New Yorkers are paying the price for outdated gas infrastructure. But there’s a better way. In this teach-in we dig into a new report from Switchbox that compares the cost of replacing leak-prone gas pipelines to the cost of fully electrifying the buildings those pipes serve.

The findings? Targeted electrification can save ratepayers billions—even when accounting for full electrification costs. We explored the report’s insights and how the NY HEAT Act can make these smarter investments possible.

Speakers:
Jessica Azulay – Executive Director, Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)
Juan-Pablo Velez – Executive Director, Switchbox

Did you know that New York has five BILLION dollars to spend on building energy efficiency and electrification over the next five years? In this NYCP Teach-In, we took a deep dive into the New Efficiency New York (NENY) Proceeding, which will determine how this money will be spent on building energy efficiency and building electrification in NYS from 2026-2030.

Our speakers included:
– Juan Pablo Velez, founder and executive director of the think tank, Win Climate presented his recent report: New Efficiency New York, an Appraisal of Past and Proposed Spendingt detailing how utilities and NYSERDA managed the first traunch of NENY money and how they propose to spend the next one. Read the report here: https://www.switch.box/neny

– Rebekah Morris-Gonzalez, Director of Climate Initiatives, at the Pratt Center for Community Development. Who presented on her report titled: “How NYSERDA’s Empower+ Program Shortchanges Low-Income Residents.” Read the report here: https://prattcenter.net/uploads/0124/1706652850133244/Empower_Brief_Final.pdf

The NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (HEAT) Act (S.2016A/A.4592A) is a transformative climate and energy affordability bill that clears the path to investing in clean, modern, electric heating systems for all New Yorkers.

During this Teach-In, we learned more about this legislation and what we can do to help get it passed this session.

Our speakers included:
Chris Casey: Senior Attorney, Climate & Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Allison Considine: NY Senior Campaign & Communications Manager for the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC)

Jessica Azulay: Executive Director of Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)

Learn more about this legislation and how to get it passed at https://bit.ly/NYHEAT.

View the speaker slides here: https://nyforcleanpower.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/12.15.23-NY-HEAT-Act-Teach-In.pdf

Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State. Decarbonizing the building sector will be an essential element in tackling the climate crisis. With 6.2 million buildings across the state, New York can serve as a global example of how to accelerate this shift across a wide variety of buildings. As part of Climate Week NYC, our expert panel discusses the menu of solutions, policies, and current efforts for fully leveraging the environmental, equity, and economic opportunities presented by a carbon-free, resource-efficient building sector.

The event included a welcome address from Anne Reynolds, Executive Director of Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY) and a keynote address by Rory Christian, Chair and CEO of the New York State Public Service Commission. Dale Bryk, Director of State & Regional Policies at Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program and Senior Fellow at Regional Plan Association (RPA) then moderated a panel discussion with Sadie McKeown, President of the Community Preservation Corporation, Greg Elcock, VP of Energy Efficiency and Distributed Resource Integration at Con Edison, and Bomee Jung, Co-CEO of Cadence OneFive.

Hosted by: Alliance for Clean Energy New York, Association for Energy Affordability, E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), Downtown Brooklyn, Natural Resources Defense Council, and New Yorkers for Clean Power, and Urban Future Lab.

Join New Yorkers for Clean Power to learn what NYS needs to do in order to ensure our electric grid is powered by renewable sources and how we can decarbonize our buildings and transportation so they are running off of that renewable electricity. After this presentation by the NYCP Team, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and tell us if you would like someone from NYCP to give this presentation to your community group/classroom/organization etc. – reach out to us at info@nyforcleanpower.org

Speakers:
NYCP Team
– Michaela Ciovacco, Program Coordinator
– Gregory Simpson, Senior Clean Power Fellow
– Jen Metzger, Former State Senator & Senior Policy Advisor
– Cal Trumann, Climate Education Clean Power Fellow
– Andrew Pezzullo, Large-scale Renewables Clean Power Fellow
-Betta Broad, Campaign Director

Learn the facts about refrigerants, how to safely manage, and the role they play in electrifying our buildings via heat pumps to get off fossil fuels!
Speakers include:
Michael Helme, New Yorkers for Cool Refrigerant Management
John Ciovacco, Aztech Geothermal
Christina Theodoridi, Climate & Clean Energy Program at NRDC