State energy official calls for swift action to build renewables

BY CAROLINE SPIVACK

New York has its work cut out for it to achieve the state’s ambitious climate mandates. But the mechanisms to invest in a clean energy economy have come into focus, thanks to a sweeping climate agenda laid out by Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget and the state’s Climate Action Council.

The challenge, according to Dorreen Harris, the president and CEO of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is moving quickly enough to build the infrastructure needed to reach net-zero emission by 2050.

Core pillars

Harris’ comments came during a live interview last week with Crain’s Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten, at which she highlighted core pillars of Hochul’s climate agenda. These pillars included the advancement of a cap-and-invest program, as recommended by the Climate Action Council, that would require fossil-fuel emitters to purchase allowances for each ton of pollution over a gradually declining cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and to invest the proceeds across sectors to achieve the state’s climate goals, along with new initiatives toward decarbonizing the state’s buildings.

“The governor’s executive budget is reflective of the fact that we in New York can now articulate what it takes to achieve our goals,” Harris said, referring to the 445-page blueprint approved by the Climate Action Council to comply with the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. “We have to act and we have to act in ways that are more expansive than ways we’ve have been working in today.”

Accelerating New York’s buildout of renewable energy is core to that work, Harris said, as by law New York has just eight years to more than double the share of electricity it uses that is generated from wind, solar and hydropower to 70%.

The state’s grid must grow to supply 75% more power by 2040, with infrastructure that allows it to be flexible with storing energy and drawing on it when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, she said.

Inflation and recent supply-chain issues have only added extra challenges to hitting these goals, Harris said.

“When I think about 2030 from the perspective of our grid readiness, it really is all about building out these renewables,” said Harris, who noted that there are about 120 renewable projects under contract with NYSERDA. The year “2030 isn’t that far away, and ultimately it has been a particularly challenging year for these projects, from the perspective of costs, inflation, delays.”

Transmission line projects and offshore wind rank highly in ramping up the state’s build-out, Harris said. For the state’s third round of solicitation for offshore wind projects, NYSERDA has received more than 100 proposals and plans to announce winners during the spring. Harris added that offshore wind in particular is “one of the main reasons that we can really advance goals,” especially toward greening the city’s grid. Fossil fuels currently power about 90% of the five boroughs’ electricity.

Making strides

Following the interview with Harris, Crain’s Publisher Fred P. Gabriel hosted a panel of sponsor-supported speakers who agreed that

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Location: 180 Central Park S. CrainsNewYork.com/marchforum the state is making strides in its energy development but must streamline approvals to move projects along quickly.

“I just want to underscore the fact that transmission [projects take] 10 years if you’re moving at lightning speed, right? And we have these goals that are 10 years out,” said Kelly Speakes-Backman, executive vice president of public affairs at Invenergy, which is one of three companies working on the Clean Path New York transmission project, which will stretch 179 miles from upstate to the city.

Ben Wilson, chief strategy and external affairs officer at National Grid, echoed Speakes-Backman’s concerns.

“We need to build, build, build,” said Wilson. “We really need to