Contact: Lee Ziesche, info@publicpowerny.org, 954-415-6228
Thursday, November 14, 2024 @ 10:00AM and 6:00PM
Lewiston, New York – The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is holding hearings for the public to comment on its recently released draft plan to implement the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA). New Yorkers who fought for and won the legislation are saying NYPA’s draft plan does not go far enough and falls short of state climate goals.
WHO: Community members, the Network for a Sustainable Future (NeST) and Public Power NY
WHERE: Holiday Inn Downtown
2-8 Hawley Street
Binghamton, NY 13901
WHEN: Thursday, November 14, 2024
10:00am-12:00pm and 6:00pm-8:00pm
WHY: After a powerful, four year-long campaign, New Yorkers won the most transformational climate and green jobs bill in the nation in May 2023 with the passage of the BPRA through the New York State Budget.
Since the bill’s passage, advocates and legislators have been warning that for-profit renewable energy developers will continue to drop projects and the state will not be able to meet its mandated goal of 70% renewable energy by 2030 unless NYPA steps up and builds at least 15GW.
NYPA’s draft plan proposes to build just a paltry 3.5GW of renewable energy with the expectation that many of those projects will not move forward, and there are currently no projects planned for the Southern Tier.
New Yorkers are calling on NYPA to return to its founding spirit as champion for the public good and go back to the drawing board to come up with a proposal that will get New York back on track, create tens of thousands of green union jobs and lower energy bills for those who need it most.
Adam Flint, Director of Clean Energy Programs at the Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow said, “With already unaffordable utility rates due to rise, more than ever, New Yorkers need affordable, Public Power. NYPA’s draft proposal lacks the scope and ambition needed to meet the climate and affordability crises. We call on NYPA to expand the Plan’s goals to 15GW, and to be sure every region of New York, including the Southern Tier, benefits from the jobs, economic development and low cost electricity this program will bring.”
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Note to the editor:
About Public Power NY
The Public Power NY Coalition is a statewide movement of community and advocacy organizations fighting for an environmentally sustainable energy system that’s also racially, socially, and economically just. We believe energy and a habitable planet are human rights, and that we need to avert the climate crisis by eliminating the use of fossil fuels and transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. We aim to accomplish these goals by taking over our for-profit energy system and bringing it under public, not-for-profit, local, and democratic ownership and management.