New York needs to further streamline its regulatory process — and achieve a 200% increase in renewable energy production — if it is to meet a key 2030 climate protection goal, the state’s financial watchdog said in a new report.

The Office of the State Comptroller said present-day efforts to reduce emissions are improved over past initiatives but are not enough.

Only 29% of the electricity generated in-state came from renewable sources in 2022. One of the major milestones in the state’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 is that 70% of generation must be emissions-free and renewable by 2030.

As of mid-2023, the state has a strong pipeline of contracted renewable projects awaiting construction, but the pipeline is flowing slowly. Also, the developers behind thousands of megawatts of nameplate capacity in that pipeline said in June they need more money to proceed amid soaring inflation and interest rates.

The report raises a cautionary flag on these costs, as well: New York already has the 10th-highest retail electric rates in the nation and the billions being spent on the energy transition will be borne mostly by residents.

“New York State has rightly pursued an aggressive campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the most dangerous impacts of climate change,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a news release announcing “Renewable Electricity in New York State: Review and Prospects.”

“New York’s energy goals are attainable, but require careful attention and management to address challenges, meet ambitious deadlines and avoid future pitfalls.”

Mixed Record

Looking back to well before CLCPA codified the state’s climate goals, the report finds a mixed record for programs that tried to achieve similar results under different names.

The state’s Renewable Performance Standard and Clean Energy Standard, for example, suffered from inconsistent incentives, lengthy review timelines and project cancellations in its early years.

As a result, the state came nowhere near its earlier goals, such as 30% renewable electricity by 2015 or 15% reduction in electricity sales from 2008 to 2015.

But funding has become consistent, and the state in 2020 formed the Office of Renewable Energy Siting, dedicated solely to the expedited permitting of larger projects.

However, problems remain, the report states: Local opposition can cause extensive delays; review by the Department of Public Service and Public Service Commission takes time; and NYISO has one of the longest interconnection processes in the nation.

NYISO itself has begun to streamline its procedures and is showing a marked annual increase in both the number and combined capacity of projects approved. But interconnection will need to move much more quickly if the state is to meet the 2030 goal, the report warns.

Installed renewable capacity now is approximately 6.5 GW, the report says, and most of that is hydropower. NYISO estimates a need for 20 GW of additional renewable capacity to meet the 2030 goal, most of which will be solar and wind.

If all the contracted renewable energy projects already in the pipeline get built, New York will hit 66% renewables, just shy of the 2030 goal.

“But this is a big ‘if,’” the report states — projects are at risk of cancellation due to financial and other pressures. Only 3.1% of the renewable capacity placed under contract since 2015 is operational, it said.

All this bears directly on state residents, who will suffer the impact of climate change, reap the benefit of climate protection and likely be stuck paying the costs of success or failure.

The report concludes that “every effort should be made to clearly identify” how the transition’s costs will affect consumer costs.

“Given the ongoing concerns with affordability of electricity and the difficulty that some state residents face in paying their electric bills, the state could consider alternative funding mechanisms to per kilowatt hour charges on electric consumption,” the report recommends.

Familiar Message

The message in the Comptroller’s report is neither new nor unfamiliar to those working on the energy transition but it presents a concise summary of progress and challenges in the long-running effort.

Alliance for Clean Energy New York Executive Director Anne Reynolds was happy to see the report and appreciated it coming from outside the legislative and executive branches, which are funding and directing the transition.

“I think the comptroller adding his voice to that chorus is welcome,” she told NetZero Insider. “The more attention that is brought to this issue the better.”

As the report indicated, the state has made progress in streamlining the review process, Reynolds said, but it needs to make more progress and make it more quickly, she said.

“All of the state agencies have to be rowing in the same direction … it’s a good number of megawatts we need to get online.”

ACE NY represents many of the renewable energy developers who are asking New York to add an inflation adjustment mechanism for projects proceeding under older contracts.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, one of the state’s lead agencies in planning and carrying out the transition, said Tuesday the report lays out important issues.

NYSERDA told NetZero Insider via email:

“The Comptroller’s report, ‘Renewable Electricity in New York State,’ issued yesterday highlights the importance of investing in renewable energy and committing the necessary resources to install transmission-related upgrades throughout the state. New York currently has a robust portfolio of 120 large-scale renewable energy and transmission projects — either in operation or in development — which are expected to deliver over 14 gigawatts of clean power to the electric grid when completed, capable of powering over 66% of New York’s electricity when combined with the State’s currently operating renewables.

“This portfolio will be bolstered by the State’s future offshore wind and Tier 1 large-scale renewable energy solicitations. NYSERDA works in partnership with many organizations, both public and private, to responsibly advance the development of renewable energy in pursuit of achieving 70% renewable energy by 2030 and 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040.”

The Department of Public Service in late July quantified its efforts to make the state meet the CLCPA goals in an annual report. A spokesperson told NetZero Insider on Tuesday that DPS continues to work with other state agencies on the important initiative but had no comment on the report.

NYISO has repeatedly publicized New York state’s impending potential shortfall in energy generation capacity, and its CEO has pledged continued efforts to speed up the interconnection process. NYISO did not respond to a request to comment for this story.