NYSERDA Update
It has been a busy few months here at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and we are pleased to provide the section with this update. In October 2022, NYSERDA was proud to welcome six new real estate partnerships to the state’s $50 million Empire Building Challenge to help advance a climate-friendly building stock in New York State. We also made $18.1 million available through the Natural Carbon Solutions Innovation Challenge for the development of innovative nature-based solutions that lower emissions and sequester carbon through novel products and services.
In November, we ramped up our efforts with three major announcements. At the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado and NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris unveiled 10 grand prize awards as part of the $85 million New York Clean Transportation Prizes program to enhance clean transportation, improve mobility options, and reduce harmful emissions through innovative transportation solutions. These efforts don’t just protect the environment and improve the air we breathe, they also create jobs. The 2022 Clean Energy Industry Report released right after Thanksgiving showed that the number of individuals with clean energy jobs in New York State reached a record level of 165,000 workers at the end of 2021, helping to lead New York’s COVID-19 economic recovery by recouping the clean energy jobs lost in 2020 and significantly exceeding pre-COVID-19 clean energy employment levels.
Speaking of jobs, it was quite a scene in Whitehall, New York where Gov. Kathy Hochul was joined by the Premier of Quebec and Grand Chief Sky Deer of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke to celebrate the start of construction of the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, being developed by Transmission Developers Inc., to deliver reliable clean energy from Hydro-Québec in Canada directly to New York City. The construction of this green infrastructure project, which begins following the execution of a major union labor agreement between the developer and New York State Building and Construction Trades, is expected to bring $3.5 billion in economic benefits to New Yorkers while creating nearly 1,400 family-sustaining union jobs during construction.
The momentum continued as we moved into December. The governor kicked off the month with $52 million in awards to establish 12 Regional Clean Energy Hubs to serve as centers of outreach, awareness, and education in regions across New York State and help foster residents’ participation, especially those in underserved or otherwise disadvantaged communities, in New York’s clean energy transition. Then right before Christmas, a robust public comment period that included 11 public hearings across the state and more than 35,000 written comments, New York State’s Climate Action Council, co-chaired by NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris and Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos, approved and adopted the New York State Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, which outlines recommended policies and actions to help meet the goals and requirements of the nation-leading Climate Act. One would think we were done. But right before the end of last year, NYSERDA and DPS submitted Energy Storage Roadmap 2.0 to the Public Service Commission proposing a comprehensive set of recommendations to expand New York’s energy storage programs to achieve six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030, cost-effectively unlocking the rapid growth of renewable energy across the state to bolster grid reliability and customer resilience. If approved, the Roadmap will support a buildout of storage deployments estimated to reduce projected future statewide electric system costs by nearly $2 billion, in addition to further benefits in the form of improved public health because of reduced exposure to harmful fossil fuel pollutants.
To kick off 2023, Gov. Hochul unveiled a bold climate agenda as part of her 2023 State of the State, proposing two key initiatives: first, the governor directed NYSERDA and DEC to advance an economy-wide Cap-and-Invest Program that establishes a declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions, invests in programs that drive emissions reductions in an equitable manner prioritizing disadvantaged communities, limits costs to economically vulnerable households, and maintains the competitiveness of New York industries. In addition, Gov. Hochul will propose legislation to create a universal Climate Action Rebate that is expected to drive more than $1 billion in future cap-and-invest proceeds to New Yorkers every year. Second, she announced investments in energy affordability and clean and efficient buildings, the proposal for which will create the Energy Affordability Guarantee to ensure participating New Yorkers never pay more than 6% of their incomes on electricity and will provide $200 million in relief for utility bills for up to 800,000 New York households earning under $75,000 a year that are not eligible for the state’s current utility discount program. And to tackle the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Hochul announced an ambitious package of building decarbonization initiatives, including for zero-emission new construction and the phaseout of the sale of new fossil fuel heating equipment. NYSERDA recognizes the scale and pace of work is growing rapidly. With that in mind, we were proud when NYSERDA’s board of directors appointed Anthony Fiore as the new chief program officer in charge of overseeing the programs to help us advance our mission.
Just last month, NYSERDA welcomed Vermont as a sign-on to a multi-state agreement, joining with New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, to develop a proposal to become one of up to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs designated through the federal Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub of seven states and more than 100 clean hydrogen ecosystem partners is moving forward to develop and submit a full proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy to compete for funding through the $8 billion program. In the coming months, you will see many more success stories hit the headlines as we continue to make progress toward the achievement of our climate and clean energy goals.
We hope section members will be on the lookout for the results of New York’s third offshore wind solicitation which closed earlier this year. NYSERDA received a robust response to this solicitation, with more than 100 total proposals for eight new projects from six offshore wind energy developers, representing a record-setting level of competition among East Coast states. The high volume of quality proposals from leading global energy developers is a testament to the state’s ability to attract strong competition and significant investments in New York’s clean energy economy, ports, and the development of long-term domestic supply chains. These awards will be bolstered by the sixth round of large-scale renewable energy awards expected to come this summer following the close of the active solicitation this spring.
It is, as section members know well, a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the world we live in for the better, and NYSERDA will continue to be a leader in driving change for all New Yorkers.
Janice Dean is Deputy General Counsel at NYSERDA, where she advises on clean energy programs and nuclear waste cleanup. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
