New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has laid out a 40% acceleration of his state’s energy efficiency targets over the next seven years by calling on investor-owned utilities to achieve annual efficiency savings equal to 3% of sales by 2025.
“The expanded targets are expected to allow private sector energy efficiency businesses to grow, and will expand opportunities for third parties to partner directly with utilities, while helping New York meet climate goals” of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, Utility Dive reports.
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In his statement last Friday, Cuomo called energy efficiency the “most cost-effective” energy strategy available to the state.
“There are more than 110,000 people employed in efficiency-related jobs in New York, and Cuomo’s plan also seeks to boost that figure,” the industry publication notes. He said the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority would invest US$36.5 million to train more than 19,500 New Yorkers for clean energy jobs. NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton said Cuomo’s “bold policy leadership” and the work force training funds “will inject greater momentum into the state’s fast-growing clean energy sector.”
In January, Cuomo unveiled a “comprehensive agenda” to fight climate change that included a 2020 coal phaseout, development of at least 800 megawatts of offshore wind, and increased use of energy storage.
