FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Contact: info@publicpowerny.org
Good: $4 million for green job training
Bad: $0 for job creating renewables projects
Public renewable advocates call out Hochul’s hypocrisy
Albany, New York – Governor Kathy Hochul’s New York Power Authority (NYPA) is encouraging New York organizations to apply for funds for an important Clean Energy Workforce Training program and increasing funds for the program while at the same time back tracking on renewables and cutting 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of projects, killing 2,500 green union jobs.
Hochul also did not include any funding for public renewables projects in her initial proposed budget despite thousands of New Yorkers and elected officials calling for $200 million for public renewables to address the energy affordability crisis.
Said Public Power NY Campaigns Coordinator Alex Patterson: “Thanks to the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act thousands of New Yorkers are receiving clean energy job training, but if Governor Hochul keeps cutting public renewables projects there won’t be enough jobs for these new skilled workers. Building public renewables is the only way to put New Yorkers to work, lower energy bills and close polluting fossil fuel power plants in our communities. Governor Hochul must include $200 million for public renewables in this year’s state budget and create thousands of green union jobs by committing to building 15GW of projects.”
Since the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), NYPA has invested over $41 million in workforce development programs and is proposing to release an additional $4 million for seven initiatives. The BPRA, passed in 2023, authorizes NYPA to build and own renewable energy projects.
NYPA needs to build 15GW of public renewables for the state to meet its legally mandated climate targets and lower energy bills. Instead of leading the nation, NYPA recently backtracked on its strategic plan, approving a costly 1.5 gigawatt(GW) cut to the amount of renewables it plans to build.
A newly introduced bill, the Public Power Democracy Act, would make sure NYPA is capable of leading the nation to provide affordable, clean energy to New Yorkers by expanding the board of trustees to 17, making it more representative of key stakeholders and constituencies impacted by its work.
The additional $4million in workforce development funding will still need to be approved by the full NYPA board.
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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.
PUBLICPOWERNY.ORG
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Contact: info@publicpowerny.org
Good: $4 million for green job training
Bad: $0 for job creating renewables projects
Public renewable advocates call out Hochul’s hypocrisy
Albany, New York – Governor Kathy Hochul’s New York Power Authority (NYPA) is encouraging New York organizations to apply for funds for an important Clean Energy Workforce Training program and increasing funds for the program while at the same time back tracking on renewables and cutting 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of projects, killing 2,500 green union jobs.
Hochul also did not include any funding for public renewables projects in her initial proposed budget despite thousands of New Yorkers and elected officials calling for $200 million for public renewables to address the energy affordability crisis.
Said Public Power NY Campaigns Coordinator Alex Patterson: “Thanks to the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act thousands of New Yorkers are receiving clean energy job training, but if Governor Hochul keeps cutting public renewables projects there won’t be enough jobs for these new skilled workers. Building public renewables is the only way to put New Yorkers to work, lower energy bills and close polluting fossil fuel power plants in our communities. Governor Hochul must include $200 million for public renewables in this year’s state budget and create thousands of green union jobs by committing to building 15GW of projects.”
Since the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), NYPA has invested over $41 million in workforce development programs and is proposing to release an additional $4 million for seven initiatives. The BPRA, passed in 2023, authorizes NYPA to build and own renewable energy projects.
NYPA needs to build 15GW of public renewables for the state to meet its legally mandated climate targets and lower energy bills. Instead of leading the nation, NYPA recently backtracked on its strategic plan, approving a costly 1.5 gigawatt(GW) cut to the amount of renewables it plans to build.
A newly introduced bill, the Public Power Democracy Act, would make sure NYPA is capable of leading the nation to provide affordable, clean energy to New Yorkers by expanding the board of trustees to 17, making it more representative of key stakeholders and constituencies impacted by its work.
The additional $4million in workforce development funding will still need to be approved by the full NYPA board.
###
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.