{"id":4668,"date":"2025-10-16T11:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T11:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/4668\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T11:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T11:49:13","slug":"trump-admin-complicates-new-yorks-clean-energy-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/4668\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump admin complicates New York\u2019s clean-energy plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News<\/a>, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a recent visit to a Long Island power station, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright criticized Biden-era policies that supported the development of renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of that money allocated under the Biden administration that was to encourage business and utilities to \u2026 spend money to make electricity more expensive and less reliable,\u201d Wright said during a press conference.<\/p>\n

The next day, the Trump administration announced<\/a> the termination of 321 awards, claiming $7.5 billion in cuts for clean-energy projects. Inside Climate News recently reported<\/a> that many of these awards were already past their end date.<\/p>\n

Empire Clean Cities, which promotes the advancement of alternative fuels and alternative-fuel vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, was among the organizations that had its funds cut.<\/p>\n

The Manhattan-based nonprofit will lose more than 90% of the funds for its $1.7 million award. So far, Empire Clean Cities had received only $162,631 of its award for a project designed to reduce emissions in Hunts Point in the Bronx, according to federal spending data<\/a>. Largely due to truck traffic, this neighborhood has an annual child asthma hospitalization rate<\/a> double the citywide average.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where folks live and work, and so they see every day the impact of truck traffic emissions on their air quality, on their health,\u201d said Joy Gardner, the executive director of Empire Clean Cities. \u201cThis was a real opportunity to make a drastic change in just the general quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunts Point attracts a high volume of freight traffic partly due to its proximity to food centers, including the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center. The city estimates<\/a> that the center distributes around 4.5 billion pounds of food every year.<\/p>\n

Empire Clean Cities is on the cusp of publishing an electrification plan for Hunts Point, with engagement from local businesses, communities, and city agencies. The plan would offer a pathway to electrification for vehicles operating in the neighborhood\u2014and subsequently help alleviate the health issues many residents face.<\/p>\n

Though Gardner said the plan is likely to still be published, other aspects of the plan could be delayed or may not happen at all. The nonprofit planned to install six fast-charging electric ports in the neighborhoods, for personal and freight vehicles, according to Gardner.<\/p>\n

Empire Clean Cities also planned to provide technical assistance to businesses looking to electrify their truck fleets and information sessions for community members who might want to buy an electric vehicle. According to federal spending data<\/a>, the nonprofit would \u201cundertake an extensive suite of community outreach activities designed to break down the knowledge barriers preventing [electric vehicle] adoption in the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really disappointing not to be able to take this over the finish line, especially with just a year left on the grant,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cWe would have been able to do a tremendous amount with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> about the grant cancellations, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said, \u201cThese cuts directly impact local businesses and major companies, putting workers out of jobs, shuttering factories, and slowing our state\u2019s economic progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to questions from Inside Climate News, Ken Lovett, Hochul\u2019s senior communications advisor on energy and environment, wrote that the announcement \u201ccame as no surprise given the Trump administration\u2019s full-on assault on clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration announced the termination of 321 grants on Oct. 2. An Inside Climate News analysis<\/a> of federal government spending data<\/a> for the awards found that only 188 were still active, according to their stated end dates, at the end of September.<\/p>\n

ICN subtracted money already sent to recipients from the sums obligated to be spent, calculating a total of $4.87 billion in cuts<\/a>, roughly two-thirds of the dollar amount announced by the Department of Energy.<\/p>\n

For recipients based in New York state, 20 awards were still active when the Trump administration announced the cuts. After accounting for the money already distributed, the state lost out on about $146 million.<\/p>\n

But for Hochul, the grant cuts seem to be just the latest setback to her plans to deliver on the state\u2019s lofty climate goals and address energy concerns. She has recently admitted<\/a> that New York is unlikely to meet its climate targets, drawing the ire of many residents.<\/p>\n

Hochul says she remains committed to reducing emissions in the state and has invested considerable funds toward that goal. She recently allocated $1 billion<\/a> to clean-energy projects and emissions-reduction efforts and has directed<\/a> the state-owned utility, the New York Power Authority, to build at least one new nuclear plant by 2040.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s predicament<\/p>\n

At a Brooklyn church in early September, the advocacy group Public Power NY hosted a People\u2019s Hearing for Public Renewables, where officials, environmentalists, and a few dozen New York residents discussed the state\u2019s renewable-energy plans and expressed disappointment with Hochul\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a movement behind us that is fighting for something better,\u201d said state Sen. Jabari Brisport, a Democrat who represents a district in Brooklyn. \u201cWe have a governor who wants to drag her feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s Climate Act<\/a> requires the state to achieve a 40% reduction from 1990 levels in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2050. The act also requires that 70% of the state\u2019s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.<\/p>\n

