New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled the 20th proposal of the 2018 State of the State: a comprehensive agenda to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and growing the clean energy economy.
Governor Cuomo will also direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to undertake a rule-making in 2018 to implement the 30% cap reduction of carbon dioxide to avoid nearly 133 million tons of additional carbon pollution region-wide from the electric power sector.
By further strengthening the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and welcoming new state members, New York aims to continue its progress in slashing emissions from existing fossil-fuel power plants. In addition, unprecedented commitments were announced to advance clean energy technologies, including offshore wind, solar, energy storage and energy efficiency, which will spur market development and create jobs across the state.
“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. “With this proposal, New York is taking bold action to fight climate change and protect our environment, while supporting and growing 21st century jobs in these cutting-edge renewable industries.”
The 2018 Clean Energy Jobs and Climate Agenda will build on the progress made to date under the Governor’s Reforming the Energy Vision policy, which includes the nation-leading Clean Energy Standard mandate to generate 50% of the state’s electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2030, as well as ambitious climate protection activities under the Environmental Protection Fund.
Governor Cuomo’s full 2018 Clean Energy Jobs and Climate Agenda can be viewed here. It includes the following:
To solicit proposals for offshore wind power. In the 2017 State of the State, Governor Cuomo took the bold step of establishing a target of up to 2.4 GW of offshore wind by 2030, the largest commitment to offshore wind power in U.S. history. To position New York as the leading offshore wind market in the United States and to drive competition, reduce costs, and create new well-paying jobs, this year Governor Cuomo is calling for a procurement of at least 800 MW of offshore wind power between two solicitations to be issued in 2018 and 2019, resulting in enough clean, renewable energy to power 400,000 New York households.
These solicitations will be the first in a set schedule to reach the 2030 target, will create competition among developers to build some of the largest offshore wind projects in the country, and will ensure that the resulting jobs and economic development benefits accrue across the state.
In addition, Governor Cuomo is directing NYSERDA to invest $15 million in clean energy workforce development and infrastructure advancement to train workers for jobs in this good-paying industry, including offshore wind construction, installation, operation, maintenance, design, and associated infrastructure. To attract private investment in port infrastructure and supply chain activities, Governor Cuomo is further directing NYSERDA to work with Empire State Development and other state agencies to determine the most promising public and private offshore wind port infrastructure investments.
These new actions will jumpstart project development, drive job growth and industry investments, and secure New York’s status as the undisputed home for the emerging offshore wind industry in the U.S.
Increase transmission of renewables by investing $200 million to meet an energy storage target of 1,500 MW by 2025. New York faces a number of energy-related challenges including upgrading its aging energy infrastructure, which carries with it an estimated $30 billion price tag over the next 10 years. Moreover, as renewable energy sources produce a larger share of New York’s electricity, the state must also address the intermittency of clean resources like wind and solar. Without methods to store the energy and dispatch it when and where it is needed, New York will face challenges integrating and maximizing the benefits of these clean resources.
To address these challenges, create jobs in research and development, and further New York’s climate and clean energy leadership, Governor Cuomo is launching an initiative to deploy 1,500 MW of energy storage by 2025 and employ 30,000 New Yorkers to establish New York as a home for this rapidly expanding clean tech industry. 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.
A 1,500-MW commitment by New York represents the largest such commitment per capita by any state. Building on the recently signed Energy Storage Deployment legislation, Governor Cuomo is directing state energy agencies and authorities to work together during 2018 to generate a pipeline of storage projects through utility procurements, advance regulatory changes in utility rates and wholesale energy markets, incorporate storage into criteria for large scale renewable procurements, and reduce regulatory barriers.
Invest $200 million from NY Green Bank to support energy storage. The Governor is also proposing a commitment of at least $200 million from NY Green Bank for storage-related investments to help drive down costs and to strategically deploy energy storage to where the grid needs it most.
Finally, the Governor is directing NYSERDA to invest at least $60 million through storage pilots and activities to reduce barriers to deploying energy storage, including permitting, customer acquisition, interconnection, and financing costs. In addition to utility procurements and regulatory changes, these investments will be critical to jumpstart the market and support robust and cost-effective project development on the way to achieving the 1,500-MW goal.
Read the full 2018 proposal here.
Filed Under: Energy storage, News, Policy
