New York State plans to increase its distributed solar deployment from 3 GW by 2023 to 6 GW by 2025. It is one of the measures Governor Andrew Cuomo has included in his 2019 Justice Agenda under the so-called Green New Deal.
The governor announced the deal in December 2018 when the state revealed its intention to have 1.5 GW of energy storage capacity by 2025 and increase it to 3 GW by 2030 (see New York Targets 3 GW Energy Storage By 2030).
The current mandate for New York is to achieve 50% renewable energy by 2030, and Cuomo is asking to increase it to 70% by the target year. Further, under the Green New Deal, Cuomo has proposed a mandate of increasing the target to 100% clean, carbon-free electricity for the state by 2040, which he says would be the most aggressive goal in the country and 5 years ahead of California's target.
In September 2018, California officially adopted a 100% clean energy goal with carbon neutrality by 2045 (see California Confirms 100% Clean Energy Target).
To be able to achieve the 70% renewable energy target by 2030, 6 GW distributed solar deployment is one of the measures Cuomo's administration is suggesting. Other measures include offshore wind target to be increased to 9 GW by 2035 from 2.4 GW by 2030, more than doubling new large-scale land-based wind and solar resources through a Clean Energy Standard, maximizing contributions and potential of New York's existing renewable resources and 3 GW of energy storage by 2030.
The agenda calls for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in concert with the Department of Public Service (DPS), to expand and enhance their Solar For All program and couple it with energy savings opportunities, increasing access to affordable and clean energy for low-income, environmental justice and other underserved communities.
Another major highlight of the proposal is $1.5 billion earmarked to competitively award 20 large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects across upstate New York. These would represent more than 1.65 GW of clean energy capacity and drive a total of $4 billion in direct investment in the country's clean energy economy. Overall clean energy generation will be 3,800,000 MWh creating over 2,600 short-term and long-term jobs. All of these projects are expected to enter construction by August 2019 and commence commercial operations by 2022.
The proposal still needs to be vetted and approved by the state legislature. The full text of the 2019 Justice Agenda with details about the Green New Deal can be viewed on the website of Governor Cuomo.