New York passed a publicly funded renewable energy program. This is how DSA did it—and how you can too.
by Ashley Dawson, The Nation
New York just became the first US state to pass a major Green New Deal policy. After four years of organizing, the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) is now in the New York state budget. Passage of the act is a massive challenge to fossil fuel hegemony and a major victory for public power.
The BPRA authorizes and directs the state’s public power provider—the New York Power Authority (NYPA)—to plan, build, and operate renewable energy projects across the state to meet the ambitious timetable to decarbonize the grid mandated by the Climate Act of 2019. The NYPA, the largest public utility in the country, provides the most affordable energy in the state, but until now, it has been prohibited from building and owning new utility-scale renewable generation projects because of lobbying by profit-seeking private energy companies.
How did we win passage of this plan to start a publicly funded renewable energy program?
The Public Power NY movement began in late 2019 with a campaign organized by the eco-socialist working group of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) against a rate hike request from the private utility ConEd. According to a 2018 report from the US Energy Information Administration, ConEd was already charging the second-highest residential rates of any major utility in the country (nearly double the national average), and now they wanted to raise electricity rates an additional 6 percent and gas rates by 11 percent.
Recent Posts
Is A General Strike In 2028 A Real Possibility?
April 24, 2024
Take Action Now The logistics of actually pulling this thing off. by Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work After winning a nationwide strike against the…
Congressional Democrats Cave, Give Biden Weapons For Israel After All
April 24, 2024
Take Action Now Half the members who signed a letter to Biden in the aftermath of aid worker killings voted for the package anyway. by Blaise…
McCarthyist Attacks On Protests Threaten Free Thought for All
April 23, 2024
Take Action Now Attacks on student protests and false claims of antisemitism threaten everyone’s right to free expression. by Ari Paul, FAIR……
The Pentagon’s 30-Year Lobbying Swindle
April 23, 2024
Take Action Now For decades, corporations have used taxpayer-funded fellowship opportunities to help them secure billion-dollar defense contracts.…