New York poised to ban gas in new buildings

Presented by Attentive Energy One

ELECTRIFYING NEW BUILDINGS — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: New York will require new buildings to be zero-emissions starting in 2026 and make a state authority a major player in developing renewables as part of this year’s budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced late Thursday. The state’s budget will ban fossil fuel combustion in most new buildings under seven stories starting in 2026, with larger buildings covered in 2029. That means no propane heating and no gas furnaces or stoves in most new construction.

New York would be the first state to take this step through legislative action; California and Washington have done so through building codes. “We’re going to be the first state in the nation to advance zero-emissions new homes and buildings,” Hochul said Thursday, announcing a conceptual deal on the budget that was due March 31. The measure will help the state achieve its ambitious mandate to slash emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 and was recommended in a plan approved in December by state agency heads and outside experts. Exemptions will be included for commercial kitchens, emergency generators and hospitals.

GRID SEEKS DOWNSTATE GAS RATE HIKE — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: National Grid on Friday proposed higher rates for gas customers in New York City and Long Island, driven in part by continued investments in replacing existing leak-prone pipes, inflation, higher property taxes and other costs. The utility’s requested rate hike filed Friday would result in an increase of the average residential customer’s total bill of about 17 percent in New York City and 16 percent on Long Island. Grid serves 1.9 million customers in Brooklyn, Staten Island and part of Queens and on Long Island. “We appreciate that we are filing at a time when affordability is an imperative for customers, for our regulators and certainly for us as a company,” said Phil DeCicco, National Grid’s vice president and deputy general counsel. “We are trying to strike a balance between the investments that we need to make in order to enhance system safety and resiliency, and also very importantly, advance the important energy policies of the state of New York.”

Rate cases for utilities are often where the state’s energy and climate policies are implemented, or not. Environmental advocates often participate and have been pressing for less investment in the existing gas system as the state shifts off fossil fuels and toward electrification. Grid’s filing says that about 70 percent of the requested increase is driven by factors outside its control including higher costs for basic expenses, federal and state safety requirements, environmental remediation costs and even property taxes — which are driving about 37 percent of the Long Island increase.

“There are no new supply projects in this rate case, there are no new pipelines in this rate case,” DeCicco said. “What there are, are more consistent sort of bread and butter investments in things like pipe replacement and more traditional resiliency projects.” The utility is proposing continued investments in capital projects that will replace older pipelines that tend to leak gas into the atmosphere, increasing emissions and creating safety risks. That amounts to about 27 percent of the capital plan proposed for New York City and 56 percent for Long Island.

— Some reactions: “Our community is sickened that National Grid has the audacity to show up again asking for more money from us for more fracked gas infrastructure. We proved they will lie to New York about need, while spending millions lobbying against legislation that would free us from their trap,” said Sane Energy Project director Kim Fraczek in a statement. “We will hold Governor Hochul fully responsible for any and all rate hikes if she doesn’t pass the NY HEAT Act.” Ratepayer advocates are also concerned. “Rate increases of these magnitudes have a devastating impact on ratepayers, in particular low- and fixed-income households, and are unreflective of the financial realities of the current economic climate,” said Andrew Saavedra, Legal Aide at the Public Utility Law Project of NY.

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Here’s what we’re watching this week :

MONDAY

— A broad coalition of legislators, advocates and farmers rally to support the Birds and Bees Protection Act (S.1856), which passed the Assembly last week, 11 a.m., Million Dollar Staircase, Albany.

TUESDAY

— The New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee is holding a hearing on the Department of Environmental Protection’s budget, 1 p.m.

— The Alliance for Clean Energy New York holds an annual legislative reception, The State Room, Albany, 5 p.m.

