The overhaul of the state’s energy system by New York’s Democrats is shaping up to be a disaster. Their goals are alarming to nearly everyone who has looked at them objectively. Now, two new reports reinforce the blatant unworkability of their plans.
Under their 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), New York’s homes and businesses will have to eliminate all carbon emissions. While protecting our environment is essential, the timeline set forth in the legislation, which has us stopping fossil fuel-based electricity production by 2040, cannot be met. As the old expression goes, “numbers don’t lie.”
Cornell University Professor Lindsay Anderson and her research team studied the problem using a model based on New York’s energy usage, transmission infrastructure, and weather. Their work is not a theoretical model based on fixed circumstances; it’s an extrapolation of what New York will actually look like if we implement this plan as written. The results are troubling, to say the least.
For New York to meet the energy demands laid out in the legislation, the state will need to supplement wind and solar power with approximately 40 additional gigawatts in new energy production. As it turns out, that figure is how much energy New York uses right now. In other words, after we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to completely overhaul the state’s energy grid, we will still need as much energy as we use right now on top of what the renewable energy plan calls for.
With no back ups in place, according to the Cornell analysis, we could face blackouts big enough to put half of New York City during periods of peak usage. “Blackouts could last a month in some parts of the state,” they conclude. While a worst-case scenario is unlikely, the question remains: why are we spending billions and billions of dollars to create an energy grid that will not even come close to meeting our needs?
Making matters clearer, the New York Independent System Operator also released a new report, the “2024 Reliability Needs Assessment,” indicating state electricity demand is on the verge of spiking thanks to the “electrification of the transportation and building sectors, and large, energy-intensive commercial projects that include data centers and chip fabrication.” On top of that, a coalition of business and energy groups called for a “deep analysis” of the state’s energy plan in a dire warning letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The facts are plain; the Democrat plan is not even close to feasible. The math doesn’t work, and we are on the wrong path to energy efficiency. We all want a better, cleaner energy grid. Unfortunately, the current proposal simply will not cut it. The state must pause this plan and rethink what we are doing before spending billions of taxpayer dollars on something that cannot work.