New York State Energy Plan Lacks Focus on Renewable Energy, Climate Change

ALBANY, NY – The New York State Energy Planning Board today adopted a State Energy Plan. According to NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) experts, the plan fails to prioritize proven, cost-effective clean energy solutions and instead opens the door to increased, unnecessary, fossil fuel investments. NRDC submitted comments to the draft plan in October.

The following statement is from Chris Casey, Utility Regulatory Director for New York, at NRDC:

“At a time when New Yorkers are facing higher bills and growing reliability and health risks, this State Energy Plan fails to lean into the most effective, lowest-cost solutions available — energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean electrification — and instead opens the door to increased fossil fuel dependence and other high-cost, speculative approaches. This failure of state leadership risks locking New Yorkers into higher and more volatile energy costs for decades to come.

“The State Energy Plan was an opportunity to advance policies and programs to benefit our state and residents, deliver long-term affordability, and protect them from the air pollution that will result from federal rollbacks. The State should be focused on implementing a cap-and-invest program through the Clean Air Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas and toxic air emissions as required by the CLCPA and deliver huge benefits, including energy bill savings, to New Yorkers. 

“The Plan falls short of delivering the best, cheapest, most equitable and resilient clean electric infrastructure on the large and small scales through large-scale renewables like offshore wind and empowered consumers that can participate in distributed energy and load flexibility, reducing customer and system costs for everyone.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.