— The Hudson River community advisory group on the cleanup meets virtually, 1 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

— The Steve Sweeney Center for Public Policy is “bringing together top government leaders, industry officials and academics for a conference on “Offshore Wind Technology in New Jersey: Sustainability, Emerging Markets and Policy” at Rowan’s Chamberlain Student Center from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

— New Jersey Republican lawmakers are holding their own independent hearing “on whale & dolphin deaths, wind farm concerns”at 9:45 a.m.

Around New York

— The Buffalo News takes a long look at sewer overflows: “Billions of gallons of sewage still flow into Buffalo’s rivers. Can the sewer authority keep up?” — “$40M fix for putrid black water near Niagara Falls almost complete but discharge still ‘of public concern’” — “How are combined sewer overflows measured? It’s complicated.”

Around New Jersey

— Ocean Wind 1, which would be the state’s first offshore wind generation project, received key permits last week from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Additional federal, state and local approvals, in addition to approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, are required before construction can begin, plus the company and the state have been negotiating new financial terms for the deal.

— Rutgers helps teachers to include climate change in curriculum.

— NJ.com “A tick bite devastated a N.J. man’s life. Why are cases soaring?”

— Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, New Jersey’s top transportation official, urges drivers to slow down in work zones as deaths of road workers pile up.

What you may have missed

N.J. REPUBLICANS PLAN WHALE HEARING — New Jersey state Republican lawmakers are planning to host a hearing on the deaths of marine mammals next week. The hearing will certainly air complaints that the deaths could be tied to offshore wind pre-development surveying. Several Republican lawmakers and mayors have already called for a halt to offshore wind development because of those concerns. State and federal scientists and regulators say there is no evidence for such a link, but the whale deaths have stirred up opposition to offshore wind energy, which is a key part of Gov. Phil Murphy and President Joe Biden’s climate change plans. The hearing is yet another headache for offshore wind supporters, including most mainstream environmental groups, like Sierra Club.

The hearing is expected to be held via Zoom on the morning of May 3. The hearing, known as an independent hearing because it is not endorsed by Democratic leadership in either the House or Senate, is the latest in a series of such hearings state Republicans have held on controversial issues that Democrats don’t want to elevate, like nursing home deaths during the pandemic. It remains possible a moderate Democratic lawmaker could attend, which will give the Republicans an easy way to position the hearing as fact-finding, not partisan. Earlier this week, the Murphy administration’s top environmental official, Shawn LaTourette, got in a tense back and forth during a budget hearing with state Assemblymember Gerard Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) about the whale deaths, which suggests the administration might be willing to send a representative if invited.

The planned hearing is certainly not the only recent event about whale deaths. In March, Rep.Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) held a hearing on whale deaths that linked them to wind. Earlier this week, Rep. Frank Pallone and Sen. Cory Booker, both New Jersey Democrats, held a roundtable on a number of environmental issues that touched on whale deaths. But Booker and Pallone are among many Democrats who push back against the cause being linked to the development of offshore wind, though Booker signed onto a letter urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to address the whale deaths with more transparency. From what is known, marine mammals seem to be dying in traditional ways, via run-ins with boats or fishing gear. There are no wind farms yet under construction in New Jersey. — Ry Rivard

BPU TO PJM: GET READY FOR MORE WIND — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is asking the regional grid operator to make room for all the offshore wind energy that Gov. Phil Murphy hopes the state will have in coming years. The board on Wednesday approved a plan to ask PJM Interconnection to get ready to incorporate Murphy’s 11,000 megawatts by 2040 goal into its regional transmission expansion plan, a first step before the state could award transmission companies projects needed to bring wind energy ashore. The move, while bureaucratic in nature, was closely watched because it means the BPU is gearing up to consider or reconsider billions of dollars in new transmission projects.

