(Credit: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Sixty-thousand electric vehicle (EV) chargers on New York’s highways. Dozens of large-scale solar and battery storage plants, many of them in the state’s most disadvantaged counties. The largest planned deployment of offshore wind projects in the United States. Thousands of new good-paying green-energy jobs, with skills training programs to ensure they can be filled.
New York’s already robust clean energy economy has been soaring in recent months, especially when it comes to renewable energy and electrifying the transportation sector. Now, all that investment is slated to accelerate even further as the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – the most significant legislation in U.S. history to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen American energy security – takes hold, advancing economic development and industrial strategy on both the national and local stages.
Our Kingston, New York-based firm, Miller/Howard Investments, has been integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) research into our investment portfolios since the early 1990s. For decades, as global temperatures warmed and extreme weather events worsened, we — along with many other companies and investors — have been calling for strong federal action to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy, both to limit the business risks of the climate crisis and to capitalize on the immense economic opportunities in fighting it.
Featuring substantial and long-lasting financial incentives for companies and consumers, along with unprecedented investment in key environmental justice initiatives for rural and disadvantaged communities, the legislation is expected to achieve a 40% reduction in U.S. climate pollution by 2030 — enough to keep us in striking distance of our national goals to prevent the worst impacts of this crisis.
Working in tandem with New York’s ambitious 2019 climate law, as well as the federal CHIPS and Science Act that passed last summer and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approved by Congress in 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act will direct billions of dollars in new investments into developing advanced manufacturing capabilities, building domestic supply chains, and guiding infrastructure build-outs that promise to uplift every corner of the state.
The Inflation Reducation Act has something for everybody: It will give utilities more reason to shift toward clean power generation, companies and consumers more options to stabilize and lower their energy costs, and workers more opportunities to find and fill good-paying jobs. And it will give entrepreneurs across the economy incentives to help build the innovative industries we need to solve our climate and energy challenges.
All of this will keep the investment flowing.
Of particular relevance to New York is the Act’s substantial incentives for renewable energy production, including tax credits covering 30% of the costs for community solar systems with additional bonus credits of 20% for affordable housing properties and 10% for low-income communities. It also includes long-term tax credits for offshore wind development, including $30 billion in manufacturing tax credits to produce critical offshore wind components.
Companies with a presence in New York are clearly paying attention to this massive opportunity. Eversource and Ørsted broke ground in 2022 on the South Fork Wind project, scheduled to be operational this year. A handful of other companies have received state financial backing to build a $350 million wind tower manufacturing facility at the Port of Albany. The federal investments will supercharge the ambitious local climate action that has already bolstered our state’s clean energy industry.
Many New York communities are participating in the clean energy surge, and we are happy to report that Ulster County, where Miller/Howard is headquartered, is right there with them. Our county’s climate and clean energy plan has many green initiatives, some already in effect, including a two-megawatt community solar field in Saugerties, the purchase of three electric buses by Ulster County Area Transit, and the creation of a Green Careers Academy — an eight-week training program in partnership with SUNY Ulster.
Elsewhere in the state, Governor Kathy Hochul announced awards for 22 large-scale solar and energy storage projects that will deliver clean, affordable power to more than 620,000 homes in all parts of the state, spur over $2.7 billion in private investment, and create more than 3,000 short- and long-term jobs.
Three months later, state officials announced a new competitive solicitation for another 2,000 megawatts or more of large-scale renewable energy. New York has also seized a leadership role in the transition to electric and other electric vehicles with forward-looking policies to guide the shift on the roads.
Such initiatives not only invest in communities across the state, but also promise to reduce and stabilize energy costs for New York households and businesses. And thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, even more investment is expected to follow. As these state and federal policies take stronger hold, the state’s clean energy economy — and the more than 150,000 jobs that power it — is surely on the rise. That’s great news for New York’s economic prosperity and for protecting the future of our planet.
***
Luan Jenifer is President & CEO of Miller/Howard Investments.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The co-authors: Richard Buery, left, & Dan Doctoroff, second from right (photo: Governor's Office)
In 2022, we co-chaired an extraordinary group of New Yorkers tasked by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams to rethink the city’s commercial districts. When the plan was announced in December, the once-in-a-generation alignment between our political leaders was on full display as they affirmed 40 specific initiatives in an action plan and policy agenda called Making New York Work for Everyone that rises to meet this moment of evolution of our city.
