New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act passed the Assembly early in the morning of June 20 and will now await the governor’s signature. Solar advocates praised the state legislature’s adoption of long anticipated legislation that will require at least 70 percent of electric generation come from renewable sources by 2030 and providing needed funding to low-income and environmental justice communities.
The law, which was agreed to earlier this week by Gov. Cuomo and the state senate and assembly, includes a requirement for 6 GW of local, distributed solar energy by 2025. A report released earlier this year by Vote Solar estimates that achieving this solar goal will sustain more than 11,000 jobs between now and 2025.
Sean Garren, Vote Solar northeast senior director thanked the legislature and Governor Cuomo “for recognizing that the climate crisis demands both ambitious long-term goals to decarbonize our electricity system and the near-term renewable energy milestones needed to drive immediate progress, create local jobs and provide healthier air for New York’s families.”
Betta Broad, director of New Yorkers for Clean Power said that she was “especially excited about the inclusion of the 6 gigawatts of distributed solar by 2025 that will enable communities to install more local clean power and more equitably share the benefits of renewable energy.”
Members of the Solar Energy Industries Association also praised the bill.
