This week, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”), the state’s clean energy agency, issued a proposal to make a $1.5 billion, 10-year commitment to large-scale renewable energy projects in New York -- and all thanks to action from the Sierra Club and nine other groups.
Since its inception in 2004, New York State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (“RPS”) has been a highly cost-effective driver of large scale renewable energy for New York ratepayers. New York’s large scale renewable energy projects will contribute a total of $2.7 billion in direct economic investments statewide, have added approximately 670 jobs annually to New York’s workforce, and will reduce CO2 emissions by 50 million tons over the life of the projects.
Despite these benefits, the RPS is set to expire at the end of 2015. Without a new long-term program in place, New York risked losing billions of dollars in economic investment and millions of tons of CO2 emissions reductions as renewable developers took their projects elsewhere. To avoid this downturn, over the past year the Sierra Club and other clean energy groups have called for a 10-year funding commitment to a new and improved large-scale renewables program. Due to these efforts, in February the New York Public Service Commission (“PSC”) directed NYSERDA to issue an options paper to offer recommendations for extending and enhancing the state’s cost-effective large scale renewable energy program.
To better shape NYSERDA’s filing, in April the Sierra Club, along with Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Inc, American Wind Energy Association, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Environmental Advocates of New York, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Nature Conservancy, Pace Energy And Climate Center, and Renewable Energy Long Island, submitted recommendations to the PSC calling for a new 50% by 2025 renewable energy target, long-term contracts and flexible procurements to achieve that target, and development of diverse renewable technologies such as offshore wind.
This week, the Club’s efforts were rewarded with NYSERDA’s options paper adopting the Club’s core objective for a 10-year funding commitment and recommending the use of long-term contracts and flexible procurements to achieve the maximum amount of renewable energy at the lowest cost. This program, buoyed by a new renewable energy target expected in the state’s forthcoming Final Energy Plan, will ensure that renewable developers continue to invest in New York, producing billions of dollars in economic and environmental benefits for New Yorkers, creating jobs and stimulating investment while also reducing emissions and New York’s dependency on fossil fuels.
This is great news for New Yorkers, and we look forward to seeing the continued expansion of clean energy in the Empire State.