Can Mamdani supercharge New York’s clean energy revolution?

On one of the first cold nights of autumn, union members, democratic socialists, scientists and educators gathered in the pews of a Brooklyn church for what was called the “People's Hearing on Community Renewable Energy.” Zohran Mamdani, who had just won the Democratic primary and is expected to become New York's next mayor, was not there, but he loomed over the festivities. Many in the crowd believed they would finally have an ally who could help achieve their long-held goal: New York City would be powered almost entirely by publicly owned and regulated renewable energy.

The New York State Campaign for Renewable Energy “played a major role in Zohran's election,” state Assemblywoman Marcela Mitains said of Mamdani's victory in the primary that night. They want an expanded public energy system, utilities and renewable electricity generation owned and regulated by community stakeholders rather than corporations. The campaign, which began four years ago, was spearheaded by a small group of progressive and socialist lawmakers in Albany: among them Zoran Mamdani, who was elected to the Assembly in 2020. Since then, he's rallied the same base — seasoned campaigners, people accustomed to climbing six-story elevators and texting their friends to rally behind a policy or a candidate — to elect him mayor.

Now that Mamdani is about to take office, the question is whether he and the state can live up to those expectations. The mayor's office does not manage energy projects. The position is held by the New York Power Authority, or NYPA, a government agency created in 1931 as an early experiment in publicly owned power generation and a model for more widely known projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Throughout the 20th century, the agency built electric transmission infrastructure, supported large-scale hydroelectric projects, and led energy efficiency initiatives in government buildings.

In recent years, government green energy advocates have sometimes considered the New York Energy Administration less ally and more stumbling block. But in 2023, the legislature passed a version Adoption of the Law on State Renewable Energy Sourcesor BPRA, which gives the New York Power Authority the power to speed up and fund clean energy projects—enough, the law says, to power 70 percent of the state by 2030. The question now is whether and when this law will be implemented.

In July, authorities published a plan to build 7 gigawatts of solar and wind power plants with battery storage. Critics of the plan, many of whom helped push BPRA in the first place, say there is not enough electricity to meet the state's energy needs or meet the state's 2030 deadline. In 2023, the state comptroller said the ambitious 70 percent goal would require the state to at least triple its renewable energy capacity—at that point, only about 25 percent of New York's power came from renewables, mostly hydroelectric power. That number hasn't changed much, and last year the government agency rated that authorities will need another three years to meet the 2030 deadline.

Still, with a powerful ally about to take power, activists like Joanna Bozuwa, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Communities, believe now is a “pivotal moment” to move New York City power forward. With federal clean energy tax credits set to expire in 2027, “they have a real incentive right now to act as quickly as possible. If there was ever a moment for them to mobilize as quickly as possible, now is the time to do it.” So, on that brisk September evening in Brooklyn, public power activists wanted to use Mamdani's moment of victory to order the New York Energy Authority to go even further: instead of a plan for 7 gigawatts, they wanted 15.

Mamdani will not directly influence how the government implements the Community Renewable Energy Act, but as mayor of the nation's largest city, he can determine where and how New York supports the transition. Much of what it can do relates to consumers: it not only helps build public power, but also limits the city's consumption of it. His administration could require solar panels on the roofs of municipal buildings, align city permitting and zoning with state clean energy priorities and use Green schools plan to advance the agenda. Mamdani may also oversee compliance with Local Law 97, which requires the city to cut emissions in buildings larger than 25,000 square feet by nearly half by 2030. For activists, this makes City Hall a critical partner.

“I often refer to schools as the charismatic megafauna of construction. decarbonization“I really see this as a key opportunity for the new administration to demonstrate the power of partnering with an organization like NYPA to use its power and connections to decarbonize these schools.” The Connecticut Green Bank already has a similar program, Bozuwa said. “So this model already exists of putting public renewables on top of public schools.” And in New York, similar programs already exist, but on a smaller scale: The New York Energy Administration is working with the city agency to install solar panels in 47 schools.

The Management Board will vote on its next strategic plan on December 9th. “The plan will be updated regularly, and projects are expected to be continually added or dropped as the project develops,” said NYPA spokeswoman Susan Craig.

But the current financing environment for clean energy projects is hostile. Some experts say the current 7-gigawatt plan is too ambitious and that energy officials simply “can't achieve those goals,” as one former member of the state Climate Action Council put it. told Inside Climate News. Others are concerned that proposing too much too quickly could jeopardize the agency's operations. bond ratingmaking it less able to finance future projects.

And just three days after Mamdani's election, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a thrice-rejected permit to expand supplies to the Northeast. proposed fracked gas pipeline it would add to a 10,000-mile network stretching from Texas to New York, opening the door for the state to rely even more heavily on fossil fuels than in previous years.

Although climate was a key issue for Mamdani during his five years in the assembly, he didn't talk much about it during the election campaign. Still, his election has raised expectations among climate advocates—and questions about how much of a difference he can actually make. New York remains far more dependent on fossil fuels than the rest of the state, largely because transmission bottlenecks prevent updated information on renewable energy production and the city has not met its own clean energy goals of switching to 100 percent clean energy by 2040. “It’s like a tale of two grids,” said Andrea Johnson, a researcher with the New York City Public Power Coalition. But state and local partnerships to provide more clean energy, reduce energy consumption and perhaps even lower bills don't seem entirely unlikely.

This wouldn't be the first time New York City has partnered with a government agency to achieve climate goals. Just this year, officials worked with New York City Public Schools to install energy-efficient lighting throughout the school system—lighting that agency reported would ultimately save the city about $10 million a year. Together with the city's housing authority, the company replaced gas stoves in 10,000 apartments with energy-efficient induction models. announced November 13. And this collaboration goes back decades: in the 1990s, for example, an energy-efficient refrigerator program that began with New York City public housing funding from the energy authority eventually paved the way for the development of refrigerator design this used 30 percent less energy than the Department of Energy standard at the time. The city could purchase a similar model subsidized heat pumps for buildings struggling to meet emissions standards, but in order to lower energy bills across the board, the Mamdani administration will need to solve the generation part of the puzzle, too. To date, NYPA has signed a contract for the construction of one main solar panel within New York City: a 10-megawatt panel cluster at a wastewater treatment plant.

When did Mamdani first mayor's budget With the proposal coming out in early February, we may see the first signs of how the new administration plans to build on these efforts. WITH city ​​budget deficit $5 billion to $8 billion, President Donald Trump's threats to cut off billions in aid to New York and the state, and lawmakers in Albany worried about cost overruns selling climate policy as affordability policy – a strategy that has paid big dividends recently.

“We can’t separate climate from cost of living,” Bozuwa said. “The Mamdani administration really has an opportunity to show what a new form of climate policy looks like that actually integrates climate and cost of living.”