The New York Public Service Commission recently issued an order requiring 50 percent of New York’s electricity come from renewable, clean energy resources such as wind and solar power by 2030.
A separate section of the Clean Energy Standard order establishes an incentive program to keep upstate nuclear power plants operating through 2030. The nuclear incentive level was established only for the next two years and can be adjusted up or down after 2018 based on market conditions. Output from the nuclear plants will not count toward the 50 percent renewables mandate.
New York, with the country’s third-largest population, joins California, America’s most populous state, in having set a “50 by ’30” renewable electricity benchmark. This also means that a total of five states (New York, California, Vermont, Hawaii, and Oregon) and the District of Columbia have established a requirement to reach 50 percent renewable energy levels or higher.
Source Natural Resources Defense Council
For more information, go to www.nrdc.org
