Pursuant to Executive Order No. 2 of 2008, the 2009 New York State Energy Plan is now available in draft form. The purpose of the plan is to:
set forth a vision for a robust and innovative Clean Energy Economy that will stimulate investment, create jobs, and meet the energy needs of residents and businesses over its 10-year planning horizon. To that end, the Plan provides the framework within which the State will reliably meet its future energy needs in a cost-effective and sustainable manner, establishes policy objectives to guide State agencies and authorities as they address energy-related issues, and sets forth strategies and recommendations to achieve these objectives.
The draft plan includes assessments on energy demand, price, and efficiency; renewable energy; electricity resources, markets and modeling; natural gas; petroleum; and coal. Issue briefs are also available on topics including energy infrastructure, siting of new energy infrastructure, environmental justice, climate change, and environmental impacts of energy systems.
Public hearings will be held between August 18 and September 26 on the plan. Comments may be submitted until October 9, 2009, and may be submitted electronically.
The plan is available here, and more information on the State’s Climate Action Plan, ordered by Governor Paterson, is available here. Read more below for additional detail on the Plan’s draft strategies and recommendations.
Some notable strategies and recommendations of the draft plan include:
- Produce, Deliver and Use Energy More Efficiently
- Implement programs to achieve the State‟s goal of reducing electricity use by 15 percent below 2015 forecasts.
- Update the State‟s Energy Code, and improve training and compliance initiatives.
- Increase the efficiency of our electric system through expanded demand response programs, deployment of “Smart Grid” technologies, and real time pricing rate structures.
- Implement alternative financing programs to fund energy efficiency retrofits.
- Support Development of In-State Energy Supplies
- Create a tracking and trading system for renewable energy credits to foster the voluntary market for renewable energy purchases.
- Encourage deployment of distributed generation (DG) through improved net metering laws.
- Encourage development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation with environmental safeguards that are protective of water supplies and natural resources.
- Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure
- Enact a power plant siting law that provides for early and meaningful public participation with ample intervener funding, early identification of environmental justice concerns and a time limit for a decision.
- Enact Carbon Capture and Sequestration legislation that will provide a siting process to guide the demonstration of this new and promising technology.
- Support the upgrade and replacement of aging transmission and distribution infrastructure to maintain electric system reliability.
- Amend Article VII of the Public Service Law (PSL), the transmission siting statute, to provide for intervenor funding to improve public participation.
- Stimulate Innovation in the Clean Energy Economy
- Increase local demand for clean energy technologies through the State‟s clean energy programs.
- Foster collaboration among academia, research and development organizations, national laboratories, and private businesses and industry to accelerate the commercialization of emerging clean energy technologies by New York-based firms.
- Foster regional clusters of clean energy businesses and institutions.
- Engage Others in Achieving the State’s Policy Objectives
- Amend the City, Town, Village, and General Municipal Laws to incorporate energy considerations in Comprehensive Plans.
- Encourage local adoption of Smart Growth policies and strategies, and the adoption of local Climate Action Plans by providing State technical assistance and funding opportunities to local governments.
- Encourage development and growth along existing mass transportation routes, i.e., transit oriented development.
- Develop energy facility siting and permitting criteria that assess disproportionate health risks and environmental impacts on potential environmental justice areas.
- Provide and enhance mechanisms for early, fair and meaningful public involvement with transparency in energy-related decisions.
SPR will track significant developments relating to the above recommendations and strategies as they evolve in the public comment process, through the ultimate adoption of the final State Energy Plan.
SPR has decades of experience in siting of energy infrastructure. Contact us for assistance in evaluating the draft plan, commenting on its contents, or assessing its impacts on your business or organization. Read more about SPR’s environmental practice areas, and see examples of our work.
