Way to go team! A big thanks to those of you who wrote a letter to the Public Service Commission about the Consolidated Edison gas moratorium last month! Because of the coordinated action by many organizations and local elected officials and your letters, calls, and public hearing attendance, Governor Cuomo's administration issued the Westchester Clean Action Plan.

We knew the fossil fuel industry and the corporate utility wanted to continue business as usual: keeping us hooked on fossil fuels and paying them for delivery of a dirty fuel that exacerbates harms to the climate. We asked the Cuomo administration respond to the Con Edison gas moratorium with new investments in renewable heating and cooling options, geothermal and air-source heat pumps, efficient and sustainable new buildings, and a transition to the renewable energy economy. 

And what happened?

On March 14, New York announced a $250 million Clean Energy Investment Program in Westchester County for local investment in clean energy alternatives including electric heat pumps, high-efficiency appliances, and equipment and building materials that will lower energy costs for consumers and reduce demand in order to accommodate new customers. This is a game changing response and a victory for the groups advocates and people who stood up to the gas industry and utility.

Here is our response to the announcement:

Renewable Heat Advocates Celebrate Cuomo Administration’s Response to Con Ed’s Gas Moratorium Threat  

Advocates for renewable heating as an alternative to fossil fuels are celebrating the announcement that New York will make big investments in renewable heating and energy efficiency in Westchester County. The announcement came from the New York Public Service Commission in response to the public outcry over plans by Consolidated Edison to impose a moratorium on new gas customers starting today. Groups say the newly announced Westchester Clean Energy Action Plan can be used as a model to find alternatives to all new proposed gas infrastructure in New York, and they praise Governor Cuomo and state agencies for their visionary approach.

The Plan was released after residents, organizations, and elected officials spoke at public hearings and submitted comments on how to respond to the utility’s claims that its gas system had reached capacity in most of Westchester County.

Westchester County Legislator Catherine Borgia (District 9) responded to the news saying: “When Con Edison announced their moratorium on natural gas hookups, I expressed my confidence that we could find a solution that would serve the current and immediate future needs of Westchester residents and businesses while simultaneously encouraging movement away from fossil fuel heating sources entirely. It is good to see that the state is taking up this critical charge. I applaud NYSERDA, NYPA, the Department of Public Service, and Governor Cuomo for investing in a strategy to reduce demand for natural gas. This strategy will serve to provide space for those new customers who have already built the infrastructure for gas heating, while putting us on the path toward 100% adoption of carbon neutral heat sources, as soon as possible.”

Courtney M. Williams, the co-founder of Safe Energy Rights Group who sits on the City of Peekskill Conservation Advisory Council, said: “We cannot continue to pretend that our energy choices don’t impact public health and the climate. Westchester is already home to fracked gas infrastructure and coping with the health and safety implications of that. Conserving energy and investing in renewables is what we must do.”

Kim Fraczek, Director of Sane Energy Project, said: “Westchester elected officials and residents took a bold stand to challenge the fossil fuel industry’s attempt to manufacture panic in order to garner support for an aging, finite and poisonous fuel. We are very pleased that our action garnered such a positive response from NYSERDA and the PSC. Now, we must make sure this funding continues to scale to ensure all counties in New York can access affordable renewable energy.”

Andra Leimanis, Communications Director at Alliance for a Green Economy, said: “When the moratorium was announced we saw it as an opportunity for New York to demonstrate a commitment to ending gas expansion and replacing fossil fuels with renewable heating. We’re glad the Cuomo administration also saw the opportunity for fossil-free solutions. The new Clean Energy Action Plan is a decisive step in the right direction, and we look forward to more of the same in response to upcoming claims of gas moratoria from other utility companies.”

Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director, Food and Water Watch said: “The climate crisis demands that we remove most customers from the gas system and transition them to renewable heating sources within a decade. This means that utility investments must go toward this transition and no longer to costly gas infrastructure that will become stranded assets. The Westchester Clean Energy Action Plan must be followed by a firm commitment to halting gas and other fossil fuel expansion and an orderly and equitable plan to dismantle the entire gas system.”

Eric Wood, Hudson Valley Regional Coordinator, NYPIRG said:  "The Public Service Commission (PSC) gave the public the chance to weigh in on Con Ed's gas expansion proposal. It is very inspiring that PSC heard our message loud and clear that New Yorkers do not want new fossil fuel infrastructure of any kind. The fact that they delivered this message to the Governor, and that the Governor is acting on this issue, should give all of us hope in the fight against climate change."

Con Edison’s claim that their current gas system is at full capacity had developers, the gas industry, and some elected officials pressuring the Governor and the Commission to put more gas supply in place. However, many local elected officials, residents, and organizations fought back, calling instead for state regulators to go in a visionary direction -- turn away from gas infrastructure and put resources into alternatives like renewable heating alternatives and energy efficiency.

Hundreds of utility customers submitted comments and testimony to the Public Service Commission calling for non-gas alternatives. Meanwhile, local elected officials and environmental organizations sent letters to the Governor and submitted technical comments to the Public Service Commission supporting the case for a strategy to serve new customers with alternatives. Advocates held press conferences and demonstrations calling out the utility for using the moratorium to try to gain support for more gas infrastructure. And they called for a big investment from NYSERDA to help with public education and incentives for heat pumps so that anyone impacted by the moratorium could get access to alternative heating, hot water, and cooking sources.  

In response, the Public Service Commission, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) yesterday announced a $250 million program they are calling the Westchester Clean Energy Action Plan. The plan utilizes $165 million in funds for heat pumps and efficiency that the Commission recently approved for Con Edison to spend on heat pumps and efficiency in Westchester. And it adds another $85 million in NYSERDA and NYPA money for a number of initiatives, including:

• Community-based and NYSERDA public education efforts around fossil-free heating alternatives
• Grants to customers to use renewable heating methods and adopt energy efficiency measures in buildings, including grants for low and moderate income housing providers
• Support for local government buildings to reduce their heating needs and adopt heat pumps  
• Support for the geothermal and air-source heat pump industries to scale up in Westchester to provide renewable heating alternatives

Renewable heating advocates said they hope the Cuomo administration sticks to this approach as the Public Service Commission continues to investigate and respond to Con Ed’s gas moratorium.

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We will send updates as the story unfolds. We know this fight is far from over. This is an initial victory, but we know the gas industry will keep up pressure to expand. We encourage you to keep writing to Public Service Commission!

All the best,

Andra
Communications & Outreach Director
Alliance for a Green Economy

(Photo caption: Catherine Parker, Majority Leader at Westchester County Board of Legislators, speaks at the February 13 White Plains press conference (organized by Sane Energy Project, Safe Energy Rights Group, Resist Spectra, and Alliance for a Green Economy) prior to the NYS Public Service Commission hearing on Consolidated Edison’s Westchester gas moratorium.)