FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2023
Contact: Lee Ziesche, info@publicpowerny.org, 954-415-6228
Corporations Can’t “Confine” Our Future
Yesterday, New York Focus reported that fossil fuel and private renewable energy developers are attempting to sabotage the most transformational climate and jobs bills in the country, the Build Public Renewables Act, as it is on the verge of passing through budget negotiations. The Public Power NY Coalition released the following statement:
“In 2019, just 4% of New York’s energy came from wind and solar power. In 2023, New York still gets just 4% of our energy from wind and solar power.
Entrusting New York’s renewable buildout to for-profit companies, represented by IPPNY and ACE-NY, has failed to contain skyrocketing bills, racist pollution, union-busting contractors, and potent greenhouse gasses in our state.
Now, as NY Focus revealed yesterday, IPPNY and ACE are lobbying Governor Kathy Hochul and the Assembly behind the scenes to sabotage the Build Public Renewables Act, a national model climate bill that will finally build what they could not. IPPNY President Gavin Donohue wants to “confine” the amount of public power we can build, while ACE’s Anne Reynolds is worried about a “level playing field.”
Our future is not a game. Let’s be clear – the “level playing field” that Reynolds and Donohue desire is one where their members are the sole beneficiaries and decision makers of New York’s renewable future. They don’t care about our impacted communities and the renewable future we desperately need. The only thing they care about is their profit.
This is not the first time they have attempted to sabotage climate progress. Two of IPPNY’s members, NRG and Danskammer, spent years pushing fracked gas projects instead of renewable energy. The environmental justice communities of Newburgh and Astoria organized against these fossil fuel projects to demand better.
We demand a just transition to renewable energy on the timeline science demands. Hochul’s donors’ priority is to make money, no matter the cost to New Yorkers. Our priority is to do what is needed. Currently there are huge swaths of the state where renewable energy projects are not being built because expensive upgrades are necessary to connect to the grid. NYPA can use its resources to invest in interconnection and transmission in those areas, creating opportunities for both private and public projects to be built.
We call upon the NY Congressional Delegation, State Senate, allied unions, and 68% of New Yorkers who support BPRA to wield our collective power and demand Governor Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie pass the full Build Public Renewables Act. As for Anne Reynolds, Gavin Donohue, IPPNY and ACE: either help us pass the bill that will ensure a future for all, or get the hell out of the way.”
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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, and thousands of New Yorkers fighting to pass the Build Public Renewables Act, the nation’s biggest climate bill. It will enable New York to unleash the New York Power Authority, the country’s largest public power provider, to build publicly owned, 100% renewable energy; slash energy costs for those who need it most; and create tens of thousands of green union jobs that will finally unionize the green energy sector. The bill is endorsed by unions representing over 1 million members in New York including 1199SEIU, NYSUT, PSC-CUNY, UUP, and UAW 9A.
Read our report: Public Power & Climate Leadership: Feasibility of 100% Fossil-Free NYPA by 2030