New York in danger of missing 2030 emissions target: report

New York must quicken its pace to achieve its 2030 renewable energy goals, according to a report released Tuesday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

In 2019, the state passed legislation setting a goal of 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent renewables by 2040. In the report, DiNapoli’s office said that to meet the 2030 goal, New York must increase its renewable capacity more than three times over compared with 2022. Over the last 20 years, he noted, the state added 12.9 gigawatts of electrical generation of all kinds. The state would have to add more than half that amount — 6.5 gigawatts — in renewables alone to meet the 2030 target.

“Clearly, achieving the renewable electricity goal will require an increase in recent performance,” he wrote. 

The length and complexity of the permitting process is one of the major hurdles in meeting the goal, according to the report. Only about 3 percent of the renewable electricity generation contracted since 2015 has actually been put into practical operation, which DiNapoli attributes to a combination of local opposition, delays in required studies and the length of the state Public Service Commission’s siting process.

Progress has also been hindered by individual project cancellations. Between 2005 and April of this year, the state canceled 1,319 megawatts’ worth of contracted installations, about 11 percent of the contracted capacity, and since 2015 only 3.1 percent of the total contracted renewables capacity has been actively operational.

The state will likely be able to achieve its 2030 goal if the projects currently under contract speedily pass through the permitting pipeline, but this is a big “if,” according to the report.

“While the State’s recently adopted reform of the siting law for renewable electricity facilities appears to have reduced the time required to permit facilities, it may need to be further expedited in a manner that continues to be protective of the environment and community concerns,” the report states.

New York contributed more than 175 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the Department of Energy. Transportation accounts for nearly half of those emissions.