FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8, 2024
Contact: Lee Ziesche, info@publicpowerny.org, 954-415-6228
New York Power Authority Renewable Draft Plan Falls Short Of State Climate Goals
WHITE PLAINS, NY — In response to the Renewables Strategic Plan draft released today by New York Power Authority CEO Justin Driscoll and the Board of Trustees, the Public Power New York coalition released the following statement:
“The Renewables Strategic Plan is an abrogation of NYPA’s responsibility to ensure that the state reaches 100% renewables by 2040, and their duty to New Yorkers to build a better future for future generations.
In 2019, just 4% of New York’s energy came from wind and solar power. That percentage has failed to move appreciably in the five years since. In the past decade, 70% of New York’s privately-owned renewable projects have been abandoned or canceled, including 4 gigawatts worth of offshore wind just this past April.
The 3.5 gigawatts proposal is undermined by a number of factors:
- NYPA expects that we could see an 80-85% attrition rate for early stage projects and a 30-60% rate for more developed projects.
- By the state’s own estimation, without new NYPA projects New York will only reach 44% renewable generation by 2030, falling short of the state’s legal mandate for 70% renewable generation by 2030. The draft plan does not go far enough to get New York to 70%.
NYPA has had over a year to plan for these contingencies, and should have planned to build enough capacity to account for attrition. By only proposing 3.5 gigawatts, NYPA is setting the stage to fail to meet their own inadequate targets.
This projected failure has real consequences for everyday New Yorkers. Thanks to the Build Public Renewables Act, renewable projects built by NYPA are mandated to use union labor through prevailing wage and project labor agreements. That means an ambitious buildout of projects would create thousands of well-paid green jobs. The law also directs NYPA to shutter their super-polluting peaker plants by 2030, while also providing electric bill credits for low-income electric ratepayers based on revenue from renewable generation. All of these benefits will be diminished without a robust public renewable buildout.
This is why our coalition and the tens of thousands of New Yorkers we represent sent 14,600 letters to Governor Hochul, Driscoll, and the Board demanding that NYPA build at least 15 gigawatts of public renewable energy by 2030. Such a plan would create between 20,000 and 30,000 green union jobs, keep the retirement and conversion of NYPA’s highly polluting peaker plants on schedule for 2030, and ensure electricity stays affordable for New Yorkers.
Amidst unprecedented Hurricanes Helene and Milton and climate devastation across the globe, we call on NYPA to go back to the drawing board and come back with a plan that fully utilizes the most powerful tool we have to get on track building public renewables.”
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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.