GOLDEN CRESCENT AND 1000 ISLAND NEWS

  Tech giants are sick of waiting around for electricity. But locking in future power means taking on more upfront risk.  The race to build up more AI data centers has created a strain on the existing power grid while also bottlenecking  the ambitious plans  of the world’s largest tech companies. AI systems consume far more energy than more typical servers and other computing gear, but new energy generation facilities don’t exactly go up overnight. As a result, companies better known for driving advertising clicks and social network likes are  now diving into the power business.   In a landmark deal, Google-parent  Alphabet  last month  agreed to buy  renewable energy developer Intersect Power for $4.75 billion, plus the assumption of debt. It was the first time a tech company brought an energy developer in-house. The deal was a surprise for the energy industry: “The market always thought [tech companies] would outsource because developm...

ALBANY — Although a federal judge ruled last week that Norwegian energy firm Equinor can resume construction on the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the coast of Long Island, the windfall of business opportunities local ports were supposed to enjoy from the $5 billion project appear to have dried up. Watch More   Empire Wind 1 is being built about 20 miles off the coast of Long Island by Equinor, which has a power-purchase agreement in place with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, to buy the power.   The Trump administration issued a stop-work order on the project in December. When a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction against the government last week, Equinor said the project, which includes 54 wind turbines that are 884 feet tall, was 60 percent complete. The construction phase includes 4,000 workers. Originally, the Port of Albany and the Carver Cos.'  Port of Coeymans w...

  If 2025 was the year Governor Kathy Hochul  embraced “abundance”  as the solution to New York’s woes — above all, the rising cost of living — 2026 is her year to show that she was just getting started.   That is, at least, what Hochul vowed in her State of the State address on Tuesday, putting the promise to “build, build, build” at the center of her agenda. And it is increasingly her answer to the conundrum facing New York’s energy system: how to keep the lights on while meeting growing demand for electricity, keeping utility bills in check, and fighting climate change.   Nowhere is this clearer than with  nuclear energy, which she’s making her signature energy policy  as she seeks reelection. On Tuesday, the governor  announced efforts to build four gigawatts’ worth of new reactors in the state. Combined with the  one gigawatt  she tasked the state power authority with building last year , that would be slightly more than the en...

  According to the NYISO Real Time Fuel Mix dashboard chart that shows what fuels in what percentages are generating electricity in New York on this January 15 Thursday morning, there is this breakdown. These numbers are typical for a winter morning in New York:   Natural gas   – 32.29%   Hydroelectric   – 21.13%   Nuclear   – 20.97%   Wind   – 4.46%   Solar   and other renewables – 1.3 1 %   ( T his percentage includes solar, landfill methane, storage batteries, and the burning of refuse and wood chips)   Which of the emissions free sources could be increased enough to make a significant difference?   Correct. Nuclear.

  One of the great ironies of the first Trump administration was that amid all the talk of  bleach ,  horse dewormers , mask mandates and school closures, most people didn’t pay attention to the policy that essentially ended the pandemic:  Operation Warp Speed .   A president whose pandemic response was viewed by many as incompetent at best and brazen denial at worst spearheaded the development of the coronavirus vaccine, an accomplishment that Donald Trump hardly talks about lest he alienate his MAHA wing. Meanwhile, many in the public health establishment, which today recoils in horror at the current administration’s anti-vax posture,  were skeptical  of Trump’s ambitious timeline for a vaccine.   One year into the second Trump administration, a similar dynamic could be underway around climate change. Trump  has described  it as a Chinese hoax. His administration  has withdrawn  the United States from the Paris climate agreem...

  Good morning and welcome to the weekly Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We'll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week. SOLAR, EV CHARGING BOOST:  Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to bolster solar for schools and electric vehicle charging infrastructure as part of her State of the State address on Tuesday. The governor plans to advance a sales tax exemption for electricity sold by commercial EV charging stations. New York currently has about 187,000 electric vehicles on the road, according to the governor’s office. That’s  far short of a Cuomo-era goal  of 850,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025. The state has about 15,000 chargers at more than 4,000 locations. The governor will also propose clearing a barrier for school districts seeking to deploy solar, including ground-mounted arrays. She’s proposing changes to the state’s building aid rules, which can restrict investments by schools. Lawmakers hav...