The Cuomo administration’s top energy official defended a plan that would all but privatize the Long Island Power Authority, arguing that a competing proposal to restructure it as a fully municipalized public utility would be unwieldy and could perpetuate political meddling. “Municipalization could take many of the problems LIPA has had for years and make them even worse,” Richard Kauffman, the governor’s chairman for energy and finance, said in an email to City & State on Thursday. “It would mean… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken a number of steps to revamp New York’s energy policy since taking office, but critics still have found plenty to criticize in the direction the state is moving. At City & State’s State of Our State conference in Albany on Tuesday, panelists took issue with the governor’s proposed overhaul of the Long Island Power Authority, a portion of the New York Energy Highway initiative to upgrade transmission lines, the fate of hydraulic fracturing and more.… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has done plenty to please environmentalists over the past few months. In his State of the State address Cuomo called for stricter caps on greenhouse gases, unveiled a new “energy czar” and announced plans for a $1 billion “green bank” and a statewide network of charging stations for electric cars. Environmental groups praised the budget he signed this year, which boosts funding for mass transit, increases capital spending for parks and diverts more money to the state’s… [More]

MATTHEW DRISCOLL President and CEO, New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation Q: What does the Environmental Facilities Corporation do? MD: It is the arm of the Cuomo administration that helps communities finance drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Q: What is your top priority? MD: My top priority is to help municipalities take advantage of our low interest rates to finance infrastructure that is critical to ensuring sustainable communities. Creating an efficient wastewater system or a reliable drinking water supply can be… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have the final say over whether hydraulic fracturing is allowed in New York—but some hydrofracking opponents are shifting their focus to lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium on the controversial method of drilling for natural gas. Drilling foes see a potential for a breakthrough in the state Senate, which has traditionally been more supportive of hydrofracking but where state Sen. Jeff Klein and his breakaway Independent Democratic Conference could be in a position to play a… [More]

With its coal-fired power plant in Dunkirk struggling to stay open, NRG Energy released a study yesterday that supports its proposal to “repower” the plant to run on cheaper natural gas. The study, commissioned by NRG, predicts that the repowering project would lower wholesale energy prices in the region and around the state, reduce dirty emissions, create jobs and avoid having to build long-distance transmission lines to import electricity from out of state. “The takeaway is that the study shows… [More]

Only after Superstorm Sandy slammed Long Island did the governor finally take a serious look at the Long Island Power Authority in search of a solution to its longtime problems. … [More]

The state’s Public Service Commission is holding a hearing today on part of a $811 million contingency plan submitted by Con Edison and the New York Power Authority for the potential closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plant – and defenders of the plant, who say the plan is being rushed through, are incensed. “This is like a forced cost on Con Ed and NYPA ratepayers, and NYPA ratepayers are all over the state,” said Jerry Kremer, the chairman of… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made it clear that he wants to privatize the Long Island Power Authority, saying in his State of the State address that it should be sold off and repeating this week that privatization makes the most sense of any possible course of action. But with Long Island lawmakers and residents worried that selling LIPA to a private company would make their already high electricity bills even more costly, administration officials have been careful to say that privatization is… [More]

Josh Fox, the documentary filmmaker who made Gasland, visited the Capitol on Monday to support state Sen. Tony Avella’s bill on workplace safety for the natural gas drilling and to film a sequel. “The state is accountable and has done nothing to fix workplace safety on these sites,” Fox said. Avella said he was confident the bill would pick up support from Republicans and independent Democrats. “In the event that the governor somehow allows high-volume horizontal hydrofracking in addition to vertical hydrofracking,… [More]