No state awards for existing renewables

Good morning and welcome to the Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We’ll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week.

NO STATE SUBSIDIES FOR EXISTING RENEWABLES: The last round of proposals for New York’s Tier 2 program, which was set up in response to legislative pressure to compensate existing renewables in the state, resulted in no awards for the second time in a row. All 15 bids from six entities received through the solicitation exceeded the maximum bid price set by NYSERDA and the Department of Public Service.

NYSERDA views this outcome as “a positive result given the increased private market activity and demand for these resources,” spokesperson Aron Ashrafioun said in a statement. “With the market functioning well, state intervention similar to the original Tier 2 construct does not appear to be necessary at this time.” Owners of existing renewables in the state apparently disagree, given advocacy to pass another bill in recent sessions. Cuomo vetoed a similar measure backed by the industry and started the process that resulted in the Tier 2 subsidy in 2019.

NYSERDA has issued a request for information to the industry “to inform potential future actions by the State that could support these valuable baseline renewable energy resources in New York.” There’ve been some changes to the Tier 2 market in the past few years — in fact, community choice aggregation programs seeking to secure green energy have struggled with the rising costs of those renewable energy credits. NYSERDA’s tracking indicates a 93 percent decrease in unpurchased Tier 2 RECs from 2019 to 2021. — Marie J. French

TRASH DELAY PLAN — POLITICO’s Danielle Muoio Dunn and Sally Goldenberg: Mountains of black bags clogging city sidewalks have come to symbolize a declining quality of life throughout the five boroughs. Now, Mayor Eric Adams, who ran for office promising to clean up the dirty city, is dramatically transforming garbage pickup. To limit the unsightly havens for rats, Adams is expected to announce a plan on Monday to delay when residents and building owners can begin putting out trash for collection — moving the starting time from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The proposal has been in the works for months but only came to fruition after City Hall struck a deal with a prominent union that supported Adams’ election last year but opposed his trash plan.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING: Let us know if you have tips, story ideas or life advice. We’re always here at [email protected] and [email protected]. And if you like this letter, please tell a friend and/or loved one to sign up.

Here’s what we’re watching this week:

WEDNESDAY

— The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is hosting the first of two engagement session on the proposed Inland Flood Protection Rule, 10 a.m.

THURSDAY

— See you in New York... for a sold-out Canary Media-hosted event and panel on climate policy in New York state with our own Marie J. French, POLITICO alum Samantha Maldonado, and Canary’s own Maria Gallucci.

— The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is hosting a second engagement session on the proposed Inland Flood Protection Rule, 6:30 p.m.

Around New York

— The long-delayed cleanup of Bethpage Community Park, which was a chemical waste disposal site for Northrop Grumman, will not be completed until 2025.

— An interesting tale (especially in light of some draft climate plan proposals) of an effort to turn sewage sludge into fertilizer in Amherst.

— Road salt problems were in focus at a conference in Lake George.

— The market for firewood is booming as high heating prices loom this winter.

— RELEASE: Con Edison touted its investments in climate resilience following Sandy, as well as planning efforts to ensure future infrastructure is prepared for rising waters and extreme temperatures. (The utility recovers its costs for these investments, plus a return for shareholders, from ratepayers.)

Around New Jersey

— New solar-powered trash cans in Paterson will cost $4,400 each.

— Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease, has been found in water supplies from homes throughout Central Jersey.

What you may have missed

GAS BAN DATE PUSHED BACK: State staff supporting the Climate Action Council are backing a later date for eliminating fossil fuel combustion in new buildings. Aligned with a proposal that had backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and some Senate Democrats during the legislative session, the proposed dates would be 2025 for small buildings and 2028 for three-story multifamily and commercial buildings. Vanessa Ulmer, a senior advisor for NYSERDA, said the delay reflects the staff assessment of what’s practical, given that the state’s codes council will be working on a new building code after the publication of new international codes in 2024. “That’s a fairly aggressive timeline for going from a model code to a code being enacted,” Ulmer told the council. No council member suggested that the plan should keep the faster timeline. “I am disappointed … that we’re postponing the dates,” said Cornell professor Bob Howarth.

The council also heard a proposal from state staff about how to design a low-carbon fuel standard for the transportation sector to address some concerns raised by environmental justice and other groups. That includes a test to exclude credits for fuels with higher co-pollutant levels than petroleum fuels. “There are ways to address them constructively,” said NYSERDA’s transportation expert Adam Ruder.

WIND GOAL BOOST: Over the past three months, states increased their offshore wind goals by nearly 60 percent, according to a trade group, a sign of how much clean energy policy is hinged on coastal energy projects.

The Business Network for Offshore Wind added up all the new offshore wind energy targets in the last quarter, including a massive 25 gigawatt by 2045 goal California adopted in August and Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision to up New Jersey’s goal to 7.5 gigawatts by 2040 in September.

ELECTEDS, HEALTH PROFESSIONALS PUSH ELECTRIFICATION: Local elected officials, health advocates and electric building industry representatives will push for the state’s final plan to achieve drastic emissions reduction to include provisions to fully electrify buildings at an event in Albany today. The presser will also highlight a letter signed by healthcare groups and individual practitioners, representing a total of about 16,000 people, raising concerns about the harmful health effects of burning fossil fuels in buildings

LEAD LINE REPLACEMENT: In a closely watched rate case, New Jersey American Water estimates the cost of lead service line replacements will increase customers bills by 29 cents to $3.31 per month — but not any time soon.

SLOW SANDY SPENDING — POLITICO’s Danielle Muoio Dunn: The city hasn’t spent roughly a quarter of the $15 billion in federal disaster relief it received after Hurricane Sandy, nearly a decade after the deadly storm exposed the vulnerability of the city’s 520 miles of shoreline, according to a new report Thursday from city Comptroller Brad Lander.

FLOOD RULE REVIVED — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: A rule to protect inland New Jersey from flooding is moving ahead after months of uncertainty and criticism aimed at Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

OFFSHORE CABLE INPUT SOUGHT: NYSERDA will continue to accept public input about its review of constrained corridors for offshore wind cables into the New York City area. Consultants and staff working on the report shared details from the draft assessment during a webinar on Tuesday. The assessment outlines principles for siting offshore wind cables that would help minimize conflicts and impacts on resources while ensuring achievement of the 9 gigawatt target. — Marie J. French