This plan both recognizes the importance of our business districts as the fiscal foundation of our entire downstate region and also acknowledges that solutions must address a wider range of interconnected challenges affecting all New Yorkers.
And while some plans just sit on a shelf, this one is not. The goals, strategies, and initiatives may be bold, but already we are seeing the Governor and the Mayor make down-payments on the plan in their policy agendas for 2023, in financial commitments to initial projects, and in subsequent announcements of these initiatives.
Here are a few we are most excited about:
Reimagining New York’s Business Districts as 24/7 Destinations
The ‘New’ New York panel recommended repurposing vacant office space in our business districts and fill them with a variety of uses that drive foot traffic and vibrancy in our core. In January, Mayor Adams released the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force’s 11 detailed recommendations for regulatory and legislative changes to facilitate the conversion of underused office space into new housing for New Yorkers. Governor Hochul made a down-payment on these necessary changes by proposing in her 2023 State of the State policy agenda and Executive Budget changes to make more buildings eligible to convert from commercial to residential as well as a new property tax exemption in New York City that would incentivize putting affordable housing in those converted buildings.
And as a first step towards creating a network of world class public space in Midtown, in December Mayor Adams announced a major new visioning process to reimagine 5th Avenue from Bryant Park to Central Park to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, transit, and public realm. Furthermore, in Mayor Adams’ State of the City, he outlined an over $375 million investment toward permanent public spaces citywide—new plazas, widened sidewalks, and inviting landscaping in core business districts plus a new permanent Open Street in all five boroughs. And to spearhead this investment, City Hall recently announced the appointment of a new Chief Public Realm Officer, a key recommendation from the ‘New’ New York plan.
Making It Easier for New Yorkers to Get to Work
In her State of the State address, Governor Hochul prioritized transportation, furthering through her 2023 agenda key initiatives from the ‘New’ New York plan—securing the MTA’s future, making the MTA’s “City Ticket” available 24/7, continuing progress towards implementing congestion pricing, and improving bus reliability.
Generating Inclusive, Future-Focused Growth
Building on the strategies from ‘New’ New York plan, Governor Hochul has made tackling the housing crisis a key pillar of her policy agenda this year, and her State of the State and Executive Budget highlight key regulatory and legislative changes that are needed to reduce barriers to housing growth in New York City and statewide. They include transit-oriented development so more people can live in walkable, mixed-use communities with good access to jobs; making it easier to move through the process to get approvals for housing developments that align with these goals; allowing New York City to locally determine appropriate maximum residential densities; and updated tax exemptions for preserving affordable housing; among others.
Mayor Adams echoed these themes in his State of the City, with housing a key pillar of his agenda. He has called out the need to address New York City’s housing shortage in no uncertain terms. In addition to reaffirming his commitment to creating a “City of Yes,” the Mayor announced new planning and engagement efforts for needed housing to Midtown Manhattan and the North Shore of Staten Island. The Mayor also recently announced the launch of the Small Business Opportunity Fund to support a more inclusive and diverse economy.
We need to grow, but we need to do it in a way that allows all New Yorkers to participate in and benefit from that growth. In her State of the State and Executive Budget, Governor Hochul announced key initiatives to reduce barriers to labor force participation—making childcare more affordable and accessible; expanding the Medicaid Buy-in Program for New Yorkers with Disabilities; and streamlining the Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) certification process by pursuing reciprocity with New York City’s own certification system.
We are encouraged to see these immediate actions by the Governor and the Mayor to advance initiatives out of Making New York Work for Everyone – but we need to make sure we are following through with the upcoming state and city budgets. And we need to ensure that we are advancing strategies for truly inclusive and equitable growth — for example by investing in state and city programs to stabilize housing for vulnerable New Yorkers and ensuring that all New Yorkers can earn a living wage, especially in the face of sustained inflation. This is a multi-year plan, and these early items create the momentum and excitement we need to jump start implementation.
