1. form a public power utility
You don’t need to have a power plant to create a public power utility. According to the American Public Power Association’s Q&A For Communities Considering the Public Power Option, “Many public power utilities purchase wholesale electricity at prices that are beneficial to their customers without owning power plants.”
New York State requires that the New York State Power Authority charge local power authorities wholesale rates for the electricity they use. The Town would negotiate a wholesale bulk purchase of electricity from either the NYPA or from Central Hudson. Running a non-profit, locally-controlled power authority will save New Paltz ratepayers a significant amount of money – the national average being 30-40% savings.
- Here’s a list of New York municipalities with some form of public power
- “Forming a Public Power Authority”, courtesy of the American Public Power Association
- “Public Power Saves”, letter to the editor from the New York Times
100 Ideas for New Paltz 
I agree that this is the kind of investment that New Paltz should be looking at. The more of New Paltz we own as a community, the less we have to pay someone else to run it for us.
Great idea. Just recently read an article about a town in Finland that has managed to become autonomous from energy providers. The infrastructure is of course very different there.