FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, November 3, 2025
Contact: info@publicpowerny.org
Hochul Admits For-Profit Model Fails Climate
Still Ignoring Most Powerful Tool: Public Renewables
Albany, New York – After a court ordered Governor Kathy Hochul to stop breaking the state’s climate law, she claimed for-profit corporations are to blame for New York not building enough renewables to meet the legally mandated goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). This omits the fact that New York State has the power to make up the gap.
A movement of thousands of New Yorkers, Congressional Democrats including AOC, and Assembly Members like Zohran Mamdani are calling on Hochul to build at least 15GW of public renewables by 2030 for New York to meet the legally mandated goals of the CLCPA.
The Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), passed in 2023, authorizes the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build and own renewable energy projects, giving the state a powerful tool to to meet the CLCPA mandates, but instead of fully utilizing NYPA, Hochul has embraced Trump’s energy policy and is considering fracked gas pipelines and expensive nuclear power for Big Tech’s data centers.
The Public Power NY Coalition released the following statement: “Governor Hochul has finally admitted what climate advocates and energy experts have been warning for years: that for-profit corporations won’t save us from the climate crisis. There is only one shovel-ready solution that will lower utility bills and save our future: building 15 gigawatts of publicly-owned renewables, as she is already empowered to do. It’s time for Kathy Hochul to make a choice. Will she lead the nation and create 25,000 union jobs to build 15GW of public renewables or will she let Trump destroy New York’s clean energy future?”
Following massive public outcry, NYPA updated its strategic plan to implement BPRA this summer, doubling the amount of projects it plans to build from a paltry 3.3 GW to 7GW. If NYPA can add almost 4GW of renewables in just six months, it can add enough to get the state to 15GW by 2030.
###
Note to the editor:
About Public Power NY
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.