{"id":3244,"date":"2025-09-08T08:25:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T12:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/?p=3244"},"modified":"2025-09-08T08:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T12:25:35","slug":"new-yorks-energy-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/new-yorks-energy-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s Energy Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>New York regulators have developed a draft of the state\u2019s next <a href=\"https:\/\/energyplan.ny.gov\/\">energy plan<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/energyplan.ny.gov\/Get-Involved\/Hearings\">public hearing<\/a> process has begun. <a href=\"https:\/\/codes.findlaw.com\/ny\/energy-law\/#!tid=N51F43C80A87E11DE8ABDC55B2AF7398D\">The Energy Law<\/a> requires key state agencies to develop a plan to assess the state\u2019s energy needs, energy supplies, climate impacts, and related issues and plan for at least the next decade. Not surprisingly, the draft energy plan is controversial: For example, the plan reflects the Hochul Administration\u2019s embrace of the state\u2019s aging nuclear power plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to giving New Yorkers a chance to weigh in on the draft plan, the public hearing process is an opportunity for opponents of the state\u2019s Climate Law to <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/3b3de28bf533\/nyserda-public-comment-schedule-ignores-needs-of-too-many-new-yorkers?e=b4ed2211f6\">rally<\/a> the troops and urge a weakening of that landmark law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the Climate Law?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Law) was signed into law. The Climate Law is among the most ambitious climate laws in the nation and requires New York to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels. On the road to the 2050 goal, the Climate Law requires that the state achieve interim goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>70 percent renewable energy by 2030;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>40 percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Those interim goals were designed to ensure that the state meets the overall goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Where did <em>that<\/em> goal come from? It is based on the best climate science available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The world\u2019s climate experts are members of the United Nations\u2019 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC has been putting out regular reports on the growing threats caused by a warming planet. Its April 2022 report resulted in a clarion <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2022\/04\/1115452\">call<\/a> from the report\u2019s co-chair: \u201cIt\u2019s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C (2.7\u00b0F); without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.\u201d Seven months later, the U.N. Secretary General <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2022\/04\/1115452\">stated<\/a>, \u201cGreenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. <em>We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three years later, if anything the situation is worse. Last year was the <a href=\"https:\/\/wmo.int\/news\/media-centre\/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level#:~:text=There%20is%20a%20margin%20of,critical%20indicator%20of%20climate%20change.\">hottest<\/a> on record and exceeded the <a href=\"https:\/\/wmo.int\/news\/media-centre\/wmo-confirms-2024-warmest-year-record-about-155degc-above-pre-industrial-level\">1.5\u00b0C (2.7\u00b0F)<\/a> goal that the climate experts called for in 2022 and that was the basis of the worldwide climate <a href=\"https:\/\/unfccc.int\/process-and-meetings\/the-paris-agreement\">agreement<\/a> signed in Paris in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If anything, last year should have jolted policymakers into action. In Washington, the only actions undo recent progress and further accelerate the damage to the climate. Here in New York, the oil industry and its allies\u2019 \u201caffordability\u201d campaign has been forcing state regulators onto their back foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the attacks, it is quite clear that the rising costs in electricity rates have little to do with the Climate Law. It is true that New York\u2019s residential electricity rates are high, however, relative to the nation\u2019s. In 2018 \u2013 the year before the state Climate Law was signed \u2013 New York\u2019s residential electricity rates were <a href=\"https:\/\/positivechangepc.com\/electricity-rates-in-your-state-2019\/\">ranked<\/a> the seventh-highest in the nation; today they are still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/beta\/states\/states\/ny\/rankings\">ranked<\/a> seventh highest. Still high to be sure, but the impact of the Climate Law\u2019s passage didn\u2019t make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, the amount of energy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osc.ny.gov\/files\/reports\/pdf\/renewable-electricity-in-nys.pdf#:~:text=4%20As%20of%202022%2C%20approximately%2029%20percent,percent%20primarily%20split%20between%20wind%20and%20solar.\">generated<\/a> by wind and solar continues to be a very small percentage of the electricity generated in the state (around 10%). How could such a small percentage substantially drive increases in electricity costs? It can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet that hasn\u2019t stopped opponents of the Climate Law from stating otherwise. Opponents are <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/08\/01\/opinion\/to-make-ny-affordable-gov-hochul-should-scrap-her-all-electric-plan-and-push-gas\/\">arguing<\/a> that it is the Climate Law that is making New York\u2019s electricity rates too high, all in an effort to block \u2013 or at least slow down \u2013 action in New York. This campaign is just the latest in the decades-long efforts by the fossil fuel industry and its allies to block climate protection policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of \u201caffordability,\u201d maintaining the state\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels \u2013 or even expanding it \u2013 will make the costs of energy much <em>worse<\/em>. After the Climate Law was passed the state convened a panel of \u201cstakeholders\u201d to develop a detailed <a href=\"https:\/\/climate.ny.gov\/resources\/scoping-plan\/\">blueprint<\/a> to meet the law\u2019s milestone goals. Among its findings was that unless measures were taken, New Yorkers faced a considerable<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyserda.ny.gov\/About\/Newsroom\/2022-Announcements\/2022-12-19-NYS-Climate-Action-Council-Finalizes-Scoping-Plan-to-Advance-Nation-Leading-Climate-Law#:~:text=Smart%20infrastructure%20investments%20for%20a,.\"> <\/a>financial risk from climate-change impacts. The blueprint <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyserda.ny.gov\/About\/Newsroom\/2022-Announcements\/2022-12-19-NYS-Climate-Action-Council-Finalizes-Scoping-Plan-to-Advance-Nation-Leading-Climate-Law#:~:text=Smart%20infrastructure%20investments%20for%20a.\">estimated<\/a> <em>\u201cthe cost of inaction in New York State exceed[s] the cost of action by more than $115 billion.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are legitimate criticisms of New York\u2019s efforts to implement the Climate Law, mainly its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osc.ny.gov\/state-agencies\/audits\/2024\/04\/24\/application-review-and-site-permitting-major-renewable-energy-projects?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery\">too slow execution efforts<\/a> and its growing ratepayer subsidies of nuclear power \u2013 both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/new-york-considers-subsidizing-upstate-nuclear-plants-until-2050\/\">old plants<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/energy-oil\/new-york-to-build-one-of-first-u-s-nuclear-power-plants-in-generation-271cfd33\">new ones<\/a> \u2013 that will costs tens of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the Climate Law is not a problem. Global warming from the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting \u2013 and worsening \u2013 climate disaster is the problem. New York needs to take an even more aggressive approach to advancing renewable forms of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is only through aggressive climate action that New York can show the nation and the world how to avert an even more catastrophic environmental disaster. Change is hard, but when it comes to our energy policies, the <em>status quo<\/em> is literally unsustainable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York regulators have developed a draft of the state\u2019s next energy plan and a public hearing process has begun. The Energy Law requires key state agencies to develop a plan to assess the state\u2019s energy needs, energy supplies, climate impacts, and related issues and plan for at least the next decade. Not surprisingly, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3245,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3244\/revisions\/3245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nypirg.org\/capitolperspective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}