Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new framework for New York State to increase its distributed solar capacity to 10 gigawatts by 2030- enough to power 700,000 homes. NYSERDA and the Public Service Commission have created a new roadmap to show how these numbers can be achieved, making the NY-Sun Initiative one of the largest and most inclusive programs of its kind in the US.

“The existential fight against climate change demands historic investments in renewable energy to bring us closer to a brighter, greener future,” Governor Hochul said. “This roadmap to expand the NY-Sun initiative into a nation-leading blueprint for the development of distributed solar meets the moment to supercharge our economy and advance our climate goals.”

The adopted framework includes an investment of $1.5 billion in ratepayer-funded incentives to extend the successful NY-Sun program and continue the marked reduction in project cost and incentives observed in the last ten years. The public investment will spur approximately $4.4 billion in private investment to bring awarded projects to fruition, for a total of $5.9 billion in expected investment over the mid- to late-2020s. 6,000 additional solar jobs will be created across the state, including with the State’s first application of prevailing wage requirements for solar projects between one and five megawatts.

Some of the provisions in the new roadmap are:

  • At least 1,600 megawatts, enough to power 280,000 homes, of new solar capacity to benefit disadvantaged communities and low-to-moderate income New Yorkers, with an estimated $600 million in investments serving these communities;
  • At least 450 megawatts, enough to power nearly 79,000 homes, to be built in the Con Edison electric service area (covering New York City and parts of Westchester), increasing the installed solar capacity in this area to over one gigawatt, enough to power nearly 175,000 homes;
  • At least 560 megawatts, enough to power 98,000 homes, to be advanced through the Long Island Power Authority; and
  • A new requirement that workers associated with the construction of NY Sun supported projects that are greater than one megawatt be paid the applicable prevailing wage.

This increased investment means we’ll have a lot more to share in the coming weeks and months about new solar projects, so stay tuned…

You can read the full press release about this on the NYSERDA website here.