Advocates and regulators of clean energy in New York are trying to navigate a path forward, as needs for power and affordability concerns both grow. There’s no debate on the reality that New York needs to bring more electricity generation online. But how the state manages increased generation and upgrades the grid to distribute that power remains in flux.
Bruce Bailey, Executive in Residence at the University at Albany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center said the combination of demands by datacenters and electrification of homes is pushing the need. But a lot of factors are at play, if the growth of renewable sources is to move forward.
“There needs to be a favorable business environment. And the state has set up strong incentives to attract clean energy investment in the state. But there's still the need for community acceptance of these projects. community education and early outreach. And there needs to be a sort of stable policy,” said Bailey
Bailey helped convene the Clean Energy Pathways workshop with developers, state regulators and power system operators. He said businesses that want to build green-energy projects keep getting mixed signals from the federal government; “they've seen that incentives have come and gone, that renewables have had to sort of re-justify the need for more incentives.”
Bailey emphasized that clean power choices continue to have the advantage of low to no emissions, no greenhouse gases, “and conventional power sources that do pollute aren't typically charged for those pollution effects.”
Despite the headwinds for renewables, Bailey said he remains optimistic that the needed growth can remain clean due to a range of technology advances.
He noted battery storage systems have come down in cost by 90%; small scale nuclear power is growing more viable; and advanced geothermal and hydro-power technologies show promise to keep energy production emission and pollution free.
