Newsletter June 2022
Electrify Brooklyn
Heat/Cool Smart Brooklyn encourages you to visit our website to explore how our programs could make your home cleaner and more comfortable and energy efficient. To date, we have installed air source heat pumps, hot water heat pumps and done some envelope improvements in over 60 smaller buildings with 1-4 units. We are currently working on several projects with multifamily buildings with 10 to 40 units. We also offer information and advice on NYSERDA, Con Edison and National Grid incentive programs supporting a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy retrofits for all building types. Visit us at HeyBrooklyn.org
2022 Brooklyn Energy Summit and Expo: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
HCSB exhibited at the Chamber’s Energy Summit along with energy service providers, utilities, manufacturers and others, our first 2022 in person event. The Summit included a comprehensive group of speakers who presented the overall energy landscape, policy and legislation and how to leverage renewables, clean tech, and workforce opportunities. HCSB looks forward to increased cooperation with the Chamber and many more in person events.
Con Edison Clean Heating and Cooling Funding
Due to tremendous response from the market, as of April 2022, the Con Edison Clean Heat Program exceeded its 2025 energy savings target and has exhausted all available funding for the program. To keep the program running through today, Con Edison has already transferred millions of dollars of additional funding from other energy efficiency programs. Nevertheless, stronger than expected program participation will soon exhaust this additional funding
As a result, Con Edison must pause incentives for air-source heat pump projects for space and water heating effective immediately, today May 9th. The Company will continue to accept applications for ground source heat pump projects. HCSB will work with contactors to ensure that projects with contracts will move forward.
We hope Con Edison’s petition to transfer funds will be calendared by the Public Service Commission for their July meeting so the program may quickly resume.
Legislative and Budget Updates
Mayor Adams Releases Executive Budget for 2022/23: Implications for LL97, Gotham Gazette, June 10, 2022
Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Friday announced their first budget agreement, a $101 billion spending deal for the 2023 fiscal year beginning July 1, reflecting an increase of about $2.3 billion over the budget that was adopted in June of last year.
Buoyed by higher-than-expected tax revenues and federal aid, the administration and Council massively increased the city’s reserves and invested in a long list of services and programs, including public safety, affordable housing, nonprofit human service providers, childcare, adult literacy, parks, sanitation, cultural institutions, food assistance, and more.
The final $101 billion budget for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1, agreed upon by Adams and the City Council includes $400,000 in additional funding for five more staff members at the Office of Building Energy and Emissions Performance (BEEP). According to the mayor’s office, that allocation was based on DOB’s assessment of its staffing needs. The mayor’s office also said the budget added $2 million to support the BEEP office’s work, which includes monitoring building energy use and emissions, creating an online portal for the submission of building assessments, auditing assessments, and inspecting buildings, among other responsibilities.
For full article: https://www.gothamgazette.com/city/11376-mayor-adams-council-speaker-adams-nyc-budget-deal-fy23
State Legislative Session Results
The 2022 New York State legislative session ended the weekend of June 3rd. Several see t important clean energy bills were passed. The Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Standards will incorporate greenhouse gas emissions reductions into future building codes and save New Yorkers $15 billion by 2035. The bill creates a higher standard of appliances and equipment with greater energy efficiency.
The other, the Utility Thermal Network and Jobs Act, is a major step forward for collaboration between labor and building electrification advocates. The bill promotes the development of thermal energy networks throughout the state and will provide jobs to transitioning utility workers who have lost or are at risk of losing their employment. The legislature also passed a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining, giving the Department of Environmental Conservation time to study the issue and make recommendations for how cryptocurrency mining can take place in New York without undermining our progress in achieving the CLCPA.
Unfortunately, several top priority bills did not get called for a vote: Gas Transition and Affordable Energy Act and the All-Electric Buildings Act. The All-Electric Buildings Act is like the NYC bill passed in December 2021, banning gas hookups for heat, hot water and cooking in new buildings under 7 stories beginning in Jan. 2024 in smaller buildings and July 2027 for larger buildings. The discussion got hi-jacked by fossil fuel lobbyists.
We were also disappointed that other important clean energy bills were not passed: the Direct EV Sales Bill, the Fossil Fuel Subsidies Elimination Act, the Green Transit, Green Jobs Bill, and the Build Public Renewables Act that would allow the New York Power Authority to construct new renewables and clean energy projects that support the 70% renewable by 2030 mandate and zero emissions electricity by 2040.
Take ACTION!
There are several opportunities to provide your opinions on State and City climate and energy policies. Below is a flyer on the Power-Up Process over the next year for NYC to develop their year-long energy study. Please sign up and share your thoughts.
Draft Scoping Plan for the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) was signed into law in 2019 as one of the most ambitious climate laws in the world. The law created the Climate Action Council (the Council), which is tasked with developing a draft scoping plan that serves as an initial framework for how the State will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero emissions, increase renewable energy usage, and ensure climate justice. Public comments can be made until July 1, 2022.
Here is the link to read the document and comment https://climate.ny.gov/Our-Climate-Act/Draft-Scoping-Plan.
Disadvantaged Communities Criteria Public Comment Period
New York State is accepting public comment until July 7, 2022, on the draft criteria developed by the Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG) for identifying disadvantaged communities. The draft criteria will guide the equitable implementation of New York’s ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). Pursuant to the Climate Act’s disadvantaged community provisions, the draft includes an interactive map and a list of communities the criteria would cover for directing programs and projects to reduce air pollution and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions, provide economic development opportunities, and target clean energy and energy efficiency investments.
New Yorkers are encouraged to comment on the draft disadvantaged communities criteria, interactive map, and draft list of disadvantaged communities. You can submit comments via the below form.
Public comments can also be submitted via email, to [email protected] and via U.S. mail, to:
Attention: Draft DAC Comments
NYS DEC, Attn. Office of Environmental Justice
625 Broadway, 14th Floor, Albany NY 12233
News From Our Partners
DSNY’s Curbside Composting Program
Join fellow New Yorkers in signing up for DSNY’s curbside composting program! The program has returned to Brooklyn Community Boards 1,2,6,7; Manhattan 6, 7; and Bronx 8. Already signed up? Share the sign-up form on social or send it to a neighbor! nyc.gov/curbsidecomposting.
Three reasons why composting is so important for our city and the environment!
1) Food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard waste comprise one third of all the trash New Yorkers throw away. All of these items can be composted in your brown bin!
2) By using the sturdy brown bin and its latching lid, you can keep your neighborhood clean and healthy by reducing rodents, pests, and street litter.
3) By reducing waste to landfills and creating compost, you can make NYC more self-sufficient and resilient.
Barrio Solar: Affordable Solar for Brooklynites
Nonprofits Solar One, Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) and Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) have partnered on Barrio Solar, a new solar campaign designed to support 1-4 family homeowners, particularly Low-Moderate Income (LMI) homeowners, in the direct acquisition of solar energy.
The campaign provides FREE technical assistance to individuals on solar basics, installation viability for their buildings, costs, savings, financing options, and the permitting and installation process– all of the guidance one needs to determine if solar is the right choice for their families. Interested homeowners are bundled together to achieve greater purchasing power and reduced installation costs. So, ALL Brooklyn Homeowners are encouraged to submit an interest form. Homeowners that make less than 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI), for example family of 4 should make less than $143,160 a year, to be eligible for a $3,500 cash subsidy toward the cost of their solar installation, which can be used for related expenses like roof repairs or electrical system upgrades. This program is designed to support equitable access to the benefits of solar for all homeowners.
If you have any interest, to fill out a very brief form on: https://fifthave.org/affordable-solar/ or call 646-820-1301!
