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Just In!

Just In! features three or more fresh news item summaries on our home page every Monday, with the ability to comment via the blog link in each summary.

NY-GEO members get an advanced look at the Just In! articles plus several bonus article summaries with links on the Saturday before website publication.

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There is a lot happening over the next couple months, so please be sure to check out the new Events menu on our website.

1. New NY Policy Makers Set
2. NYSEG/RG&E Rate Case Settlement
3. Climate Action Council Gets Roadmap
4. Career Corner

1. New NY Policy Makers Set

Two significant new appointments to New York's policy roster have taken place recently. Alicia Barton has stepped down as President & CEO at NYSERDA and Dale Bryk has left as Deputy Secretary of Energy and Environment, the top energy position in the Governor's cabinet.

Doreen Harris is now Acting President & CEO at NYSERDA. Read her bio here. Harris has been at NYSERDA since 2010 and most recently has overseen the procurement of large-scale renewables including offshore wind.

Ali Zaidi has stepped in for Dale Bryk. From Politico New York & New Jersey Energy (2020 06 25):

ICYMI ENERGY MOVES: Ali Zaidi, a former adviser in the Obama White House who also was a top policy adviser for Senator Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign, started in April as Governor Cuomo's new Deputy Secretary for Energy and the Environment. He's also Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance, harkening back to the title formerly held by energy czar Richard Kauffman.

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2. NYSEG/RG&E Rate Case Settlement

The Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE New York) issued a press release regarding the NYSEG/RG&E rate case. It says, in part:

Environmental Groups Earn Unprecedented Climate Concessions in NYSEG/RG&E Gas Rate Case

In a first for NY State utility rate cases, grassroots environmental groups successfully negotiated with their utilities for zero net growth in gas use over the course of the three year rate plan, while keeping gas rate increases low. After months of negotiations, NYSEG and RG&E agreed to a slate of gas reduction strategies, retracted $128 million for gas infrastructure including pipelines, and funded $1.5 million for renewable heating systems for low-income residents.

See the full press release from the environmental groups here.

NYSEG/RG&E filed a 10-page summary of the Joint Proposal on June 24th.

See an analysis by Politico's Marie French. Gannett's Jeff Platsky explains the impact on consumers.

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See our LinkedIn and FB @NewYorkGEOHP pages for other updates.

Summaries, LinkedIn and Facebook pages are maintained by Billii Roberti of Green Choices Consulting.

For Our Readers

NY-GEO offers its readers a link to Business Hibernation Strategies to help you weather the economic challenges we are facing.

See the new Heat Pump Incentive Table here.

NOTE: LIPA/PSEG-LI rebates are not included in this table, but can be found here, under the section "Higher Rebates."

NYSERDA Ground Source Heat Pump video

More Just In!

3. Climate Action Council Gets Roadmap

From Politico New York & New Jersey Energy (2020 06 25):

CLIMATE ACTION COUNCIL GETS ROADMAP: The Climate Action Council [the body empowered to follow through on New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)] members were treated to a "back casting" model of how the state might achieve the goals laid out in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. "This is a consultant analysis that's intended to serve as a starting point to inform the work of the Council and the advisory panels in their deliberations," said NYSERDA's Alicia Barton at Wednesday's meeting. "It does not in any way bind to the council, nor could it." Barton said the analysis was an "evolution" of work done by NYSERDA to study the pathways and feasibility of 100 percent renewables. The analysis done by E3, which has apparently been ongoing since 2016, still needs to be adjusted to account for the specific methane accounting requirements in the CLCPA and restrictions on the combustion of biofuels in the law.

The draft results identify the need for wholesale electrification of buildings and transportation, big increases in renewables, investments in long-term storage technology for "firm dispatchable" generation when renewables fall short in the winter as people turn on their electric heaters, and other issues.

…The full slide deck [and a video] and additional technical explanation…are posted here.