Track Betting on Solar Energy

BATAVIA DOWNS, NY – Two residents with connections to our county are hoping for a brighter future for Batavia Downs. Roger Ruckman, a Fredonia resident and Chautauqua County board member for Off Track Betting Corp., is banking on solar energy as part of the Western New York race track’s future. “The current annual cost of electric bills is more than $1 million,” Ruckman said. To make this solar project happen, Batavia Downs has contracted with Solar Liberty, an Erie County company that is headed by Nathan Rizzo. Rizzo grew up in Jamestown and graduated from Jamestown Community College and Fredonia State University. According to an article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the project of installing 144 solar panels on the roofs of several barns at the track will cost about $200,000. Batavia Downs will pay $45,000 of that cost while the remainder will be picked up by a grant from the state Energy Research and Development Authority.

The Post Journal
By John D’Agostino
Publisher of the OBSERVER