How NY is Leveraging Renewables to Make Energy Clean, Resilient, and Affordable
New York has long been a leader on advancing climate solutions. Echoing earlier efforts, leaders in the state have recently laid out plans that rethink the state’s energy system. The plan involves a series of ambitious new programs that seek to transform the way New Yorkers get their energy—making it cleaner, greener, and more affordable. Heading this effort will be Richard Kauffman, the state’s new energy Czar.
The plan is multifaceted and the implementation complex—but the aims are simple: to decrease carbon emissions by 40% over the next fifteen years, and draw 50% of its energy from renewables. To accomplish this, a series of new policies must be implemented. This includes investments in rooftop solar, home battery and energy storage, and improved energy management systems. For transportation, officials hope to incentivize electric vehicles and even integrate EV batteries into the electrical grid.
Climate solutions are increasingly being left to state and local governments. And leaders are stepping up to the challenge. Through ambitious action plans, municipal and community official can affect real change. Find out how your city can begin to lead on climate by visiting Path to Positive Communities.
New York is transforming its energy systems. Meet the “czar” in charge.
By David Roberts | Vox | November 20, 2015
New York is in the midst of a comprehensive, wildly ambitious plan to reform its energy systems, aiming to make them more resilient, cleaner, and more affordable. By 2030, the state aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent (from 1990 levels) and draw 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources.
Behind those broad goals is an enormous range of programs, primarily focused on electricity, from research to financing to utility reform. Under the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program, its electric utilities will be restructured to allow for more market competition and more distributed energy resources like rooftop solar panels, batteries, and home energy management systems. (I wrote about NY REV in some detail in this post.)