Residents were advocating for the New York Power Authority to build 15 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030, which they view as necessary to meet the state\u2019s goal of net-zero emissions from the electricity grid by 2040. Currently, the utility plans to build 7 gigawatts<\/a> of renewable energy, despite state law requiring it to fill all gaps in electricity generation left by the private sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cHurricane Ida completely destroyed my district,\u201d said former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, whose district included White Plains and Yonkers. \u201cWe need a governor with human-centered leadership \u2026 and if not, we need a new governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of the focus on achieving these climate goals has been on electrifying building heating and cooling with heat pumps and moving away from gas systems. In 2023, the state passed the All-Electric Building Act, which mandated that most buildings use electric appliances, and the all-electric standard was written into the state building code in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The legislation effectively requires most new buildings to be completely electric \u2014 so no gas heating or cooking. A similar law was passed in New York City in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At a recent press conference, Wright, the federal energy secretary, alluded to the \u201cmany productive dialogues\u201d he has had with the governor, and said that two proposed gas pipelines, which would pass through the state and which state officials have rejected in the past, were \u201calready planned\u201d and would \u201clower the cost of heating.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been speculation, fueled by a May post on X<\/a> by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, that Hochul \u201cwould move forward on critical pipeline capacity.\u201d The implication was that this was a trade-off for allowing the Empire Wind offshore wind project south of Long Island in the Atlantic Ocean to proceed after the administration halted construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within a month, two previously rejected gas pipelines \u2014 the Constitution pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, or NESE \u2014 entered the regulatory process once again. Hochul has denied<\/a> that she made a deal with the White House, but the Trump administration has said that she \u201ccaved\u201d and agreed to allow the pipeline construction, according to Politico\u2019s E&E News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Constitution pipeline, which the state rejected in 2016, would run from Pennsylvania\u2019s Marcellus shale fracking sites to upstate New York. The NESE pipeline would extend an existing pipeline, building off the coast of New Jersey and Staten Island to eventually connect with existing pipes in Queens, and add gas infrastructure to Pennsylvania. The state has rejected it three times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In July, National Grid, the gas utility that serves Staten Island, Long Island, and parts of Brooklyn and Queens, added the NESE pipeline to its long-term gas plan<\/a> as an addendum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The utility has to file a long-term gas plan as a result of a dispute with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).<\/a> The heart of the 2019 dispute was, ironically, an earlier proposal for the NESE pipeline, which the Department of Environmental Conservation had rejected<\/a> due to its potential impacts on water quality.<\/p>\n

The rejection led to a standoff<\/a> between the utility and state officials, with National Grid refusing to connect customers to gas lines. The dispute only ended because Cuomo threatened to suspend the utility\u2019s license to operate in the state. In the end, National Grid agreed to periodically file a long-term gas plan for review by the state\u2019s Public Service Commission, which regulates utility rates.<\/p>\n

The NESE pipeline resurfaces<\/p>\n

While reviewing the utility\u2019s plan for the future last month, members of the Public Service Commission found<\/a> that the NESE project would help the state meet the energy needs of its residents and businesses, particularly in the wake of Winter Storm Elliott in 2022. A report<\/a> by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that some areas of New York were at extreme risk of experiencing gas shutoffs at one point during the storm.<\/p>\n

But many New Yorkers were dismayed by the commission\u2019s choice, which has no regulatory authority over the pipeline, but which many believe could signal to the Department of Environmental Conservation that the pipeline is necessary and that it should approve its water permit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in a week-by-week, hour-by-hour, fight to hold [Hochul] off and keep her from approving this thing,\u201d Pete Sikora, the climate and inequality campaigns director with New York Communities for Change, said about the fight to stop the NESE pipeline.<\/p>\n

Several public officials, including Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella<\/a> (R) and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries<\/a> (D), spoke out against the pipeline, as did the city of New York<\/a>. Water-quality concerns and fears of substantial rate increases abound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor is willing to put the law off to the side in order to appease fossil-fuel interests, big private business interests \u2026 and for New York families to foot the bill for that,\u201d said Kim Fraczek, the executive director of Sane Energy, a nonprofit organization that is advocating for the replacement of gas infrastructure with renewable energy. \u201cOur costs will only increase, and that\u2019s for ratepayers and for businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

A report<\/a> by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, an energy-research think tank, estimated that the pipeline would cost $1.25 billion \u2014 almost $200 million more than what National Grid had said \u2014 due to construction inflation. Even if National Grid\u2019s figures are correct, ratepayers would suffer a substantial monthly increase.<\/p>\n

National Grid has predicted that the pipeline will cost ratepayers an additional $7.50 per month<\/a> if approved. But it has also argued that the pipeline could help lower electricity bills by reducing the price of natural gas, which powers many of the state\u2019s electricity plants.<\/p>\n

Hochul is also experiencing pressure from the other side of the aisle. Energy Secretary Wright recently criticized the state\u2019s Climate Act, which requires the state to have a net-zero-emissions electricity grid by 2040, calling it \u201ctotally nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer and more aggressively [net-zero] is pursued, the more you elevate your energy prices and impoverish your citizens,\u201d Wright told journalists at the press conference in Long Island earlier this month. \u201cLet\u2019s build more energy infrastructure to drive down the cost of energy here in New York state, across New England, and across our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether the Climate Act drives the state\u2019s high energy prices remains a subject of debate. A recent Public Service Commission report<\/a> found that cost recovery for Climate Act measures accounted for anywhere from 5% to 9.5% of a residential customer\u2019s monthly electric bill \u2014 but consistently 2% or less of their gas bill \u2014 in 2024.<\/p>\n

Another factor contributing to higher rates has been large-scale improvements in gas infrastructure. Last year, residents in downstate New York experienced rate hikes when National Grid began a $5 billion system upgrade<\/a>, which included replacing \u201cleak-prone\u201d pipes across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4756,4758,1922,4759,4762,4755,4761,4757,426,4760,9,24,55,54,56,4754],"class_list":["post-4668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-chris-wright","tag-clean-cities","tag-clean-energy","tag-department-of-energy","tag-energy","tag-greenhouse-gas-emissions","tag-hunts-point","tag-joy-gardner","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-national-grid","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-renewable-energy-sources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}