NYSERDA’s Leadership Remains as Resolute and Unwavering Today as It Has Been Over the Last 50 Years
In the throes of the 1970’s energy crisis, Americans became aware that their lives and livelihood were vulnerable to energy systems overly dependent on single fuels. As fuel prices surged and pollution more visible an, New York State responded with intention, and in 1975 the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) was born. NYSERDA’s work is carried out on many fronts, often behind the scenes. But as we mark our 50th year, it’s clear that NYSERDA’s mission is as important today as it was then.
As NYSERDA took its first steps as a public benefit corporation, it sought ways to diversify New York’s energy mix through the research and development (R&D) of innovative technologies like wind, solar, and energy efficiency. Many of these technology developments emerged from the space program and military research, and NYSERDA created new civilian applications for those technologies, seeking to build new markets and build economic development opportunities for energy businesses.
Importantly, NYSERDA has always remained an objective and trusted resource for New Yorkers, as well as a beacon for fellow states and countries around the world. NYSERDA has supported meaningful efforts such as fusion research at the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics and solar technology research with IBM. It has also partnered with companies that manufacture and sell energy efficient products and services to help build market acceptance – so that life-changing products can be made available to consumers in New York and across the country – and all through significant national changes, including nine U.S. Presidents, and even more U.S. Congresses.
NYSERDA has always pushed the limits for what could be possible and by the early 2000s, evolved to offer energy programs directly to individual consumers, helping New York become the first state in the country to partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a national ENERGY STAR® campaign. At the same time, NYSERDA was the founding member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which put a price on carbon and capped dangerous emissions. Over the years, NYSERDA also partnered with the federal government to help establish a national offshore wind energy industry, including a National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and now with other states is exploring advanced nuclear opportunities to support U.S. energy abundance.
NYSERDA also forges partnerships on a broader platform. NYSERDA signed a MOU with Denmark’s Confederation of Danish Industry to collaborate on decarbonizing high-rise buildings, and with Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to expand solar deployment and provide workforce development support, while frequently sharing new ideas and thinking on the world stage, such as the United Nations Climate Change Convention. And all of this collective work, over 50 years, has resulted in real, meaningful change.
Today, New York’s has one of the cleanest grids in the nation and is the leading community solar market in the U.S. Last year, New York brought the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind site online to power 70,000 homes and businesses and made major progress on a 339-mile transmission line, expected to be completed next year, to deliver reliable and clean hydropower to New Yorkers.
These milestones are complemented by localized progress shaping the everyday lives of New Yorkers. From Long Island to Buffalo, affordable housing buildings are being retrofitted to highly efficient, modern living spaces, school districts are transitioning to electric school buses, an increasing number of electric vehicles are on the road, and 178,000 workers are working in the clean energy sector.
And now, as we undertake a system-wide effort to transition to a zero-emission grid that supports expanding economic development in New York, all solutions are on the table. NYSERDA is examining technologies that are complementary to renewables, dispatchable and zero-emission technologies, that we need to be planning for and advancing. NYSERDA supports New York’s efforts to co-lead the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, a collaborative of 11 states that are working together to deliver advanced nuclear power rapidly, safely and cost-effectively to Americans. And within our state borders, NYSERDA, in collaboration with other state agencies, is leading the State Energy Planning Board, working to finalize a plan that will provide a 15-year outlook to guide energy planning with recommendations for meeting New York’s future energy demands.
As I reflect on the impact NYSERDA has had since its inception, I’m proud of what it has accomplished for New Yorkers. Our pursuit of energy transformation in the face of unprecedented global geopolitical, economic and energy challenges, remains resolute and unwavering. NYSERDA’s role past and present is critical and in coming decades, will continue as an objective and trusted resource for New York and beyond, spurring innovation and championing the technologies of tomorrow for generations to come.
Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
