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
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.
Learn what you can do to promote comprehensive utility energy efficiency & heat pump (not pipelines) programs!
In partnership with Renewable Heat Now, New Yorkers for Clean Power is collecting comments on the joint utility filing for the utility energy efficiency programs.
The public comment deadline is July 1st, 2019.
Submit a comment (you can use our sample): https://actionnetwork.org/letters/renewable-heat-now-for-all
The utility efficiency programs need to be well funded, accessible, provide incentives for renewable heating and cooling and not gas!
Speakers include:
Bob Howarth, Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Cornell University
Valerie Strauss, Director of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Association for Energy Affordability
Jessica Azulay, Executive Director of Alliance for a Green Economy
Jens Ponikau, Owner of Buffalo Geothermal Heating & Vice President of New York Geothermal Energy Organization
Energy efficiency is the cheapest, easiest and fastest way to address climate change while also creating good local jobs, reducing other harmful pollution, and increasing the resiliency of our electric grid.
Some topics that the online teach-in will cover:
– What is energy efficiency and why is it important?
– A brief recap of Governor Cuomo’s Earth Day announcement, Public Service Commission white paper and next steps
– Environmental justice implications of energy efficiency
Guest speakers will include energy efficiency advocates and experts from leading environmental non-profits, community based organizations, and the energy efficiency industry. The content of the teach-in should be accessible to the non-expert and there will be an opportunity to ask questions during the last 15 minutes.
Featured speakers include:
Valerie Strauss
Director, Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Association for Energy Affordability
Conrad Metcalfe
Executive Director, Building Performance Contractors Association
Stephan Roundtree, Jr., Esq.
Environmental Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Sneha Ayyagari
Schneider Fellow, Eastern Region, Climate & Energy Program, NRDC
Betta Broad
Outreach Director, New Yorkers for Clean Power
As we ramp up efforts to push Governor Cuomo, NYSERDA and the Public Service Commission to adopt a comprehensive energy efficiency program that is as ambitious and equitable as possible, we invite clean energy advocates and climate activists from across the state to participate in this online teach-in.
The goal of the teach-in is to provide an overview of the importance of energy efficiency in meeting our climate and clean energy goals, creating green jobs and healthier homes. Guest speakers will include energy efficiency advocates and experts from leading environmental non-profits, community based organizations, and the energy efficiency industry. The content of the teach-in should be accessible to the non-expert and there will be an opportunity to ask questions in the last 15 minutes.
Featured speakers include:
Miles Farmer, Staff Attorney, Climate and Clean Energy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Clarke Gocker, Director of Policy and Strategy, People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH Buffalo)
Jessica Azulay, Program Director, Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)
Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director and Director of Policy Initiatives, WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT)
Hal Smith, CEO, Halco Energy