In September, 2024, New York State kicked off the process to develop the State Energy Plan, which is supposed to be a comprehensive roadmap for a clean, resilient, and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. The Energy Plan was last updated in 2020, when it was amended to incorporate the objectives of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). Since the 2020 update, the Climate Action Council produced its Scoping Plan, examining many of the energy issues that contribute to climate change and offering a number of recommendations for the State to implement. The State Energy Planning Board will now convene to begin the process of producing a draft, then a final plan, for this planning cycle. Currently planned to be considered by the Board in December 2025, the final plan will provide a 15-year outlook and focus on strategies to meet future energy needs and advance economy-wide decarbonization. The Hochul Administration has also expressed a desire to balance decarbonization with reliability, affordability, environmental and public health impacts and economic growth.

The climate emergency is here; how will New York’s Energy Plan meet this moment? New York State is required to update the State Energy Plan every 5 years and 2025 is the year a new plan will be put in place. What is the importance of the Energy Plan? Will the Energy Plan be compliant with the Climate Law? How can advocates participate to ensure the Energy Plan will result in a swift and equitable transition to clean energy?

Speakers included:

Janet Joseph, Principal, JLJ Sustainability Solutions (Former VP of Strategy and Market Development, NYSERDA)

Dr. Robert Howarth, Member, New York’s Climate Action Council and the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology and Environmental Biology at Cornell University

Christopher Casey, Utility Regulatory Director, New York, Climate and Energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)