Climate Act
New York State Climate Act
New York’s ambitious clean energy targets are outlined in the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), enacted in 2019. This landmark legislation stands out as one of the most progressive in the nation, aiming to facilitate a just transition to a clean energy economy. The Climate Act is designed to tackle climate change to protect our environment, grow economic opportunities, improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers, and ensure equity and inclusion.
The Climate Act establishes a comprehensive set of time-bound goals, including stringent targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, increasing the adoption of zero-emission vehicles, reducing fossil fuel use in building heating systems, and setting resource-specific mandates for distributed solar, renewable energy, energy storage, and offshore wind. These objectives are pivotal to New York’s strategy for sustainable development and environmental stewardship.
Key Statewide Goals include:
- 6,000 MW of distributed solar ✓ (Achieved)
- 70% renewable energy with 6,000 MW of energy storage
- 100% zero-emission electricity
- 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
LIPA has initiatives underway that directly contribute to the state’s clean energy goals in such areas as solar, storage, offshore wind, energy efficiency, electric vehicles (EVs), and building decarbonization, as described in the following sections. The chart below shows progress towards Long Island’s portion of the state’s Climate Act goals. Please note that these figures are updated biannually.
