Governor Cuomo Announces Initiative

A Major Climate And Jobs Initiative In Partnership With The Worker Institute At Cornell University Ilr’s School And Climate Jobs Nyto Help Create 40,000 Clean Energy Jobs By 2020

Initiative Will Accelerate Renewable Energy Growth With up to $1.5 Billion Investment in Renewable Energy Projects  

Largest Clean Energy Procurement by a State in U.S. History Strengthens New York’s Position as National Leader on Climate Change 

Establishes an Environmental Justice & Just Transition Working Group to Help Historically Underserved Communities Prepare for a Clean Energy Future and Adapt to Climate Change

New York State Solar Capacity Set to Double by End of 2018

Announcement Follows Governor’s Executive Order Committing New York to Uphold the Standards Set Forth in the Paris Accord 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Clean Climate Careers initiative following the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord. The initiative is a multi-pronged strategy to grow New York’s emerging clean energy economy and prepare the workforce for the long-term careers associated with this industry. In partnership with the ILR School’s Worker Institute at Cornell University and Climate Jobs NY, this initiative focuses on accelerating energy efficiency and renewable energy growth to make New York a magnet for new energy technologies and creating 40,000 new, good-paying clean energy jobs by 2020.

Yesterday, Governor Cuomo signed an executive order to commit New York to uphold the standards set forth in the Paris Accord and announced a U.S. Climate Alliance, along with California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., and Washington State Governor Jay R. Inslee, to convene U.S. states committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement and taking aggressive action on climate change.

As part of the first phase of the Clean Climate Careers initiative, New York State will make an unprecedented investment of up to $1.5 billion in major renewable energy projects, including wind and solar, and significantly expand energy efficiency and solar installations at public buildings. The investment will result in an additional 2.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity a year, representing the largest clean energy procurement by a state in U.S. history.

The Clean Climate Careers initiative is a bold, three-pronged strategy that connects investment in clean energy technologies with the industry’s good-paying, quality jobs:

1. Investing in Clean Tech and Supercharging Renewable Energy Development: Making record investments in renewable energy to meet Governor Cuomo’s ambitious Clean Energy Standard target of achieving 50 percent of electricity from renewables by 2030 – and as a result New York is poised to double the State’s solar capacity from roughly 800 megawatts today to more than 1600 megawatts by the end of 2018.
2. Creating Clean Climate Careers : Making historic investment of up to $1.5 billion in major renewable energy projects will create thousands of well-paying jobs for middle class New Yorkers across the State, while providing funding to train our workforce for lifetime careers in building efficiency, renewable energy, and other low-carbon sectors.
3. Advancing Environmental Justice: Establishing an Environmental Justice & Just Transition Working Group to develop priority programs and policies to help historical underserved communities – and those navigating the retirement of carbon-intensive energy plants – prepare for a cleaner, greener future.

“As the federal government abdicates its responsibility to address climate change — at the expense of our environment and economy — New York is leading the nation in advancing a clean energy future,” Governor Cuomo said. “The Clean Climate Careers initiative is a groundbreaking investment, representing the largest state clean energy procurement in U.S. history. With this $1.8 billion initiative, New York continues to tackle the challenges of climate change and create the high-quality, good-paying careers of tomorrow.”

Details of phase one of the Clean Climate Careers initiative include:

Record-Breaking Solicitations to Invest up to $1.5 Billion in Clean Energy 
Today, the State will issue requests for proposals from qualified developers to build renewable energy projects that will generate 2.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity a year – enough to power approximately 350,000 homes. Combined, the RFPs are the first in a series of major procurements and are expected to result in the development of 40 to 60 large scale renewable energy projects by 2022 under the Clean Energy Standard.

The complementary solicitations by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority will invest up to $1.5 billion in wind, commercial solar and solar arrays, small and large-scale hydro, fuel cell and other technologies.

The NYSERDA solicitation  will procure 1.5 million MWh of electricity from renewable energy sources and the NYPA solicitation will procure an additional 1 million MWh. This investment in additional large-scale clean energy supplies will expand NYPA’s leadership role as the State’s largest supplier of renewable electricity. Both the NYSERDA and NYPA solicitations will lead to the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs from development, construction and operation of clean energy projects through 2022.

The State is committed to studying the feasibility of the types of economic efficiencies that can be achieved through the use of a Project Labor Agreement for the construction of Public Work projects associated with this initiative.  Use of a PLA for such Public Works could bring broad participation by NYS registered apprentice programs and can lead to new apprenticeship opportunities for a great many New Yorkers working in construction.

$300 Million Investment in Energy Efficiency and Solar To Expand BuildSmartNY and K-Solar Programs
Accelerating the Governor’s BuildSmartNY and K-Solar initiatives, NYPA will double annual investments in energy efficiency and solar deployments from $150 million to $300 million to get more clean, renewable energy into our local governments, public facilities, and schools. This $300 million is a mix of NYPA’s low-cost financing and additional private sector capital.

NYPA has established a new partnership with a consortium of banks that, will for the first time ever through NYPA, enable municipalities to access low-cost capital from commercial banks to finance energy efficiency and solar projects. Many local governments that are interested in energy efficiency projects and may not have previously qualified for financing will benefit from a more streamlined process and be able to obtain more competitive lending rates.

With this expanded investment, NYPA will conduct 1,000 energy efficiency and solar audits for municipalities and school districts by 2020 to help support prudent investments. The initiative will be available to all local governments and municipalities, who will have the opportunity to sign up and enrollment will be open before the end of 2017.

