCEO greenhouse for fresh food

PLATTSBURGH | A new greenhouse will be filled with dirt next spring, in time to grow food for the St. Joseph's food pantry and soup kitchen. The arched, high tunnel tempered glass enclosure was built through grant funding provided to JCEO (the Joint Council for Economic Opportunity) via community engagement resources from Hydro-Québec Energy Services. As part of the energy provider's Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) project, grant monies were set aside in three funding pots, including a $9 million Community Engagement Fund. Nicole Laurin, CEO of JCEO, said she learned about the grant opportunity via Courtney Meisenheimer, City of Plattsburgh Community Development director. In speaking with partner program coordinators, the idea to build a greenhouse resonated with everyone. JCEO already has two greenhouses supplying fresh food to pantries in Malone, Franklin Co., she said. And both have been successful. "We thought, why not expand at this location? Fresh produce is one of those things that won't make it into the grocery cart if someone is struggling." The CHPE grant for $15,000 allowed them to move forward with construction beside St. Joseph's Outreach Center, behind one of JCEO's busiest food pantry sites. "Nonprofits like us wish we could do it all, but we really can't," Laurin said as a crowd gathered around the new greenhouse. "Without organizations like Hydro-Québec, we wouldn't be able to do the special projects and serve as many people as we do." Laurin thanked CHPE and Hydro-Québec for supporting their efforts to curtail food insecurity in Plattsburgh. Hydro-Québec Chief Operating Officer Serge Abergel attended the greenhouse opening. "It's humbling, actually," he said, "because when we met just last year, we were looking for an opportunity ... and when this came about -- bring fresh produce to communities -- it doesn't get any better than that." Abergel thanked community partners for working so well together, taking a few quips from local lawmakers, Supervisor Michael Cashman and Assemblyman Billy Jones, who were both there to celebrate the new greenhouse. GARDENERS Planting and care of produce will be a joint effort guided by Tia Legge, agriculture educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Clinton County. The soil will be added to the greenhouse in time for early season planting, she said, likely next March or April. The greenhouse floor is heated, which could allow season extension into fall. Legge is developing a garden plot with local master gardeners, hoping to grow tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, herbs and possibly leafy greens, including spinach. Some of the fresh produce will go to the soup kitchen where demand on Thursday afternoon reaches anywhere from 245 to 315 people per month. Gardening staff will include NAMI personnel, volunteers from the Clinton County Youth Bureau and area veterans, Laurin said. CHPE COMMUNITY PROJECTS Asked about other projects supported by CHPE grants, Abergel said an urban farm initiative in New York City started about a year and a half ago and grew enough produce to support over a thousand families. The garden reclaimed green roof space on a city building. "Everywhere we go, there are different needs," Abergel said. "We try to stay away from write-a-check relationships." This way, the energy company and its partners get to know more about individual communities. Another project at a neighborhood school in Astoria looked for a way to improve dismal school attendance numbers. When Abergel asked school administrators what caused students to stay home, they learned part of the problem was not having clean clothes for school. So Abergel and CHPE established a partnership with a local laundry service, giving students coupons for free service for a year. The project was announced in Feb. 2023. The result, Abergel said, saw attendance improve 12 percent. In the Town of Plattsburgh, JCEO serves the most vulnerable people in community. The food pantry supports about 200 families per month, Laurin said. The Outreach Center at 1349 Military Turnpike also holds the St. Joseph's Thrift shop and meeting rooms for various support agencies, including NAMI Champlain Valley and CVES classrooms for High School Equivalency courses. CABLE ON TRACK FOR 2026 COMPLETION At the greenhouse opening, CHPE officials said power cable installation in Lake Champlain has gone well. They are looking at summer 2026 completion for the entire project, the largest buried cable project ever planned in North America. Specially designed barges lay about two miles of cable per day and stop to fuse lengths, which officials said can take a few days. CHPE had a cross section of the cable to show community partners at the greenhouse opening. Thick, coiled circles of wire are encased in a kind of hard resin wrapped in very heavy black rubber. CHPE barges will return to Lake Champlain for a few months of additional work next spring. The dual set of power cable line is being run underground and underwater from Quebec to New York City, over 339 miles through dozens of communities. The $6 billion project will deliver 1.250 megawatts of hydro-power to one million homes in the city.

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Hydro-Québec project supplies JCEO greenhouse for fresh food

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