New York’s utility regulator is considering a proposal to suspend the renewable energy goals laid out in a 2019 law, but climate activists say a key report the proposal’s backers are using to make their case is shortsighted.
Through late next month, the Public Service Commission is accepting comments on the proposal to suspend or modify the green energy transition goals set by Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which mandate that the Empire State run on 70% renewable energy by the end of this decade and go completely emissions-free by 2040.
A clause in the law gives the commission the power to suspend the renewable energy goals if they interfere with providing affordable, safe and reliable power to New Yorkers.
“Recent evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the Renewable Energy Program may impede the provision of safe and adequate electric service in New York, which would negatively impact the members of the Coalition for Safe and Reliable Energy,” the petition states.
The coalition includes various upstate business councils, manufacturing and construction trade organizations. The letter is signed by two members of a state-appointed committee that crafted the plan for implementing the law: Donna DeCarolis, senior policy adviser for National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation, which provides natural gas to western New York and the Southern Tier, and Dennis Elsenbeck, a former director at natural gas giant National Grid for about 30 years.
The petition cites an October 2025 report released by the New York Independent System Operator, or NYISO, a not-for-profit corporation that represents the state’s grid operators. The report forecast an energy gap, increased power needs of 50% to 90% and concerns over grid reliability. The findings also state that the renewable energy goals are not feasible due to federal interference with permits for wind power as well as the discontinuation of subsidies for solar and wind energy.
The petition includes recommendations from the NYISO report such as continuing the service of power plants due for retirement as well as firing-up already retired plants.
Environmental advocates said the basis for the petition is flawed. NYISO’s reliability calculations do not account for some of the major clean energy projects connecting to the grid in the next couple of years, said Earthjustice’s senior attorney, Michael Lenoff. Those include the two offshore wind projects currently halfway through construction and the Champlain Hudson Power Express, which will connect the state with hydroelectricity from Canada this spring.
Lenoff added that the hydroelectric power alone could fill the reliability gap anticipated by grid operators.
“It’s problematic because people have to pay for the electricity system and the choices that NYISO makes influences to a significant extent what investments are made and what people’s bills look like,” Lenoff said. “It’s not just about the money, it’s also about people’s health because some people have to continue living next to dirty fossil burning generators when that may not be needed.”
NYISO spokesperson Kevin Lanahan confirmed the report does not factor in major clean energy projects. He said in order to properly calculate reliability, the projects providing power must be finished, tested and in service. Lanahan used the analogy of counting chickens before they hatch.
“The 2025-2034 Comprehensive Reliability Plan was produced via a transparent, open process over many months with significant stakeholder input,” Lanahan said. “It makes use of historical and projected data from state and federal agencies, industry reports, and publicly available information.”
According to NYISO, the renewable power in construction isn’t enough to cover New York’s reliability gap. Champlain Hudson Power Express is contracted to provide energy during the summer months only. The Federal government has already stopped offshore wind construction projects twice, and NYISO points to the uncertainty of future federal actions.
NYISO has identified issues with increasing demands on the state’s current transmission system, particularly the New York City metropolitan area. The current transmission cables in service cannot handle the energy capacity they are expected to deliver in the future. Overloading them would result in failure. Much of the generation and transmission is aging and will become less reliable in the future, which contributes to the overall concerns.
“Recent data from the [Public Service] Commission demonstrates that New York will not achieve or even come close to achieving the 70% target by 2030,” according to the petition.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has been talking about modifying the renewable energy goals since her first term, before the federal government started meddling in clean energy permits and subsidies and the 2030 goals were more than three years behind schedule.
Her administration continues to delay the release of the rules for the climate law, which were due more than two years ago. In November, a judge ordered the state environmental regulators to release climate regulations by Feb. 6, but Hochul appealed that ruling, putting the order on hold. Hochul, who calls herself a climate leader, said that the renewable energy goals are not feasible and not affordable. The Governor’s office declined to provide a comment for this story.
“I have to focus on affordability, I have to focus on resiliency. I cannot have this state go dark,” Hochul said earlier this month.
Environmental advocates and some lawmakers are adamant that the state must forge ahead on its clean energy transition and fill that gap with clean energy. They said further delays will only make reducing climate emissions more unattainable and will sink the planet into further climate catastrophe.
”She keeps talking about affordability, but then doing things that are very much opposite of that because gas is actually the most expensive [energy source] for the entire system and for consumers to utilize,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, who represents North Brooklyn.
Before the Public Service Commission can take action to modify or suspend the clean energy goals from the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, it must hold a hearing and solicit public input. The public can comment by going to the commission site and entering the case number “15-E-0302” by March 30.
“This move to cancel our climate law is a cynical ploy by the fossil fuel industry to stop New York’s clean energy transition,” said Raya Salter, environmental lawyer and member of the Climate Action Council. “Our skyrocketing utility bills — now an escalating affordability crisis with no end in sight – are caused by our fossil fuel present, not our clean energy future.”