Regional Plan Association, in partnership with Natural Resources Defense Council, launched the Tri-State Regional Energy Policy in December 2011. The energy policy program focuses on moving the tri-state region towards energy independence and into a low-carbon future by:
Given that the regional economy and air pollution do not respect borders, neither should our energy strategy. Energy financing and policy collaboration should be regional in nature.
The aim of this Tri-State Regional Energy Policy Program is to build a robust regional clean energy economy which:
If you have further questions, inquiries or thoughts, please contact Jessie Feller, Senior Planner, Energy Policy Program at 212-253-2727 extension 379 or jfeller@rpa.org.
A new policy brief released by Regional Plan Association's Energy Policy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Vote Solar Initiative concludes that the tri-state region is, for the first time, positioned to become a national and global player in solar energy.
The policy brief examines the state of solar in the tri-state region, current incentives and installed capacity, and the potential to expand solar further. Download the report.
The tri-state region is on the cusp of being a national leader on solar energy. New Jersey is second only to California in installed solar capacity, Connecticut has just passed new solar legislation and New York is looking at new solar program options.
At the same time, there are barriers to implementing solar power on a wider scale in the region. Policy makers at the local and state level have yet to reach a consensus over how to finance and manage solar programs. To address these issues, RPA is convening leading solar thinkers on Wednesday, April 11, to discuss the economics behind various solar paths and which solar policies make the most sense for the region.
New York and Montreal are only 330 miles apart, but their economic ties are limited. A corridor linking Montreal with New York City that combines energy transmission with high-speed rail and ultra-fast broadband would allow people and information as well as electrical current to make the journey from Montreal to Albany and then New York City.
In Europe and Asia, railroads, electric transmission and broadband corridors are commonly accommodated in the same shared right-of-way. The opportunity exists to do something similar in the U.S., strengthening the economic, energy and information links between Montreal, Albany and the New York area. Read more on the super-corridor's potential in Spotlight, RPA's newsletter, and see a report RPA prepared on the topic.
Jessie Feller, manager of RPA's Energy Policy Program, spoke before the New York City Council on Nov. 14, calling on the New York Legislature to pass the Solar Jobs Act. She joined friends of RPA including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Vote Solar Initiative, the Solar Alliance, and the Municipal Art Society. New York State has fallen behind neighbors like New Jersey in harnessing solar power's potential to create jobs while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Read her testimony.
The Halloween Nor'easter toppled utility poles and wires throughout the New York metropolitan region, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity for days. But there are many steps that can be taken to lessen the impact of severe storms, RPA's Jessie Feller and Robert Freudenberg write in an op-ed published in the Bergen Record. Adopting more localized power generation that can be de-linked from the central grid and placing high-tech sensors throughout the system to pinpoint outages could help prevent and shorten power outages. Read the full article.
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