For anyone paying attention, the ambitious 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) raised serious questions about how New York intends to achieve near-net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. Electrification of cars and building heating systems will be key. But that begs the question of how the state will meet the demand for electricity. Electric cars and electric heaters are only as carbon-free as the generating sources powering them. In 2019 only about a quarter of the electricity generated in New York came from renewable sources, primarily hydropower. To achieve CLCPA’s ambitious goals, New York must dramatically expand renewable energy production and intra-state transmission of that energy.

Buried in the 2020 budget bill is a new law intended to make it easier to do just that. The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act aims to speed up the review and approval process for wind and solar facilities by taking the process away from the Department of Public Service’s New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment, and giving site permit authority to a new Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) within the Department of State. Draft rules have been issued, and ORES will be holding hearings and accepting comments in the coming weeks. This article summarizes the Act, its draft implementing regulations, and the challenges that remain.

New York’s Climate and Energy Goals