This was sent to me earlier today. It is being forwarded to my distribution list. Some on the list live upstate. It was issues like this that resulted in the failure of the Ontario, Canada Green Energy initiative.
It was passed in 2009 and repealed in 2019 after Ontario started siting wind turbines and solar farms without consulting with the local residents of rural areas.
“Climate Justice” also has to take into consideration the affects on local communities in rural areas. They don’t want to feel like a plan that primarily supports the southern population centers that use more energy is being placed upon their backs. People inherently don’t like changes in the status quo, especially if they don’t see a clear benefit. The letter below is a clear indication of that. The issue that renewables have that fossil fuel plants don’t have is the area affected and the amount of real estate that will have to be acquired to support the plan.
The state is doing a horrible job of discussing their plan with the communities that will be affected and explaining why this is necessary. When I expanded my factory 25 years ago, the first thing that I did was walk door to door and show the plans to all of the neighbors and explain to them why what was happening would be an improvement over the status quo. We had doubled in volume and a large portion of the new building and site plan was devoted to providing more space for trucks and faster loading/unloading so that they didn’t block the street. I also got local restaurants that my employees ate lunch at to write letters in support of the project. I managed to increase a building in a residential area from 13,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet. Only one person came to the zoning hearing to complain and she was six houses up the block, beyond the notification limit.
I haven’t seen the state doing any of that kind of outreach. The zealots that proposed this policy feel that they are doing God’s work and that as a result, everyone will have to be on board. However, when you get into a silo and stop listening, you lose perspective and fail to understand the limitations of a plan and your ability to execute it. That will be even more of a reality after this project starts raising everyone’s utility bills out of their comfort zone which is going to happen within the next three years with the first hit happening in a couple of months.
The Ontario government did not realize this and neither does the NY State government.
Rich
——– Forwarded Message ——–
| Subject: | Fwd: send a letter to NYPA and to your local paper |
|---|---|
| Date: | Fri, 11 Aug 2023 08:24:49 -0400 |
| From: | Roger Caiazza <[email protected]> |
………. sent this to me today and I am forwarding it to folks on my distribution list that I think are from New York because I agree with his suggestion to contact NYPA.
If you aren’t from New York then please let me know so I can refine my distribution list.
Also of note is this commentary that got published yesterday in the All-Otsego newspaper https://www.allotsego.com/the-partial-observer-zero-emissions-transition-realistic/
Roger Caiazza
Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York
[email protected]
315.529.6711
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Dennis Higgins <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 8:09 AM
Subject: send a letter to NYPA and to your local paper
To:
Is your community involved battling an industrial wind or solar project? Are you concerned about accelerated siting and its potential impacts to your community? Did NYPA contact you for input on how it’s going? Send a letter to your local paper about being omitted from the stakeholder conferral. Send a letter to NYPA (a sample below) Also pasted below, NYPA’s press release.
send to
and copy
NYPA says:
“Hearing from organizations involved and invested in the state’s clean energy transition is vital as the Power Authority shapes its next steps and plans for the coming decade. The conferral process will ensure that key voices are represented and can help inform NYPA’s strategic plan to build more renewable generation and decarbonize our economy for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”
a sample letter you could send to your local paper and to NYPA
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a resident of New York. Like thousands of others living in rural upstate, our home rule authority has been steamrolled, proper industrial project SEQRA ignored compromising the environment and our lives, and, with the current budget, even reasonable tax revenues have been taken from us. Along with thousands of others, I am singularly impacted by the state siting process governing large-scale industrial renewables. I have not been invited to participate in the recently announced New York Power Authority Conferral Process although no one can claim to be more of a stakeholder than I. Today’s announcement about the Conferral Process specifically anticipates upcoming meetings with stakeholders.
I hope you will be in touch with upstate New York — from Buffalo to Amsterdam and Old Forge to Poughkeepsie — to let us know whether and by what means our many million voices may be heard.
Respectfully,
NYPA’s press release
For Immediate Release: 08/10/23
Contact: Susan Craig | [email protected] | (914) 287-3691
New York Power Authority Commences Conferral Process to Help Focus Renewable Energy Generation Priorities
Power Authority Begins Listening Sessions with Clean Energy Stakeholders
WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has begun the conferral process, called for in legislation included in the 2023-24 Enacted New York State Budget that provides NYPA with new authority to develop, own and operate renewable energy generating projects to assist the state in meeting its clean energy targets. Through the conferral process, the Power Authority will gather input from state agencies and key stakeholders regarding progress on the implementation of New York’s renewable energy goals as outlined in the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Power Authority leadership will confer with sister state agencies charged with implementing the state’s clean energy agenda. Next, NYPA staff will meet with additional pertinent stakeholders, including climate and resiliency experts, labor organizations, and environmental justice and community organizations.
Power Authority Board of Trustees Chairman John R. Koelmel, on behalf of all NYPA trustees, said, “Hearing from organizations involved and invested in the state’s clean energy transition is vital as the Power Authority shapes its next steps and plans for the coming decade. The conferral process will ensure that key voices are represented and can help inform NYPA’s strategic plan to build more renewable generation and decarbonize our economy for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”
The conferral process will yield a report by NYPA that includes stakeholder perspectives on the state’s progress on CLCPA renewable energy goals, information about the generation interconnection process of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), and other important issues. The conferral report will be made public and used by the Power Authority to inform the development of a strategic plan that identifies projects and describes other actions NYPA will undertake to help the state meet its clean energy targets.
“With Governor Hochul’s leadership, we at the New York Power Authority will build upon our unique position and experience in operating the state’s clean energy hydropower plants for the past sixty years to work with stakeholders and help shape the clean energy vision for New York State,” said NYPA President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll. “The conferral process is the first step in our commitment to learn how we can best fill in gaps and put our distinct resources to work. We are excited to hear from our collaborators as we embark upon identifying new renewable energy generation projects that will help enable New York to lead the country’s decarbonization journey.”
A conferral process task force will shape the outreach and report. The task force, led by Yves Noel, senior vice president and chief strategy officer, and Phil Toia, president, NYPA Development, consists of a cross-functional team that leverages internal subject matter experts from across NYPA including development, strategy, legal, and technical departments.
In May 2023, the 2023-24 Enacted State Budget provided NYPA with new authority to develop, own, and operate renewable energy generating projects—either alone or in collaboration with other entities—to assist the state in meeting its clean energy targets, including producing 70% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and creating a zero-emission statewide electrical system by 2040.
To contact the conferral task force for more information or to ask a question, e-mail [email protected].
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New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan
New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York’s unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $33 billion in 102 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting nearly 158,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector in 2020, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state’s 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.