Democratic Socialists: Deadly Heat Highlights Need for Public Renewables

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 2, 2026

Democratic Socialists: Deadly Heat Highlights Need for Public Renewables

Newly elected and incumbent Democratic Socialists at state and federal level call for publicly-owned renewable energy as solution to climate and energy affordability crises

New York, New York – As New Yorkers experience the suffocating effects of a climate-change driven heat dome and the state’s electric grid operator issues an energy watch, showing how precarious a grid relying on a patchwork of for profit companies is, incumbent and newly elected Democratic Socialists are demanding a solution: public renewables.

Assemblymember and Congressmember-elect Claire Valdez, said: “The potentially deadly temperatures we’re experiencing in New York now are the direct result of putting the greed of fossil fuel billionaires ahead of the needs of working class people. When we say workers deserve it all, that includes a liveable planet, affordable energy bills and clean water and air. I fought to secure $100 million for public renewables in the New York State budget and plan to bring that same energy to Washington D.C.”

Congressmember elect Darializa Avila Chevalier said, “Heatwaves are deadly, and the disproportionate impact they have on communities across the city is a policy failure, nothing less. Black and brown communities in upper Manhattan have been on the frontlines of climate change, where temperatures often rise higher than the rest of Manhattan due to a lack of climate infrastructure. Now, we are suffering even more with continuously scorching temperatures and skyrocketing electric bills. We deserve a better, more liveable future and that’s why I will fight for Public Power in Washington — so we can put thousands of union members to work building a cleaner, more affordable energy system that works for us all.”

Valdez says she will fight to establish a federal public power authority that will “plan and build new clean energy, support states and cities in acquiring and forming publicly-owned utilities, and finance the infrastructure and supply chains necessary to decarbonize our energy system.” Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros also supports public renewables and publicly-owned utilities.

Support for Public Power is growing at the state level in New York as well. 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 Build Public Renewables Act, which authorizes New York Power Authority to build and own renewable energy projects.

Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said, “All across the state, people are facing life-threatening heat. For many, access to energy to cool themselves could be the difference between life and death. But we know what’s causing and exacerbating the record-breaking heat we face—fossil fuel consumption. The call to action is clear: We must transition off fossil fuels to renewables as quickly as possible, and we must treat energy like the public good that it is. The best way to ensure New Yorkers continue to be safe and healthy is to build 15 GW of public renewable energy.”

Democratic nominee for New York State Senate District 12, Aber Kawas, said: “We’re seeing extreme heat waves in New York and around the world. This is the cost of politicians failing to act on the climate crisis, and these policy choices affect all of us. Outrageous energy bills are making our city even more unaffordable, while our fossil fuel dependence inflames war and imperialism overseas. New York has the opportunity to be a global leader by investing in publicly owned renewable energy, but it will take the political courage to stand up to the fossil fuel industry. We can’t afford a hotter world—we need to build Public Power now to ensure future generations can inherit a livable planet.”

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez said, “NYC is under an extreme heat warning with dangerously high temperatures. Climate change is here, and we are currently dealing with the consequences of fossil fuel dependence. We need to invest in public renewable energy to fight climate change and improve our quality of life today. That’s why we passed the Build Public Renewables Act, and why I fought to secure $100 million in funding in this year’s budget to build the maximum amount of publicly owned, publicly operated renewable energy.”

Adam Bojak, Democratic nominee for NY Assembly District 149 said, “This current heat wave is not normal – we can, and must, do everything in our power to curb climate change and protect not only our environment, but our shared human future. In Western New York the New York Power Authority already generates low-cost renewable energy through hydro power, now we need them to lead our grid transition by building 15 GW of public renewables to bring the benefits statewide.”

Assemblymember Phara Souffrant-Forrest said, “The climate crisis is a public health crisis and our most vulnerable neighbors are at risk today because Governor Hochul has chosen the interest of fossil fuel billionaires and for-profit utilities over everyday New Yorkers. Our lives and the lives of future New Yorkers depend on us leading the nation now and building 15 gigawatts of public renewables.”

Democratic nominee for Assembly District 37 Samantha Kattan said, “Political leaders have let the fossil fuel industry run rampant for decades, and New Yorkers are paying the price with dangerous heat waves that threaten the lives of workers, the elderly, and people struggling with high utility bills. We need public renewables in New York City and beyond to protect us from blackouts, bring energy bills under control, and shut down super-polluting fossil fuel plants.

Assemblymember Diana Moreno said, “New Yorkers are facing a dangerous heat wave that threatens our health and traps us in a loop of fossil fuel consumption. When energy use skyrockets on the hottest days, we rely on dirty peaker plants that pollute communities like Astoria. Our district is already known as “Asthma Alley” because of our neighborhood’s disproportionate rates of respiratory illnesses. The increased need for power during extreme weather will only worsen the problem. But instead of taking action to prevent these conditions, leaders in Albany and Washington are doubling down on fossil fuels and rolling back our climate laws. Enough is enough. As socialists, we know the solution to ending the climate crises and its health impact on our families is to build public renewable energy to protect our future, lower utility bills, and create green union jobs. The time is now.”

Eon Huntley, Democratic nominee for Assembly District 56 said, “Today, every New Yorker is feeling the urgency of building public renewables–a common-sense policy we should already be enacting. New Yorkers have voted for public power champions to build clean energy and break up monopoly utilities, the companies who right now are profiting as New York suffers.”

The New York budget approved this year includes $100 million for public renewables, a bright spot amidst Hochul’s devastating rollbacks to New York’s climate law. New Yorkers have called on the state to build at least 15 gigawatts of renewable projects by 2030.

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Note to the editor:

About Public Power NY

As chronicled in the new book “Organize or Burn.” Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.