August 25, 2004
New York Public Interest Research Group
Environmental Advocates of New York
Natural Resources Defense Council
American Lung Association of New York
Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter

Groups Call on Governor to Go For the Gold on Renewable Energy
Mock Relay Race Illustrates the State's Process

(Albany, NY) -- As the state Public Service Commission’s board met in the building above, environmental and public health groups used a mock relay race on the Empire State Plaza to encourage Governor Pataki to ensure that the Public Service Commission quickly finalizes the rule for a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which would require 25% of the electricity sold in New York to come from renewable power by 2013.

The groups urged the Governor to make sure the Commission's final RPS: 1) meets the renewable energy goal announced by Governor Pataki in January 2003; 2) is mandatory and independent of other renewable energy efforts; and 3) excludes trash incineration.

In Governor Pataki's 2003 State of the State address he directed the PSC to implement "a program which will guarantee that within the next 10 years at least 25 percent of the electricity bought in New York will come from renewable energy resources like solar power, wind power, or fuel cells." In February 2003, the PSC started the official proceeding to institute the RPS. In March 2003, the PSC convened an adjudicatory stakeholder process. In June of 2004, the administrative law judge overseeing the process issued a recommended decision and the PSC held eight public hearings throughout the state. Today the PSC board is voting to approve the draft environmental impact statement. September is the next board meeting when the PSC can finalize the rule.

“This relay race, which embodies the spirit of the Olympics, is to make sure the state Public Service Commissions crosses the finish line by finalizing a strong renewable energy standard at next month's board meeting,” said Jason K. Babbie, environmental policy analyst for the New York Public Interest Research Group. “Over one and a half years after Governor Pataki announced that New York would adopt the RPS, we are in the final leg of the process and we call on Governor Pataki to honor his commitment and to make sure his administration does not drop the baton by delaying the finalization or weakening the RPS,” added Babbie.

The state is expected to get one step closer to finalizing the regulation by approving the required environmental impact statement in today’s agency board meeting. Because it

will stimulate the use of non-polluting technologies to generate electricity, the RPS will lead to an improved air quality for all New Yorkers. Power plants fired by coal and oil are the largest source of industrial air pollution in the state.

“Without a strong RPS, New Yorkers will continue to put their health at risk by merely breathing,” said Peter Iwanowicz, Director of Environmental Health of the American Lung Association of New York State. “We must remember that living, working and playing in areas with unhealthful air will not only damage the lungs of the top athletes we are watching in the Olympics, ruining their dreams of representing their countries in the future. It will continue to cut short the lives and ruin the health of parents, grand parents and children across New York State.”

In public hearings held in late June, the public came out to overwhelmingly support the recommended decision on the rule, which came out of an extensive 18 month stakeholder process that included members of the environmental and business communities. Today, supporters of the proposed rule also sent in over 1,100 post cards that were collected in August calling on the agency to finalize the proposal today.

The recommended decision excludes the burning of garbage from the definition of renewable technology, which was a major point of contention between the powerful trash incineration lobby and environmental, consumer and public health groups. Solar, wind, fuel cells and small-scale hydro are the types of technologies that will be included in the renewable energy standard.

“The Commission needs to finish the job and finalize the regulations as soon as possible: The Governor made a promise and the public wants green energy,” said Anne Reynolds of Environmental Advocates of New York. "We need the Governor to make sure that the rule that crosses the finish line keeps his promise of 25% green energy by 2013.

State studies show that many New York consumers will save money from the additional clean electric supply that the RPS will bring about; others will pay less than the cost of a cup of coffee per month. Successful implementation of the proposed renewable energy plan will also lead to a reduction in emissions of the gasses that cause global warming and increase the nation’s energy security.

"We urge the Commission to hold true to Governor Pataki's vision and ensure that the RPS is a mandatory requirement that will lead to 25% renewable electricity sold in New York by 2013. As we enter the final stretch of the RPS race, we need to make sure that the New York RPS is not weakened or watered down," said Katherine Kennedy, NRDC Senior Attorney.

"Green marketing can take us beyond the Governor's 25% goal for a RPS, but it should not be used to get us there. Having more renewable energy in New York will help create jobs, clean up the air, decrease our dependency on fossil fuels and put us on the path to a sustainable energy future," said Sarah Kogel-Smucker, legislative associate for the Sierra Club-Atlantic Chapter.