PJM, which oversees the grid used by New Jersey and a dozen other states, is already formally planning to accept 7,500MW of wind energy from New Jersey. Last fall the board, in consultation with PJM, approved $1 billion in infrastructure projects meant to help bring a chunk of that power to millions of homes throughout the state. Yet, that suite of infrastructure projects was surely disappointing to some companies who had submitted much more grandiose ideas, including a network of transmission lines out in the ocean that the BPU did not approve when it opted for more traditional land-based grid upgrades. While no companies publicly criticized the BPU for taking that route last year — and the state’s largest utility, PSEG, praised the decision — the projects the board approved paled in comparison to multi-billion transmission projects that several bidders had proposed, including a $7 billion project that PSEG backed. Other transmission companies that were enthusiastically vying for major awards — including Anbaric, NextEra Energy and Consolidated Edison — won nothing.

Soon such bidders could get another bite at the apple. BPU made clear it will favor projects that can bring offshore wind energy to a substation in South Brunswick known as Deans. In a press release giving what it called a tentative timetable, PJM said it expects that companies with New Jersey offshore wind transmission projects could expect to begin vying for approval in 2024.

GOP WHALE ADS: The New Jersey Republican Party has a $1,000 ad buy on Facebook urging people to sign a petition to “save the whales and dolphins” and “stop offshore wind projects.” The ad isn’t unexpected, but it shows how big of an issue Republicans think they have found in the unfounded link between whale deaths and offshore wind development. Republican lawmakers and mayors have called for Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to halt offshore wind development so there can be investigations into the deaths and any link to wind energy. The talking point has gained lots of traction, though there is no evidence to support the link. Republicans say the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence but rather reason to study the issue; Democrats and most mainstream environmentalists say there is evidence that whales are being killed by a changing climate and existing shipping and fishing practices, which Republicans seem to have no interest in regulating further.

The New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, which has sparred with Republicans on the issue, as well as Clean Ocean Action, a nonprofit environmental group that has also called for the moratorium on wind development, called out the ads as ones that “blatantly disregard the truth for political gain.” “The environmental criteria for pro-marine life politicians is: Are they doing something to slow down boats, remove abandoned fishing gear, reduce plastic pollution and combat climate change, the greatest threat to our oceans,” said the league’s executive director, Ed Potosnak. “The anti-wind campaign is anti-environment and anti-wildlife.”

In another example of how the issue has infused itself into the political discourse, the state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette got in a tense back and forth during a budget hearing with state Assemblymember Gerard Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth) about the whale deaths. “If you want to save the whales, let’s talk about what is hurting the whales — and it’s climate change,” LaTourette said. — Ry Rivard

BIRDS AND BEES PASSES ASSEMBLY: Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) said he’s optimistic about the chances of winning final passage for a hard-fought measure to ban a class of pesticides harmful to pollinators and other wildlife. The Assembly passed the measure (A3226) on Tuesday. “We know how critically important pollinators are to our planet, which is why today’s legislation is so significant. This legislation marks another victory for our environment and all New Yorkers,” said Assemblymember Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), who chairs the Environmental Conservation Committee and sponsored the bill.

The Senate and Assembly previously passed similar measures but could not come to an agreement to give it final passage last year. The bill targets neonicotinoids in the soybean and corn farming industries. Known more broadly as “neonics,” they are a nicotine-based substance often laced in seeds to avoid more dangerous forms of insect control like crop dusting. Advocates allege that neonics are the reason for a falling bee population, while farmers say that they can’t work without them unless they are given a viable substitute.

The identical measures would be effective starting in 2026. There’d be an option for the Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, to suspend the requirements if no viable alternatives are available or compliance would result in undue financial hardship for agricultural producers. An emergency provision also enables the DEC commissioner to use otherwise prohibited chemicals to deal with harmful invasive species under an “environmental emergency” provision. Farmers still have concerns about the measure. “This will absolutely put our farmers out of business or out of the state,” said Assemblymember Brian Manktelow (R-Lyons).

