NECEC enthusiastically applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state of New York for yesterday’s announcement of New York’s Green New Deal, the most ambitious plan in the country to advance clean energy solutions and create thousands of new jobs in the industry. Full details of the plan, which will power the state’s electricity system with 100% clean energy by 2040, can be found here. Highlights including the following:

• Raising the state’s Clean Energy Standard to achieve 70% clean energy by 2030
• Procuring 9,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind by 2035
• Increasing distributed solar deployment to 6,000 MW by 2025
• Deploying 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030
• Establishing the Climate Action Council to achieve a 100% carbon neutral economy
• Announcing $1.5 billion in competitive awards for large-scale clean energy projects
• Investing $200 million in offshore wind supply chain capital and infrastructure
• Developing a Net Zero Roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality in buildings
• Increasing the effectivity of programs supporting low-income energy customers
• Establishing the CarbonWorks Foundry incubator and accelerator to develop technologies to mitigate climate change

“The plan set forth by Governor Cuomo is certainly ambitious, often doubling or quadrupuling previously set targets, but it is exactly the kind of detailed, innovative, and comprehensive commitment necessary to rapidly facilitate the transition to a clean energy economy,” said NECEC President Peter Rothstein. “We commend New York for its bold leadership and hope it inspires other states in the Northeast and across the nation to step up in similar fashion. The threat of climate change has never been more dire, and it is policies like this Green New Deal that will galvanize the clean energy industry around the work of innovating and implementing the smart, robust climate solutions necessary to meet our emissions targets.”