The big catch in New York's new energy plan

And Foundation Aid formula changes are being sought by state education officials.

Good afternoon — It’s Tuesday and Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• New York approved a new 15-year energy plan Tuesday that included a projection on the big upfront costs consumers will bear to electrify their lives.

• The state Board of Regents voted to approve their budget and legislative priorities Tuesday, including changes they want in Foundation Aid.

• A new Siena poll had good news for Hochul’s reelection but bad news for her on how voters want to fund her policy priorities.

• The first special election for a seat in the Legislature vacated due to this year’s elections has been scheduled.

Names in today’s CapCon: Doreen Harris, Liz Moran, Gavin Donohue, Carl Mas, Betty A. Rosa, Elise Stefanik, Kathy Hochul, Zohran Mamdani, Harvey Epstein, Keith Powers, Jason Murillo

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NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris and PSC Chair Rory Christian (Will Waldron/Times Union)

⚡ New York has approved a new plan on energy through 2040 but it’s not cheap

The state Energy Planning Board finally approved New York’s 15-year plan on power generation and distribution Tuesday.

Environmental advocates aren’t thrilled about the plan because of its inclusion of an “all-of-the-above” approach to meet the state’s energy needs in the coming years. That jargon refers to continued reliance on fossil fuels.

“This plan locks New Yorkers into continued fossil fuel dependence and delays the transition to clean energy, an approach that will drive up costs, harm communities, and jeopardize the state’s climate mandates,” said Liz Moran, a policy advocate at Earthjustice.

The plan instead shifts the state’s strategy to focus on energy reliability and affordability. Without more renewable energy online, state officials said that means fossil fuels are here to stay for now.

“We must seek known and new strategies to meet the energy needs of New York’s residents and businesses without burdening their finances,” said Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority.

It’s confirmed in the plan that under the state’s current policies, it won’t reach its mandated 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the 2030 deadline. We already knew that.

With additional action, which essentially means a continued commitment in electrification and renewable energy, New York’s plan expects to reach that mandate by 2037. But even that’s not certain, Harris said.

“Making progress on these objectives depends on national markets, actions from other states, as well as federal policy and international commitment and action,” Harris said.

The plan does, however, place an emphasis on the need for diversity in the state’s energy portfolio as it continues its transition toward electrification and away from fossil fuels. The plan highlights nuclear energy as part of that portfolio.

There is a lot of analysis in the plan but there isn’t a step-by-step approach on how to get there. That’s needed, said Gavin Donohue, president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York.

“Making energy clean, affordable, and reliable should be the priority, but it may not come as quickly as the state would like due to the need for increased clarity and certainty on the state’s policies to carry out the plan,” Donohue said.

That means the state has to incentivize renewable energy developers to do business here instead of another state, Donohue said.

Read more about the broader plan in this story from the Times Union’s Ezra Bitterman. (Free link)

The Energy Planning Board Tuesday (Will Waldron/Times Union)

🔥 The plan projects a huge cost for certain consumers by 2031

The takeaway in the plan is that, in most cases, people who electrify their homes and transportation can expect lower energy costs in the future.

But there’s a big catch: to achieve those savings, consumers first have to pay for the equipment to make electrification possible. The state hasn’t previously laid out how much that would cost someone on average.

The plan includes that data and it is significant. When equipment costs are added on, the average monthly energy costs for consumers spike more than $1,000 by 2031.