Letter to the Editor: Setback for renewable energy projects

October 14, 2023
1:30 pm

To the Editor:

It is good that the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors began distributing $500,000 to Hudson Valley families whose properties were damaged by the recent flooding. Bravo.

But what about helping to prevent future flooding? Where is money for that? We need investments from all segments of society to mitigate the cause of flooding: greenhouse gasses warming the planet. That is what brings us the more frequent, violent downpours that damage our homes and businesses. The catastrophic weather disasters besetting us so much more frequently are due to the human activity of burning fossil fuels. We need buy-in that paying now for solutions in the long term is worth it. The solution, of course, is replacing fossil fuels with clean energy from the wind and sun.

So I am disheartened that the New York Public Service Commission just derailed our progress on clean energy. In its Oct. 12 meeting, it denied a petition from wind and solar developers for inflation adjustments to their contracts. This throws into uncertainty four offshore wind and 86 land-based renewable projects. Now our dirty fossil-fuel power plants will keep operating longer.

The PSC denied the petition on the basis of saving money for ratepayers. But what happens now? It’s too soon to tell, but it’s pretty easy to predict that costs are not going to come down. We will probably end up paying more anyway, but with an unnecessary delay. The adage, “Penny wise and pound foolish” comes to mind.

Nobody likes rate increases, but nobody likes flooded homes, either. Rate increases are manageable. Floods are not. We either pay now or pay later. Gov. Hochul and the PSC must do everything they can to quickly issue new contracts to get the offshore wind and other projects rebid and built. New York needs to live up to the mandates in our climate law. If not, we will need far more than $500,000 for flood victims in the future.

Nivo Rovedo

LaGrangeville, NY