New York climate law faces criticism over costs, power reliability amid recent outages

Renewable energy experts say the law is needed to improve reliability for future storms

By Chloe Bennett

Following intense storms in the North Country that caused outages for many residents, Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, called for amendments to the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA.) The lawmaker pointed to recent power outages to promote concerns around electricity reliability and what he said is a lack of cost transparency in the law’s implementation. 

“The renewably sourced energy being advanced by the (Public Service Commission) and Democrat leaders is simply not capable of meeting the challenges of an emergency like the one our region is currently facing,” he wrote on his legislative webpage. 

The climate law, now in its fifth year, calls for an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. State policies to transition away from fossil fuel reliance include electrifying buildings and investing in renewable energy sources like offshore wind and solar. 

Concerns around costs

The statement came after a coalition of businesses urged the state to evaluate its climate goals and potentially amend the CLCPA. The Business Council of New York State made the case for rethinking the goals in a letter sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office this week. The group wrote that the state should have a more transparent cost analysis of the law’s impact and effect on employers. 

In an interview with the Explorer, Stec said most of his constituents he’s heard from about the climate act have voiced concern about cost. “They want to do the right thing, but they want somebody to pay attention to the dollars and cents,” he said. 

The cost of implementing the climate law could total between $280 and $340 billion, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative-leaning organization pushing for free market reforms. The price tag would come from offshore wind investments, electrifying the grid and other initiatives. 

The senator also said the climate law would not make a large difference in global emissions. When asked about his views on the science of climate change, Stec did not provide a definitive answer. “Whether climate change is real or not, the fact of the matter is that, what are the attitudes and the belief globally and what are their actions?”

Issues around power infrastructure

Stec said leaders should invest in current infrastructure to improve reliability for residents in preparation for future storms. “We cannot expect our residents to rely on uncertain methods of power generation during unpredictable crises and weather-related emergencies,” he wrote.

Hundreds of residents in the North Country were without power due to the storms in mid-July. At least seven tornadoes touched down in the Adirondacks while flooding caused road closures and infrastructure damage. 

But proponents of the sweeping climate law say downpours and increasing storms, which scientists say are worsened by rising temperatures, show a greater need for transitioning away from fossil fuels. 

“We’re having these failures in our energy system and our failures in reliability while we’re still using fossil fuels. It doesn’t have to do with the fact that we’re aiming to reduce emissions.”

Jessica Ottney Mahar, director of policy and strategy for The Nature Conservancy in New York

Defending the climate law

“The idea that rolling back a climate law that would make our infrastructure power more sustainable and less polluting and to keep things the way they are now, well, that wouldn’t serve us very well because right now, our system is not resilient,” said Jessica Ottney Mahar, director of policy and strategy for The Nature Conservancy in New York. 

According to Jill Henck, clean energy program director for the Adirondack North Country Association, a majority of Adirondack Park residents have inconsistent access to utility gas. An analysis from the organization found that many rely on electric, fuel oil, kerosene or wood-based heating systems. Installing an electric heating system through state or federal incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act is a safer alternative, she said. 

“The CLCPA is not perfect but I am proud to work on this ambitious initiative that was enacted to make my home, my neighbors and my children safer,” said Henck, who is also part of the state’s Climate Justice Working Group and the Energy Equity Collaborative. 

‘Bring on the analysis’

A more detailed analysis of the act’s cost is welcome, said Marguerite Wells, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York. The lobby group leader said any fiscal impact examination should also look at what could happen without the law.

“Bring on the analysis, because we want to include health costs, we want to include impacts of climate change and the reinforcements in mitigation adaptation we have to do to all our infrastructure to survive the climate change we’re going to be having anyway,” Wells said.

In July, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported inadequate planning for the climate law’s implementation. The comptroller claimed that the Public Service Commission used outdated data and wrong calculations to determine when the state could reach 70% renewably sourced electricity by 2030. Overall, DiNapoli said the state needs to take stronger action to meet its climate goals. 

“No one is saying that this law is perfect or that the implementation has not been a learning experience,” Ottney Mahar said. “But what we do know is that the status quo is also not serving us and we need to make sure that we’re building a clean energy system.”

Photo at top: A solar farm in Washington County. Explorer file photo by Cindy Schultz.