The decision to refuse to upgrade the two gas-fired power plants was a big victory for climate advocates and was supported by Governor Hochul.

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Authors: Grace Ashford and Anne Barnard

In a major victory for climate advocates and supporters of wind and solar energy, the New York State Environmental Regulatory Agency on Wednesday refused to allow the two companies to upgrade their gas-fired power plants-marking a new positive way to end the fossil fuels driving climate change Changes in emissions.

With this decision—and Governor Kathy Hochul’s immediate and strong statement of support—officials took a clear and potentially influential position on a long-standing issue that is at the heart of the national and global renewable energy debate. center.

The regulator’s decision to reject power plant upgrades in Astoria, Queens, and Newburgh in northern New York City demonstrates that the state is confident in building renewable energy sources-wind and solar energy from natural supplements-fast enough and The scale is large enough to reliably supply electricity demand while meeting the climate targets passed by the law in 2019.

Companies that sell natural gas or operate natural gas fuel plants argue that natural gas is necessary as a so-called transition fuel before the establishment of renewable infrastructure in New York. But scientists, climate advocates, and state officials believe that continuing to invest in any fossil fuel, even natural gas that is cleaner than oil or coal, will confuse the goal of eliminating global warming emissions.

The 2019 climate law promises that by 2040, the state will generate 100% of its electricity from sources that do not emit greenhouse gases or pollute the air. By 2030, 70% of the state’s electricity must come from renewable sources, mainly through the addition of wind and solar power.

But because the energy provided by wind and solar energy fluctuates with the weather, energy analysts, politicians, and environmental advocates have been debating whether the state needs to continue to invest in the construction and upgrade of gas facilities to ensure a stable power supply.

Ms. Hochul said shortly after the announcement that “I appreciate the decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection” to refuse to issue permits, which aroused repeated praise from climate and environmental protection organizations.

"Climate change is the biggest challenge of our time," Ms. Hochell added. "We should achieve our country's leading climate and emission reduction targets for future generations."

Since her first day in office, Ms. Hochul has stated that climate change is a top priority. She has invested heavily in green infrastructure and selected the Astoria factory because it is related to air pollution in the area called "Asthma Alley" in Queens. The resulting incidence of respiratory diseases in children.

This question is a personal issue for Ms. Hochell. She publicly shared the story of her childhood in Buffalo swimming in the polluted Lake Erie, which glowed at night from chemicals dumped by a nearby steel plant.

NRG Energy owns the Astoria plant and wants to upgrade, while Danskammer LLC seeks to expand the power generation capacity of its Newburgh plant in Orange County, about 75 miles north of New York City, and to build a new gas plant. Both plants are operated as a stopgap measure-only when the system is close to peak capacity to support the grid.

Although they operate irregularly, the "pink power plant" is an older facility that emits 30 times more nitrogen oxides than newer gas-fired power plants, thus earning the title of the dirtiest in New York.

Both Newburgh and Astoria are regarded as environmental justice communities: areas where low-income or black and Latino populations are disproportionately affected by the destruction of the historical environment, and climate laws require the state to address these issues.

The upgrade of the Astoria factory has been in progress for more than a decade, when the state approved the plan to replace the facility for the first time. At the time, the promise of a new upgraded factory with a smaller carbon footprint seemed unparalleled. In the past ten years, NRG Energy has suggested that the plant can be run cleaner-promising that it may one day be converted to the use of green hydrogen. This is a new technology that has become a buzzword in the climate world but has not yet been commercialized.

According to the new emission regulations, the current plant will be closed in 2023.

NRG Energy expressed regret over the decision of the regulatory agency. "Rejecting projects like Astoria is just short-sighted and bad public policy," said Tom Atkins, vice president of development.

Danskammer, which is jointly owned by Agate Power and Tiger Infrastructure, did not respond to a request for comment.

Current analysis from the New York Independent System Operator, an independent non-profit organization that ensures reliable energy supply, shows that even if the Astoria plant is planned to close, the supply is expected to remain stable. This is partly because the efficiency of wind and solar technologies has been growing and is expected to grow faster over time.

Whether renewable buildings will grow at a sufficient rate to allow the state to reject all other natural gas projects in the future remains to be seen. Local opposition to renewable energy sources such as wind farms is often motivated by aesthetic and ecological considerations, even in regions that widely support actions to combat climate change. But a new state law makes it easier to obtain approval for these projects.

The Astoria and Newburgh plant upgrades promised by NRG and Danskammer were not sufficient to win approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection: the department stated that both projects are inconsistent with statewide emission limits. In total, the agency received more than 11,000 comments on the application.

Environmental and community groups summoned their opposition forces, and they received Senator Chuck Schumer, Rep. Alexander Ocasio-Cortez, and Astoria’s state senator Zohran Ma Support from politicians including Mdani.

On Wednesday, activists celebrated their success. Food and Water Watch’s Alex Beauchamp tweeted that the movement “won by focusing on organizing and applying old-fashioned pressure from real people”.