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Gas Planning Let’s Get it Right!

In 2020 the Public Service Commission launched a Gas Planning Proceeding. The goals: to calibrate gas supply to avoid disruptions to service and direct the gas utilities to plan to meet the emissions reductions required by the CLCPA. Good planning is essential to ensure a smooth energy transition, strategically right-size the gas system, ensure that the right investments are made at the appropriate times, and to save ratepayers money. But so far, the gas planning has not yielded the necessary outcomes. Now in 2026, there’s an opportunity to reimagine gas planning and optimize our investments.

Featuring speakers:
Meagan Burton, Earthjustice
Kristina Persaud, Advanced Energy United
Josh Berman, Sierra Club

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Transformative New Heat Pumps to Accelerate Building Decarbonization in NY

In this Teach-in, we discuss how cutting edge heat pumps could turbocharge efforts to electrify buildings with technology that is faster, easier and cheaper to install and operate.

Successfully implementing LL 97 is essential for delivering affordable, comfortable homes and clean air for NYC while demonstrating the viability of the national building electrification movement. Window and through wall heat pumps could show the way– that clean energy solutions are accessible, affordable and improve comfort.

Find out how climate and clean energy advocates can help accelerate adoption of this new technology in New York.

Speakers include:

-Marc Zuluaga, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, Cadence OneFive
-Paul Clark, Sales Engineer, INNOVA
-Michael Reed, Sr. Director, Building Transformation at NYSERDA

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Treating Communities as Partners in the Clean Energy Transition

On Monday, June 8, from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M., New Yorkers for Clean Power Renewable Energy Speaker Series hosted, Dr. Dominic Balog-Way, Co-Director of Cornell University’s Risk Communication Research Group and co-author of a white paper on community engagement for renewable energy development. The title of the talk is: “Treating Communities as Partners in the Clean Energy Transition.”
The clean energy transition depends on strong relationships between renewable energy developers and the communities that host projects. Yet even well-designed projects can encounter conflict, delays, and opposition when local concerns are not addressed effectively. Drawing on three decades of research and case studies from across New York State, Dominic presented key findings from a white paper on strategic community engagement. Meaningful engagement depends on developers, communities, advocates, and public officials working together. As a result, the report offers valuable insights for anyone interested in strengthening public engagement, building trust, and improving decision-making on renewable energy.
During the presentation we learned what research tells us about trust, fairness, transparency, community concerns, and the conditions that help create more constructive dialogue. The session also explored how developers, advocates, and communities can work together to support both successful clean energy projects and the places people call home.

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Heat Pump Rate Design

To achieve widespread adoption of heat pumps, it’s imperative to ensure that households switching from gas to heat pumps don’t see their bills go up. Fortunately there’s a solution! Currently, utilities are overcharging heat pump customers for the poles and wires that deliver electricity. Dedicated heat pump rates, like those already offered by Con Edison, can solve this.

Our esteemed speakers include Juan-Pablo Velez, Executive Director of Switchbox, Magdalen Sullivan, Attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, and Jessica Azulay, Executive Director at AGREE.

The webinar covers a new report commissioned by AGREE and Earthjustice on heat pump rates. The report can be accessed at this link: https://www.switch.box/nyhprates

Study Two-Pager: https://renewableheatnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/switchbox_nyhprates_onepager.pdf

The teach-in includes an overview of the NY heat pump design working group’s plan to call on the NY Public Service Commission to take action on electric rate design in the “Grid of the Future” docket to ensure that electric heating customers are not overpaying for electricity and to help drive heat pump adoption across the state.

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Battery Energy Storage & Project Siting in New York | Featuring NYSERDA & ORES

This recording is from NYCP’s renewable energy speaker series, Monday, May 11, from 12 to 1 P.M., with our special guests Camille Warner from NYSERDA and Sarah Crowell from ORES.

Camille is a senior project manager at NYSERDA, and Sarah Crowell is Senior Advisor for Policy and Communication at ORES. During their presentation, they explained the BESS siting process and the role ORES has in permitting large-scale generation and transmission projects.

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Can New York Afford Climate Law Rollbacks?

In 2019, New York made bold, legally binding commitments to take on the climate crisis, but what happens if we were to backtrack?

As pressure mounts to weaken or delay key climate policies, this teach-in will explain what’s actually at stake for New Yorkers. We will discuss rising energy costs, public health issues, and environmental justice concerns, and explore how rolling back climate protections doesn’t just slow progress, but deepens our reliance on fossil fuels and other polluting technologies, locking us into decades of price volatility and putting our most vulnerable communities’ health at risk and subjecting us to skyrocketing bills.

Speakers:
Liz Moran, New York Policy Advocate, Earthjustice
Laura Haight, Policy Advisor, Partnership for Policy Integrity
Eric Walker, Energy Justice Senior Policy Manager, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

NYCP is a project of Catskill Mountainkeeper Inc.

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Powering New York’s Solar Future: The Push for 20 GW by 2035 | NYSEIA

On Monday, April 13, from 12:00 to 1:00 P.M., NYCP’s Renewable Energy Speakers Series hosted Jonathan Cohen, the Policy Director for the New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA). Jonathan explained solar legislation currently under consideration in Albany, including the Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power (ASAP) ACT (Senate S6570A). New York surpassed its 6 GW goal more than a year ahead of schedule, in October 2024! The state is now well on track to meet the Governor’s expanded goal of 10 GW by 2030, with over 3.4 GW under development. With this rapid installation of distributed solar, it is time to increase the goal to 20 GW by 2035. Listen to the recording to understand why New York should pass the bill this session and how we can do it.

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Battery Energy Storage Systems [BESS] in New Paltz and Neighboring Communities

There’s over 5 BESS projects being considered in Ulster County and the greater Hudson Valley region. Watch and hear from Dr. Jefferey Seidman, Vassar College, and Dan Murray, Energy Safety Consultant, and retired Chief in Charge of HazMat at FDNY; they will discuss how BESS systems work, why they’re needed, and what they mean for our communities.

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United Solar Energy Supporters: Power of the Sun Webinar

Go to usesny.org for more info

SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY. – Dr. Richard Perez – Senior Research Associate Atmospheric Sciences Research Center Univ of Albany. Perez has produced more than 200 journal articles, conference papers and technical reports, and he holds two U.S. patents on methods of load management using photovoltaics.
AGRIVOLTAIC – Solar Farming co-developing the same area of land for both solar photovoltaic power as well as for agriculture- Lexie Hain/Lewis Fox – American Grazers Association

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Energy Storage & Plug-In Solar: What’s Next for New York | NY-BEST & Bright Saver

This recording is from NYCP’s renewable energy speaker series, Monday, March 9, from 12 to 1 P.M., with our special guests Claudia Villar-Leeman from NY-BEST and Cora Stryker from Bright Saver.

Claudia is the Senior Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST). She explained how our electricity grid works, why energy storage is critical to supporting reliability while keeping electricity bills down, and recent initiatives to support storage in the state, including a recent bill that would have large BESS projects reviewed by the Department of Public Service: S.5506 (Kavanagh)/A.8378 (Levenberg).

Cora Stryker is the cofounder of Bright Saver, the first and only nonprofit dedicated to making plug-in solar accessible to all Americans. Cora explained plug-in (“balcony”) solar, told us about the Solar Up Now New York (SUNNY Act). We also learned how to encourage our legislators to support policies that build a cleaner Empire State.

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