In all our years in government, we have never seen stronger alignment between the Mayor and Governor—an alignment of policy agendas that can help catalyze meaningful change to truly make New York work for everyone.
***
Richard Buery and Dan Doctoroff were co-chairs of the ‘New’ New York panel formed by Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams. On Twitter @RichardBuery & @DanDoctoroff.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Youth employment programs at work (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)
A 2021 report by the city warned that up to 25% of New Yorkers aged 18-24 were at risk of becoming “disconnected,” meaning neither working nor attending school. And indeed, nearly 18% of young New Yorkers are unemployed, with rates for young men and women of color even higher. So it was alarming to read reporting from Gotham Gazette last week that the city’s programs to combat youth unemployment are under-enrolled and unable to expand to meet the need.
But even as elected officials, service providers, and workforce development experts grappled with this seeming disconnect, they neglected one resource that could play a significant role in solving this problem: high schools.
We have seen this problem up close. By most traditional metrics, MESA Charter High School, which we co-founded, has been a success. A non-selective school where students are admitted by lottery and over 85% are classified as “low-income,” MESA graduates 93% of its students on time, far outpacing the city average. Yet too often, our alumni struggle after graduation.
Despite meeting “college readiness” benchmarks, our students still graduate onto a razor’s edge. The slightest setback — a cut in a parent’s wages that impacts their ability to pay for college, a bureaucratic slip-up at a university, a missed payment deadline — can lead to disaster. Students drop out and wind up either unemployed or in low-wage, dead-end jobs.
So two years ago we honed in on supporting our “disconnected” alumni, either by helping them re-enroll in college or matriculate into a free, non-profit workforce program that led to a high-quality job. This year, we formally launched our Alumni Lab, a six-week bootcamp that works with alumni on a variety of topics, some as broad as developing a growth mindset and financial literacy to others as specific as resume writing and interview coaching. We’ve had 30 alumni go through the program thus far, and 70% have either returned to college or matriculated to a high-quality workforce development program in fields such as tech, medical professions, building trades, culinary arts, or business and entrepreneurship.
As Adams administration officials told the City Council last week about their own programs, the greatest challenge is getting young people to join ours in the first place. Students have been taught that success means seamlessly moving from high school to college to career; popular culture and social media often reinforce that narrative. When a student falls off track–as many do–they feel a sense of failure and shame. Many of our alumni have described feeling embarrassed that they had “let down” their parents, their teachers, and themselves.
The key to overcoming that shame? The relationship with their high school.
We’ve known these young people and their families for years, in some cases for a decade. Almost to an individual, they will describe the positive, supportive environment they experienced while at MESA. Accepting support like the kinds being offered by workforce development programs also requires vulnerability, an acknowledgement that one has fallen off track somewhere along the line. Understandably, young people are much more likely to open themselves up this way to an institution that they have years of trust with than to a bunch of strangers.
The best way for city workforce programs to fill their seats would be to partner with high schools.
“Disconnected Youth” are, by definition, hard to reach. But 75% of them have a high school diploma, which means they have a relationship with at least one institution. Additional funding to high schools to support their alumni after graduation could create a smooth pathway from high school to post-secondary programs, as well as a stronger safety net when students struggle after graduation. Because of the pre-existing relationships between schools, students, and families, the school is also better situated to provide the follow-up and continued support that everyone agrees students need to be successful.
Bringing high schools into the fold makes economic sense, too. Thanks to some generous philanthropic contributions, we’ve been able to run our program on just over $2,000 per student. Next year we hope to expand the number of kids served and partner with a few other high schools, which will bring the cost below $1,400 per child.
According to the 2021 New York City report, the fiscal burden on taxpayers of each disconnected youth is $16,000 annually. Given the city’s estimate of over 100,000 disconnected youth, investment in a partnership with high schools could yield hundreds of millions in savings.
While the news that program slots are going unfilled is disheartening, the good news is that there are high-quality programs out there ready to work with young people who are teeming with potential. The city faces several deep, intractable problems, but this one is fixable. Partner more with high schools, and watch the programs fill up.
***
Pagee Cheung and Arthur Samuels are the Co-Founders & Co-Executive Directors of MESA Charter High School in Brooklyn.
***
Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.