Utility Dive reports on the New York Public Service Commission's (PSC) order to offer additional financial options to build renewable energy projects, quoting AEE's Ryan Katofsky. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

The PSC sees its order to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) as a means "to decrease capital costs and further spur the development of ... clean energy resources." The move builds on Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Jan. 8 announcement, in his 2020 State of the State address, that NYSERDA would make competitive awards to 21 large-scale wind, solar and storage projects in upstate New York, totaling more than 1 GW of capacity, the PSC noted.

According to the PSC, over 2,700 MW of solar, wind and storage capacity has been installed in the state since 2011, with another 7,000 MW in development. In 2019, New York passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requiring a zero-carbon electricity sector by 2040.

The PSC's "decision today will benefit renewable energy developers by reducing their risks while also lowering customer costs," Commission Chair John B. Rhodes said in a statement.

Renewable energy developers in New York receive revenue from the state's energy and capacity markets as well as from the renewable energy credits (RECs) a project generates, Ryan Katofsky, managing director at Advanced Energy Economy, told Utility Dive. Those RECs are the mechanism for complying with New York's Clean Energy Standard.

But while energy and capacity market prices can go up and down, REC prices in New York are currently fixed when developers bid for projects through NYSERDA, the state agency responsible for centralized procurement of RECs...

Read the entire UD piece here.