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.
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.
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.
This a recording from our Renewable Supporters Speaker Series on September 8, 2025. Our guest was Troy Weldy, President of the Columbia Land Conservancy, who spoke about water quality and wetlands preservation in the development of solar projects on agricultural land.
December 7, 2021
New Yorkers for Clean Power and Alliance for Clean Energy NY for this Support the Supporters meeting to discuss the compatibility of renewable energy and agriculture in New York State.
Moderated by Andrew Pezzullo, Clean Power Fellow at New Yorkers for Clean Power
Speakers:
– Ethan Winter, Northeast Solar Specialist from American Farmland Trust
– Jen Metzger, former NYS Senator on the Agriculture Subcommittee & NYCP Senior Policy Advisor
– Cullen Howe, Senior Attorney & Renewable Energy Advocate from the Natural Resources Defense Council, and
– Giuseppina Agovino from Friends of Flint Mine Solar!
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
Offshore Wind Power, Ports, & Job Creation in NY
Co-hosted with ACE NY, E2 and NRDC
Sept. 22, 1-2 pm ET –
ACE NY, E2, NRDC and New Yorkers for Clean Power are hosting a 1-hour virtual event during Climate Week NYC to discuss the challenges and enormous opportunities that offshore wind presents for port facilities and underserved communities. The panel discussion will begin with a short film by ACE NY on the topic.
Introduction to Opening Video: Anne Reynolds, Executive Director, ACE NY
Moderator: Nathanael Greene, Senior Renewable Energy Advocate, Climate & Clean Energy Program, NRDC
Introductions: Uchenna Bright, Eastern States Advocate, E2
Panelists:
Alba Pena, Community Engagement Manager, Equinor
Summer Storm Sandoval, Energy Democracy Coordinator, UPROSE
Willie White, Senior Employment and Training Specialist in the Youth and Workforce Services Department for the City of Albany, NY
Ross Gould, Vice President for Supply Chain Development, Business Network for Offshore Wind
Our state’s regulatory processes are not taking all the factors into account when deciding the cost benefit ratios of fossil fuel & renewable infrastructure! Learn what needs to be considered by industry experts. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and take action for a better BCA!
Visit our take-action page to improve NY’s BCA: tinyurl.com/bcacomment
Speakers include:
Sonal Jessel, the Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Andy Frank, the Founder & President of Sealed and Strategic Advisory Group member to inform the Building Electrification Process for the Department of Public Service
John Ciovacco, the President of Aztech Geothermal and Strategic Advisory Group member to inform the Building Electrification Process for the DPS
Jessica Azulay, the Executive Director of Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) and active party member in numerous rate cases across NYS.
Learn from supporters and industry experts on the new regulations released by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) and how you can participate as a supporter in the upcoming online stakeholder sessions.
Speakers:
Anne Reynolds, Executive Director of Alliance for Clean Energy New York
Giuseppina Agovino, Founding Member of Friends of Flint Mine Solar
Ryan Piche, County Manager at Lewis County
Jessica Enzmann, Organizing Representative at Sierra Club
Learn how NYS can greatly ramp up solar power generation to provide inexpensive, abundant, and reliable electricity on a large scale. Dr. Richard Perez will be presenting his research about how solar power has the technical capabilities to achieve this goal and what is needed to ensure that this transformation will be successful.
We will also be very briefly discussing the new proposed regulations from the NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) about siting major renewable energy facilities, including for solar power, and next steps in this process.