NYPA will also install more than 125 megawatts of solar capacity on schools and other public buildings by 2020, achieving a 300 percent increase in distributed solar projects at public facilities statewide. Through K-Solar and BuildSmartNY, NYPA partners with solar and energy efficiency companies to provide ‘turn-key’ solutions to its government customers, meaning local governments can easily receive design, construction management, commissioning, and financing services for their projects all at once.

These accelerated energy efficiency initiatives will create more than 2,000 new direct and indirect jobs.

$15 Million in Workforce Development & Training Programs
We have committed $15 million to educators and trainers that partner with the clean energy industry and unions to offer training and apprenticeship opportunities, and to prepare a new generation of our workforce for jobs in the growing clean energy economy. The funding will be distributed to the most innovative and far-reaching apprenticeship, training programs and partnerships including those with applicable trades and unions.  We expect the grants to cover the full spectrum of workforce training from education to apprenticeships to employment in the industry and trades.

Environmental Justice and Just Transition Working Group to Help Communities Thrive in the Transition to a Clean Energy Economy 
The Governor also announced a new Environmental Justice and Just Transition Working Group, which will focus, in part, on developing policies and programs to ensure a “just transition” to a green and clean energy future.

The Working Group will advise the administration on the integration of environmental justice and just transition principles into all agency policies, and to shape environmental justice programs identified in State of the State and inform what work products would assist in this effort. The first Working Group session will convene in June.

“The extent of the state’s new commitment for renewable resources is several orders of magnitude greater than anything we’ve seen before in our state,” said Richard L. Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York. “Under Governor Cuomo, New York is following through on his commitment to combat climate change and spur the transition to a clean energy economy that creates good-paying jobs. Under REV, we are building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers.”

“Today is a momentous day in advancing New York’s energy goals with this unprecedented investment in renewable energy, underscoring the state’s comprehensive approach to fighting climate change,” said John B. Rhodes, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “Governor Cuomo continues to take aggressive action to reduce harmful emissions, lower energy costs, create jobs and ensure cleaner communities across the state.”

“Now is the time for renewable energy,” said Gil C. Quiniones, president and CEO, NYPA. “Through this sweeping investment in clean and green energy projects and jobs, we are aggressively moving closer toward Governor Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard and pushing forward as a national leader. Through the largest-ever call for large-scale renewable projects, ramping up our investment in energy efficiency, and expanding use of renewable technologies, including solar, in schools and public buildings, we are spearheading transformative change throughout the industry. We are also ensuring that New York State’s energy mix is viable and affordable now and into the future.”

Gary LaBarbera, President, Greater New York Building Construction Trades Council, said, “On behalf of 100,000 union building trades members, I commend Governor Cuomo for his leadership to address climate change while also supporting the working men and women of New York. This announcement demonstrates the Governor’s commitment to good jobs in a growing sector of the economy.”

Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO, said,  “We welcome this partnership with Governor Cuomo to strengthen the economy, while addressing climate change.  Expanding the state’s commitment to renewable energy projects is not only an opportunity to make New York a leader in the clean energy industry, it’s an investment in long term, sustainable middle class jobs in our state. Good paying jobs with benefits allow working men and women to provide for their families while supporting local businesses in their community.”

“This initiative would help create good jobs while protecting and improving our environment,” said Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “I commend Governor Cuomo on helping to make this groundbreaking partnership a reality.”

“I have worked for climate sustainability for many years and believe that working people have to be at the center of climate solutions,” said Michael Fishman, past Secretary Treasurer of Service Employees International Union. “Our new partnership with Governor Cuomo represents a huge step forward and together we can combat climate change and reverse economic inequality.”

Lara Skinner, Associate Director of The Worker Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, said,  “Today’s launch of the Climate Jobs New York campaign and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement to dramatically increase the state’s effort to combat climate change represent a historic breakthrough. The campaign positions working people and unions as an engine to tackle the climate crisis and the Governor’s announcement elevates New York state’s commitment to lead the nation in transitioning to an equitable clean energy economy. I’m pleased that our convening of building, energy and transport unions through the Labor Leading on Climate initiative for the past three years helped spark these efforts.”

Christopher Erikson, Business Manager, IBEW Local 3, said, “We need an energy transition to clean energy and we need to do it so we protect the good union jobs of those who construct, operate, and maintain power plants in this country. I commend the Governor’s leadership and this first step towards meeting the needs of climate and workers together and, the IBEW Local 3 is devoting the resources needed to train the next generation of skilled electrical workers for a clean energy future.”

John Samuelsen, International  President, Transport Workers Union of America, said, “Today’s announcement represents New York seizing the opportunity and responsibility to address the growing crisis of climate change in a way that creates good jobs and begins to reverse inequality. On behalf of our 140,000 members, we commend Governor Cuomo as he shows the nation how to lead the fight on climate and jobs.”

James Slevin, President, Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, said, “As a union leader who represents thousands of workers currently employed in New York’s energy system and whose livelihoods depend on those jobs, I am very concerned about protecting their jobs and addressing climate change which affects my members, their families and their communities. This initiative represents the best hope for protecting my members, ensuring new energy jobs are good union jobs, and addressing climate change.”

John J. Murphy, International Representative for New York State, United Association Plumbers & Pipefitters, said,  “As New York transforms our energy economy to address the realities of climate change, we need to ensure investments support workers and communities. Today’s announcement demonstrates we can do big things together to harness the transition for the benefit of all New Yorkers. The United Association training programs are on the cutting edge of green technology and our members stand ready to partner with NYS while creating good, sustainable jobs.”

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