News

In an opinion piece in City & State New York, United’s Kristina Persaud supports the passage of New York’s Build to Need legislation (S.9113), which aims to expedite and improve the planning and implementation of grid infrastructure upgrades in New York to support the growing demand for electric vehicle charging.

The New York Times reports on a recent boom in electricity demand in the U.S. that is putting pressure on conventional gas power plants, quoting United's CEO and President Heather O'Neill on the variety of options available for utilities to meet rising demand.

In an opinion piece featured in NJ Spotlight News, United's President and CEO Heather O'Neill writes about the storm of challenges the offshore wind industry faced in the last few post-pandemic year and highlights four key steps to getting the industry back to full power.

After a turbulent 2023, the new year brought some welcome news for the offshore wind industry. Power started to flow from New York’s South Fork Wind and Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind soon followed suit, meaning that America’s first large-scale projects are now sending clean electricity to its shores for the first time. Meanwhile in New Jersey, the state granted two offshore wind solicitation awards in January, totaling 3,742 megawatts of capacity, enough to power 1.8 million homes when fully operational. 

State takes important next step in identifying critical EV charging infrastructure to fast-track 

ALBANY, NY, June 12, 2023 -- Today, Advanced Energy United thanked the New York Legislature for passing S4830/A5052, a bill that directs state agencies to assess where in the state the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is likely to require strengthening or expanding the state’s electricity grid. Such analyses—and subsequent grid improvements—will ensure the grid is ready for the uptick in electricity demand that EVs will bring, and save money in the long run compared to the status quo of reactive and piecemeal grid upgrades. 

“New York’s transition to EVs is a critical undertaking, but that transition will be slower and more expensive without proactive strengthening of the electricity grid,” said Karlito Almeda, New York state lead for Advanced Energy United, the national association of businesses working to achieve a 100% clean energy and electrified transportation future. “Charging infrastructure projects can take nine months to two years to complete. That’s why studying and recommending grid improvements is an important first step, but we stand ready to work with state agencies, along with the legislature next year to put the resulting study into action as soon as possible.” 

Plan establishes a roadmap for the achievement of New York’s aggressive statewide decarbonization goals

ALBANY, NY, December 19, 2022 – Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) congratulated New York State’s Climate Action Council on the release of its final scoping plan to implement the clean energy and decarbonization goals of New York’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).

“New York now has a plan for removing most carbon emissions from the state’s economy, an ambitious and laudable goal that will increase clean energy use, put more New Yorkers to work, and support local economies,” said Angela Kent, Policy Principal at AEE. “With a decarbonization plan in hand, Governor Hochul and state leaders should act swiftly to implement the plan’s recommendations, especially in order to make it easier for clean energy projects to connect to the grid, and create new financial incentives for communities to switch to clean energy.”

RTO Insider detailed New York's decarbonization plan, quoting Angela Kent on how it will support local economies. Read snippets below and the full article here.

New York’s Climate Action Council approved its Scoping Plan for meeting the state’s decarbonization goals Monday, saying the plan will save the state more than $100 billion and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Industry group says building code and appliance updates will help customers save money and help the state meet emission reduction goals 

ALBANY, June 6, 2022 – National business organization Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) applauded the New York Legislature for approving a bill last week that has the potential to further the deployment of energy-saving technologies and that can deliver significant utility bill savings for consumers.  

The "Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards Act of 2022" updates the state’s energy building codes to include considerations of climate impact and mitigation strategies, and expands the list of appliances and products that need to meet energy efficiency standards. The Act is expected to deliver $15 billion in utility bill savings for New Yorkers, with $6 billion of those savings going to low- and moderate-income households. The legislation also sets up New York for success in achieving the emissions reduction targets set by the state’s landmark climate law.