FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Contact: Michael Paulson  info@publicpowerny.org,917-690-0520

Public Power NY Responds to State Update on Build Public Renewables Implementation

White Plains, New York – Today the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Board of Trustees gave an update on the state’s plan to build publicly owned renewable energy, doubling the amount from three gigawatts (GW) to six.   

NYPA’s initial plan under CEO Justin Driscoll failed to put the state on track for New York to meet its legally mandated climate targets of 70% renewables by 2030. New Yorkers submitted an unprecedented 5,300 public comments in just two months calling for the state to build more.

The new plan will not be approved until December, a timeline advocates say doesn’t meet the urgency of the climate crisis. NYPA is also dragging its feet on closing its polluting peaker plants in Environmental Justice neighborhoods.      

The Public Power NY Coalition released the following statement:

“Thanks to the powerful organizing of everyday New Yorkers, NYPA is doubling the amount of public renewables it is building from 3GW to 6GW. While 6GW is nowhere near enough, it shows NYPA can build even more than the 15GW necessary for us to meet the state’s climate goals, by adding 3 more GW yearly. We call on NYPA to make that commitment. 

NYPA and CEO Justin Driscoll must also stop stalling on retiring super polluting, racist peaker plants.  Thanks to the Build Public Renewables Act, NYPA has the power to build enough renewables to end this public health disaster: all that’s lacking is the leadership to get it done.” 

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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.