Dems Clean Energy Dream Looks Like a NY Nightmare
By Robert Hornak
Democrats have made eliminating fossil fuels one of their top priorities. Their plan for a green new deal has been insinuated into almost every facet of our lives, with attacks on everything from automobiles to gas stoves.
Opponents have long argued that their plans are way too costly with unachievable goals, not to mention calling into question the entire basis for their alarmism – that human activity is not affecting the global climate in any significant way.
Nevertheless, they have gone full speed ahead passing mandates to phase out fossil fuels and transition almost entirely to wind and solar. In 2019, NY passed a law mandating that both energy producers and consumers cut carbon emissions 40% by 2030 and be 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040.
Many objected, saying that NY was nowhere near on track to meet those goals. But now a pro-renewable voice has chimed in, agreeing with the critics on the unrealistic timeline set by NY’s obsessed politicians. The New York Affordable Clean Power Alliance, a special interest group supporting solar and wind producers, has released a shocking new report that declares these mandates a looming disaster for New Yorkers.
NY has already seen skyrocketing electricity costs. In the first year after the closure of the Indian Point nuclear plant – which supplied 25% of NYC’s total electricity and 80% of its renewable power – the wholesale price of electricity doubled.
There was nothing wrong with Indian Point, it just didn’t fit into the Democrats political plans. The excuse by then Gov. Cuomo was it could be in danger from earthquakes and terrorists. They want to save the world, but not if it means using nuclear power.
And as most consumers are now aware, Con Edison is looking to hike rates again by another 11% (citing in part the cost of complying with government mandates). But the real pain hasn’t even begun yet.
NY is trying to push everything onto the electricity grid. That’s on top of the natural increase in demand driven by our love for modern technology. Our reliance on cell phones, the internet, gaming, and all the gadgets we use on a daily basis are driving demand up exponentially. That’s not touching on things like crypto mining and its incredible demand for electricity.
Government is adding to the demand by trying to mandate everything run on electricity. In NYC, Local Law 97 is about to force co-op and condo homeowners to replace all gas and coal powered heating systems with electric heaters. Putting aside the incredibly unaffordable cost of doing this for these mostly middle-class homeowners, the insult added on will be the continued increase in the cost of electricity as this adds to the demand for supply.
According to the Alliance’s report, “The New York City area is forecasted to experience a generation shortfall starting in 2033, driven by an increase in peak demand and the planned retirement of existing dispatchable generation.” It continues, “New York faces hurdles in maintaining reliability due to ambitious renewables targets, the projected retirement of much of its flexible fossil generation fleet, growing load, and extreme weather.”
Then the clincher, “Unlike fossil fuel plants, which provide dispatchable generation around the clock, renewables depend on weather conditions, making real-time supply and demand balancing more complex.”
So now they admit that in addition to the growing cost of these renewable projects, they just aren’t nearly as reliable as traditional energy sources. The final nail in the report on the rising cost of these projects was, “These cost pressures affect all types of developers and would also drive up utilities’ costs if they were permitted to build large scale renewables.”
Meanwhile, these large-scale projects are falling apart all over the state. Some, like the Lighthouse Wind project, are just being cancelled due to rising costs and community opposition. Others are being downsized or delayed indefinitely. And transmission limitations, from upstate where the new projects are being planned to downstate where most of the demand is, are also driving up costs.
All of this appears to be a perfect storm for New York that could make the cost of electricity the breaking point for many already strapped taxpayers looking for some relief in the cost of living here but finding only pain.
Robert Hornak is a professional political consultant who has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Republican Assembly Leader’s NYC office and as Executive Director of the Queens Republican Party. He can be reached at rahornak@gmail.com and @RobertHornak on X.