Renewable energy projects face delays, audit says

 Renewable energy projects face delays, audit says

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting is meeting statutory deadlines, but total timeline longer

By Molly Burke

 

April 29, 2024

 

 

An audit from the office of the state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that large-scale renewable energy projects are taking three years to complete applications with the Office of Renewable Energy Siting. Auditors said that tracking timelines and reducing delays could help New York reach the 2030 climate goal of sourcing 70 percent of the electrical grid from renewables. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

Paul Buckowski/Times Union

ALBANY — As New York nears climate goal deadlines, renewable energy projects are facing delays in the permitting process, according to an audit by the state comptroller’s office.

 

The Office of Renewable Energy Siting, which reviews major facilities proposed to generate more than 25,000 kilowatts, is statutorily obligated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act to make a decision on a permit within a year of the completion of an application. The office also has 60 days to determine whether an application is complete and notify the applicant.

 

But state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the renewable energy office “needs to increase transparency around permitting timelines to allow the state to better assess its progress in meeting its renewable energy goals.”

 

The audit tracked projects submitted to the office from April 2020 through July, during which applications for 15 projects were received — which included 14 solar energy projects and one wind energy project. All but one were permitted during that time period. Auditors found that the average time it took between beginning the process to completing the application was three years, while the time spent between the completion of the application and a permitting decision was nearly 8 months, under the statutorily required year.

 

Tina Kim, deputy comptroller in the Division of State Government Accountability at the comptroller’s office, said that delays in the application process were not tracked by the office, which prevented a clear understanding of how long the total permitting process — which averaged 3.7 years — would take for large renewable energy projects.

The audit found that the time to issue a notice of an incomplete application and the time for an applicant to respond were “taken into consideration.” Auditors also said that time spent on a project’s application prior to it being transferred to the newly created office were not considered.

 

Kim said that auditors made their primary recommendation to the Office of Renewable Energy Siting to track the timing of the application process, in part to understand the “feasibility of Climate Act goals.” The audit acknowledged that the siting regulators cannot control the quality of an application or responsiveness of an applicant, but asked the office to account for all “site permit process time frames,” given delays that affect the time spent to get a project built and operational.

 

“A realistic accounting of the total time it can take to site major renewable energy projects would provide important information needed to plan for the overall success for the Climate Act and its goals for New Yorkers,” the audit says.

 

Kim said that accurate understanding of the timing of renewable energy projects from start to finish is a key component in “trying to figure out what projects that you need within your pipeline to actually meet the goals in 2030.” New York is less than six years from the deadline to have its electrical grid come from 70 percent renewable energy sources.

 

Nathan Stone, a spokesman for the Office of Renewable Energy Siting, said the office “already actively tracks all time frames associated with the review process” from start to finish and “remains committed to improving every phase of the permitting process.”

 

The audit says that prior to the creation of the Office of Renewable Energy Siting in the 2019 climate law, the review of large renewable energy projects took up to five years.

 

“The delays in the process documented within the audit are not only separate from the milestones in the law but are reflective of early project planning and community engagement,” Stone said. “Both are essential to ensure that the build-out of renewable energy facilities at the scale and speed required to meet the state’s climate targets do not adversely impact the state’s most valuable resources or burden local communities.”

 

Auditors clarified that while the office is not required by law to speed up the process, they make the recommendation based on providing the timeline information to understand obstacles to meeting the 2030 renewable energy goal.

 

“In order to do the planning so that we will meet these ambitious goals, there needs to be transparency,” Kim said.

 

The audit comes as legislators recently approved a measure in the state budget moving the Office of Renewable Energy Siting under the Department of Public Service, which has largely been overseeing New York’s climate plan and efforts to reach the goals set in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

 

The Renewable Action Through Project Interconnection and Deployment Act, which was included in the budget bill addressing transportation, economic development and environmental conservation, will “create a one-stop shop” for electric transmission projects, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said in a statement. The Office of Renewable Energy Siting is charged with completing environmental reviews and permitting projects to “improve the interconnection process.”

 

Kim said that the office has always coordinated with the Public Service Commission during the permitting process of large-scale projects, but she is hopeful that further coordination could result from the integration included in the budget, potentially reducing some delays.

 

The act, which emphasizes the importance of transmission lines that connect energy producers — whether solar, wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas or fossil fuel-based — to homes and businesses for consumption. It also seeks to “streamline” transmission projects. 

 

The push for renewable energy projects comes as the demand for electricity is increasing, partially due to new high load projects coming onto the grid, including semiconductor manufacturing plants, which can consume as much electricity as more than 300,000 homes.

 

Kim said that with more information about the timing of renewable energy projects coming to light, more action can be taken by officials to plan for renewable energy projects with long timelines in mind.

 

“People have to have the data to help make decisions and to understand what the potential problems and risks are going forward,” Kim said. “This is so critical to meeting our climate goals.”

 

The comptroller’s office will complete a follow-up review of the office in a year to look into whether the recommendations on tracking timing and speeding up the pre-application process have been improved.

 

Audit says lack of data, delays at Office of Renewable Energy Siting (timesunion.com)