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New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed a USD$200 million investment to assist the state’s private sector in meeting an energy storage target of 1,500MW by 2025.
Earlier today, Governor Cuomo unveiled the 20th proposal of the 2018 State of the State, which contained a slew of initiatives to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and boost its energy security.
“New Yorkers know too well the devastation caused by climate change, and in order to slow the effects of extreme weather and build our communities to be stronger and more resilient, we must make significant investments in renewable energy,” Governor Cuomo said.
The energy storage initiative would employ 30,000 New Yorkers and it’s claimed to be the largest commitment of its type in the USA on a per-capita basis. The $200 million helping hand would be provided by NY Green Bank; a state-sponsored financial entity working with the private sector to increase investments into the state’s clean energy markets.
“Achieving this ambitious goal will produce $2 billion in energy value to New Yorkers by reducing the reliance on costly, dirty and inefficient energy infrastructure, while also helping to scale up the clean energy industry.”
Community Solar For Low Income Households
Building on the governor’s Energy Affordability Policy, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will be directed to use its purchasing power to acquire community solar subscriptions and provide them at zero cost to more than 10,000 low-income New Yorkers.
Offshore Wind Power
The governor has called for a procurement of a minimum 800 megawatts of offshore wind power between two rounds to be issued this year and next, which would provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of 400,000 New York households. Last year the governor set a target of up to 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. NYSERDA has also been directed to invest $15 million to train workers for the sector.
New Energy Efficiency Targets
A pair of government agencies have been directed to propose a new 2025 energy efficiency target. A “comprehensive and far-reaching” energy efficiency initiative will also be tabled by Earth Day, which occurs this year on April 22.
Goodbye Coal – Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out
Governor Cuomo has directed the Department of Environmental Conservation to adopt regulations ending the use of coal in the state’s power plants by 2020. In the interim, a regional greenhouse gas initiative will be expanded to reduce emissions from the highest polluting “peaker” power plants.
Federal Climate Advisory Committee To Reconvene
The governor will also reconvene the Federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment, which was dumped last year by the Trump Administration.
In 2017, the governors of New York, California and Washington State kick-started the Climate Alliance in response to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
More on the 20th Proposal of the 2018 State of the State can be viewed here.
According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, Renewables made up 24.4% of New York’s utility-scale net electricity generation as at September 2017, with the majority coming from hydro. In 2016, New York sourced more than 1 million megawatt-hours of electricity from solar power generation for the first time, with 84% of that electricity generated by distributed sources such as rooftop solar panel systems.
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