Co-authored by Thomas F. Puchner and Patrick T. Fitzgerald

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) Commissioner, Joseph Martens, spoke to legislators about his agency’s 2013-2014 budget on Monday. During the sometimes-feisty hearing, legislators peppered Martens with questions about the timeline for completion of the revised Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (“SGEIS”) and regulations for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (“HVHF”). Martens confirmed that DEC may miss several key February deadlines which may cause the proposed HVHF regulations to expire. Martens reiterated his agency’s position that it has “no specific timetable” for completing the process. Continue Reading DEC Commissioner Suggests SGEIS May Be Delayed…Again

The D.C. Circuit delivered a mixed decision recently regarding an American Petroleum Institute (“API”) challenge to the 2012 EPA Rule (“2012 Rule”) outlining blending requirements for cellulosic biofuels.  Cellulosic biofuel is an advanced biofuel that comes from sources such as switchgrass and agricultural wastes. Continue Reading D.C. Circuit Issues Mixed Ruling on Biofuels Targets

State Supreme Court Justice Ferris D. Lebous recently overturned a local ordinance adopted by the Binghamton City Council in 2011 to ban activities associated with gas drilling and exploration for a period of two years. Justice Lebous’ decision is the first in New York State to overrule a local ordinance pertaining to the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Continue Reading State Supreme Court Overrules Local Fracking Ordinance

Renewable energy is at an important crossroads for several reasons. In particular, the following concerns have been brought to the forefront: the continued availability of subsidies that can impact the economic feasibility of renewable energy projects; the potential market impact of large quantities of inexpensive Marcellus formation natural gas entering the energy marketplace; and the emerging ability to cost-effectively store large quantities of energy generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Continue Reading The Evolving Face Of Renewable Energy

By Donald T. Ross

Governor Andrew Cuomo, as part of his ongoing “NY-Sun” program intended to accelerate customer-sited solar electricity capacity in New York State, recently signed into law three bills which further this initiative.

Chapter 406 of the Laws of 2012 exempts the sale and installation of commercial solar energy systems—defined as systems which convert solar radiation to energy for cooking, hot water or electricity—from State sales taxes, beginning January 1, 2013, and grants municipalities (counties and cities) the power to exempt these systems from local sales tax.  New York’s similar program for residential solar energy systems continues unchanged. Continue Reading New York State Extends and Expands Solar Energy System Tax Incentives

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has created a new website and Twitter feed to provide facts about renewable energy in the U.S.  This informative, non-partisan organization is looking to address some of the mis-information about renewable energy, and facilitate fact-based decision and policy making regarding renewable energy.  The links for both the website and twitter feed are below:

There is new hope for the long-stalled development of New York’s Marcellus and Utica Shale resources.  A story published last week by the New York Times reports on a Cuomo administration strategy to break the log-jam that has bogged down the opening of New York’s shale gas resources to hydraulic fracturing.  According to an unnamed senior official with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), the new strategy would limit drilling to the deepest areas of the Marcellus Shale, where the top of the formation is a minimum of 2,000 feet deep.  The proposal for limited drilling would be in place at least for the next few years, in an effort to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination. Continue Reading A Rational Path Forward for Shale Gas Development in New York?

By Susan Marriott

Wind energy development in the Great Lakes has seemingly stalled, but a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between five Great Lakes states and ten federal agencies may renew hopes for locating wind turbines in the Great Lakes.

The purpose of the MOU is to “support the efficient, expeditious, orderly and responsible review of proposed offshore wind energy projects in the Great Lakes by enhancing coordination among federal and Great Lakes state regulatory agencies.”  Specifically, the MOU requires the creation of a regulatory roadmap, to set forth a streamlined permitting process with joint reviews of applications and clear guidance on data collection, permit processing times and agency responsibilities. Continue Reading Wind Energy Development In The Great Lakes Again A Priority

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for the development of New York’s “energy highway” in his State of the State address earlier this year.  In large part, the energy highway would serve as an efficient conduit for energy from Canada and Western New York to the metro New York area, where demand is starting to outstrip the ability to ensure a reliable supply.  The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is taking a lead role in the development of this initiative, and may play a key role in funding any significant expansion and/or replacement of components of New York’s aging power grid, or perhaps focused, less robust upgrades to the existing grid. Continue Reading New York’s Energy Highway

Considering the current climate of hostility toward renewable energy in the wake of the Solyndra debacle, it may come as a surprise that in general, renewable energy remains a strong investment.

To place the return on the federal government’s clean energy research and development (“R&D”) investment into the proper context, Joseph Romm of Climate Progress recently referenced a report by the National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) which independently verified the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE’s”) venture capital success. Continue Reading New York’s Solar Jobs Act May Boost Returns on Solar R&D