New York City utilities regulator doing ‘inadequate’ job helping state meet climate goals, audit finds

An audit by the State Comptroller’s Office finds that the Public Service Commission is not doing enough to help the state meet its clean energy goals, nor does it have a contingency plan in place if New York fails to meet them.

New York State Comptroller’s Office

Thomas DiNapoli at a press conference in April.

The Public Service Commission (PSC), the state agency that oversees utilities, is not doing enough to help New York meet its clean energy goals, according to a new audit by the State Comptroller’s Office.

The audit examined documents the PSC kept from 2016 to 2023 to track the state’s progress toward ambitious goals set forth in New York’s landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

The law, which took effect five years ago, requires the state to phase out climate-changing fossil fuels like oil and gas and ensure 70 percent of its electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030.

But a recent state report shows that New York likely won’t meet that goal until 2033. So far, only 28 percent of New York’s electricity comes from renewable sources, according to the state’s grid regulator, the New York Independent System Operator.

Because the state has fallen behind in those efforts, the audit says the PSC has taken “insufficient” steps to plan, monitor and assess potential obstacles. Perhaps even more alarming is that the PSC has failed to develop a “backup plan” if the state fails to meet those goals, instead relying “on the continued use of fossil fuels to generate electricity,” according to the audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The PSC disagrees with those claims. Spokesperson James Denn told City Limits in an email that the agency is “disappointed” that the Comptroller’s office “overlooked several important steps and factors that have impacted progress to date.”

The agency pointed to accomplishments over the past five years, such as ordering the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to undertake new renewable energy projects despite “unprecedented and changing market conditions beyond New York’s control.”

The PSC also “approved $5 billion in transmission investments to support renewable energy projects” and worked with government authorities on renewable energy initiatives that helped lower costs for consumers.

“Much of this work appears to have been omitted from the (Comptroller’s) report, and the Department’s response indicates several instances where it disagrees with the findings,” the PSC’s Denn said in an emailed statement.

However, when it comes to the planning process, the audit finds that the PSC “uses outdated data and, at times, incorrect calculations.”

For example, when calculating the state’s ability to meet renewable energy goals, the audit says the agency failed to take into account clean energy projects that were abandoned or delayed. Between 2005 and 2023, 12 percent of contracted large renewable projects were canceled.

Additionally, the master spreadsheet the PSC uses to track the state’s clean energy progress, reviewed by the Comptroller’s Office, did not include updated information on what “load,” or demand, for electricity would be as New York transitions away from fossil fuels.

Governor Hochul’s Office

Solar panels on the roof of the Javits Center in Manhattan. New York State is committed to phasing out climate-changing fossil fuels like oil and gas and will come from renewable sources of energy to 70 percent by 2030.

“As time went on, they stopped updating some of the essential information that is critical to determining how close they are to meeting (the state’s climate) goals,” said Brandon Ogden, an audit manager in the state Comptroller’s Office, who had access to the spreadsheet and worked on the audit.

New mandates, such as the one proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2021, requiring all new vehicles purchased in New York to be zero-emission models starting in 2035, will increase demand for more electricity. The state needs to know what that demand will look like, the audit says, so it can plan for more renewable energy sources to meet the CLCPA’s 70 percent clean energy goal.

The audit went on to say that the PSC had failed to “reasonably estimate” the costs of transitioning to renewable energy, adding that funding sources “have not been identified to cover these costs.” As a result, an unfair burden falls on consumers or ratepayers who become the “primary source of funding.”

“The lack of alternative sources of financing increases the risk that the state will not be able to meet its goals on time,” the audit noted.

In response, the PSC told the Comptroller’s office that it “continuously updates” those cost estimates “based on the best available data.” But a series of unforeseeable events, such as COVID-19, inflation and supply chain challenges, “have led to significant revisions to the costs of deploying clean energy,” the agency added.

While unprecedented circumstances could make it harder to achieve the state’s climate goals, the audit also finds that the PSC has failed to provide “formal support” if New York’s goals are “unachievable.” The PSC’s only strategy, the audit says, is to suspend or modify its Climate Act obligations and resort to “fossil fuel use.”

However, environmentalists warn that this is a dangerous move.

“Their fallback plan is to maintain the status quo, and that is unacceptable,” said Raya Salter, energy attorney and a member of the council that developed the roadmap for New York to achieve climate bill mandates.

“The status quo doesn’t work for anyone except the fossil fuel industry. Our rates are very high and they’re going up every year. And dirty fuels are causing the climate crisis. So the status quo is not okay. We should move to alternatives,” she added.

To contact the reporter behind this story, contact [email protected]. To contact the editor, contact [email protected]

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.