“That has been a longstanding disagreement with the Assembly,” Hoylman-Sigal said. Previously Assembly-passed versions gave the governor authority to make exemptions. “Now the pressure is on the Senate to act,” he added. One challenge will be the tight timeframe of the post-budget session, which is expected to end on June 8. “It’s an opportunity to reset and find alternatives that don’t undermine the biodiversity that’s necessary to have successful farming,” Hoylman-Sigal said. — Marie J. French

LAWMAKERS WANT DEP BUDGET BOOST — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: Several members of the Assembly Budget Committee questioned whether Gov. Phil Murphy is underfunding the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which has been tasked with carrying out many of the Democratic governor’s campaign goals. Assemblymember John McKeon (D-Essex), who led Democrats’ questioning of DEP officials during a budget hearing on Monday, said he is frustrated by lack of funding and staffing at the department and blamed Murphy. “I think he’s got it wrong here, relative to what he is focusing on in this department,” McKeon said.

The department has 800 fewer staffers now than it did in 2005 and its budget is also nearly $100 million below what it would have needed to keep pace with inflation since then, according to McKeon. “I can’t dispute anything you’ve said,” said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, who was there to testify on behalf of the department. McKeon made similar points during the department’s budget hearing last year. Since then, little has fundamentally changed in the DEP’s annual budget or the proposal Murphy has for the next DEP budget. This year, McKeon got public support for his concerns from Assembly Budget Committee Chair Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Essex). “We all know you are extremely short-staffed,” she told LaTourette.

There are now members of Democratic leadership in both the Assembly and the Senate publicly airing concerns about the DEP’s ability to do its job because of Murphy’s budgeting. In the Senate, Environment and Energy Committee Chair Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) has concerns about DEP’s ability to meet key deadlines. Smith has said his concerns are shared by Senate President Nick Scutari. There was also unexpected bipartisan criticism of Murphy’s feel-good plan to waive entrance fees to state parks for the second year in a row.

EARTH DAY PACKAGE: While most of the big ticket climate items are embroiled in budget talks, the Senate Democrats plan to pass a slate of measures Tuesday to recognize Earth Day, which fell over the weekend this year. The 12 bills on the agenda include expanding the state’s food scrap recycling requirements by expanding the number of facilities subject to the requirement every two years. The measure (S5331) is sponsored by Sen. Pete Harckham, the chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee, and would help reduce emissions from decomposing waste that would otherwise head to landfills.

Also included in the package is another Harkcham bill (S1725) to expand DEC’s regulatory protections to more streams, which Hochul vetoed last year citing the need for additional staff to handle the new responsibilities. “To continue serving as responsible stewards of our environment we must look for new ways to approach hard-to-solve problems in order to effectively safeguard our natural resource,” Harckham said in a statement. “The Food Donation bill will lessen greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the amount of unused food and feeding countless residents instead — a real win-win for us statewide in both the short- and long-term.”

The other measures include: promoting wildlife crossings (S4198), banning PFAS in anti-fogging sprays and wipes (S992), requiring state-owned parking garages to have EV charges (S1535), banning the use of fracking waste water on highways (S1538), ensuring the state doesn’t buy products that contribute to tropical deforestation (S4859), a bottle bill — to set up a fraud task force (S3419), a change to net metering of excess electricity (S4304) and a requirement for public water systems to inventory lead service lines (S5512). — Marie J. French

DEMS FEDERAL DEBT FIGHT WORRY — POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi: New Jersey’s Democratic lawmakers in Washington are worried the Republicans’ plan to raise the federal debt limit will have long-term environmental implications at home. The proposal by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that’s expected for a vote this week wraps in parts of the energy package H.R. 1 (118), which would repeal climate tax credits and reform permitting for fossil fuel production that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said the bill would make the Atlantic coast susceptible to oil drilling in the future.

ENERGY MOVES: The Hudson Valley, Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, a CCA in the region led by Kingston, hired Jasmine Graham as its first permanent Executive Director. Graham recently worked at the Building Decarbonization Coalition and prior to that served as the Energy Justice Policy Manager for WE ACT for Environmental Justice.