New York clean power tender highlights US dash for tax credits

As power demand rises, clean power developers and New York state authorities are rushing to accelerate solar and wind projects before tax credits expire.

 

November 25 - New York's accelerated clean power tender highlights a wider push by U.S. developers to accelerate projects that are deep in development in order to gain federal tax credits before they are slashed under Trump administration policies.

 

Announced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in September, the solicitation will prioritize shovel-ready projects to ensure they qualify for federal tax credits that will expire earlier than planned following Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Solar and wind projects must begin construction by July 2026 or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for the tax credits.

 

Solar and wind power projects with advanced permitting and grid connection agreements are most likely to be awarded in the tender, held by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), industry stakeholders told Reuters Events.

 

Peak electricity demand in the New York grid could rise by between 1.6 GW and 4 GW by 2030, driven by new large loads including data centers and the electrification of buildings, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) said in its Power Trends 2025 study published in June. Grid reliability margins were declining as fossil fuel generation retired and new supply resources fail to keep pace with demand growth, it said.

 

CHART: New York summer peak power demand forecast

 

 

Source: New York ISO annual report '2025 Power Trends.' 

 

Clean power developers are keen to claim the federal tax credits as they allow them to charge lower power rates while generating a level of revenue required by lenders and investors.

 

"There's a lot of interest in getting projects built and financed while these tax credits still exist to deliver that cheaper power to consumers," said Daniel de Boer, CEO of Greenbacker Capital.

 

Clean power developer Boralex is submitting bids in the New York tender, a company spokesperson said. The company was awarded two solar projects in last year's tender.

 

New York state is a strategic growth market for Boralex due to the state's commitment to advancing renewables, Adam Rosso, Boralex VP of Development for North America, said during the company's Investor Day in June.

 

Greenbacker Capital declined to confirm if it is bidding in the solicitation. The company has four solar projects and one wind project with permits and interconnection agreements that do not yet have offtaker agreements, de Boer said. [Greenbacker Capital is pursuing the Howard Wind Project in Steuben County, NY]

 

New York Power Authority (NYPA) also plans to participate in NYSERDA's solicitations to advance its strategic renewables plan but would not confirm whether it would bid into this tender. NYPA has identified 64 clean energy projects comprising 7 GW of capacity that it could partner with or acquire to develop in the future.

 

"Despite federal headwinds, NYPA is aggressively pursuing the development of renewable generation. The Power Authority intends to issue its final updated renewables strategic plan in December that will include projects supported by $200 million that Governor Hochul directed to NYPA from the State budget," NYPA said in a statement to Reuters Events.

 

Developers have until December 4 to bid into the tender and NYSERDA plans to issue conditional award notifications by February 2026 and announce the selected projects once all contracts are fully executed, a NYSERDA spokesperson said.

 

"This is probably the last solicitation where you could theoretically get your project under construction in time to take advantage of the investment tax credit," Vir Chahal, vice president of Power and Renewables at analytics group Enverus, told Reuters Events.

 

"After this, it is going to be more expensive for the state to procure the renewables it needs to meet its environmental goals."

 

Clean power targets

 

The urgent need for new power generation combined with the limited runway to take advantage of the tax credits should push New York state to grant as many contracts as possible and ensure projects get across the finish line, according to Christopher Casey, Utility Regulatory director for New York at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

 

New York aims to source 70% of electricity from renewable energy by 2030, including 16 GW of large-scale solar and 4 GW of large-scale onshore wind capacity, alongside smaller distributed solar energy facilities and offshore wind.

 

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NYSERDA seeks to procure 5.6 million Tier 1 eligible Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) annually. This is in line with the state's Clean Energy Standard Biennial Review, adopted by the NY Public Service Commission (NY PSC) earlier this year, which suggests increasing average annual procurement from 4,500 to 5,600 GWh per year "to maintain progress towards the 2030 Target."

 

NYSERDA has the flexibility to procure more or less than the target in any given solicitation "based on its review of market data."

 

The NY PSC also extended NYSERDA's Tier 1 procurement authority by three years to 2029, allowing it to increase the number of clean power solicitations in the coming years.

 

Labor challenge

 

The nationwide rush to start construction of solar and wind projects by July 2026 is causing labor constraints and is likely to lead to higher wages for workers, including in New York, according to Greenbacker's de Boer.

 

President Trump's policies have reigned in the surging growth forecasts for clean power established under the Biden administration and retaining workers can be a challenge. Slower-than-expected deployment of renewable energy prompts workers to look for jobs in other industries and in New York there is continuing competition for qualified construction labor, according to Marguerite Wells, executive director for the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY), a group representing clean energy developers in the state.

 

"There are a lot of workforce training programs in place [for renewable energy]. The challenge is keeping workers building renewable projects," she said.

 

CHART: US solar installation forecast

 

Source: Wood Mackenzie, September 2025 Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

 

Construction jobs in renewable energy can require travel or relocation. A two-year study by Climate Jobs Institute's NYS Solar Workforce study, released in April 2024, found that 65% of respondents relocated in order to work at their NYS solar worksite

 

"It's not so much that there aren't enough people in New York to do the jobs, but that the nature of the work has been structured where people travel, where the work moves from place to place," Iris Packman, senior research and policy development associate at Cornell University's ILR School Climate Jobs Institute, said.

 

The study also found that over 40% of the workers had more than one employer, nearly one quarter worked for three or four employers, and most lacked access to benefits.

 

There is a shortage of high-quality clean energy jobs, rather than a shortage of workers in the industry, Packman said.

 

New York state has made some progress on labor terms for renewable energy projects. For example, NYSERDA's latest solicitation requires solar developers to sign up to a labor peace agreement and labor contract commitments to ensure workers receive a prevailing wage. It also requires solar developers to sign a pledge avoiding the use of forced labor, drawn up by the solar industry.

 

New York could take further steps to ensure prevailing wage commitments apply to solar projects smaller than 1 MW and to other renewable energy projects.

“Additionally, the state could require Project Labor Agreements for all large-scale clean energy projects, which it doesn't currently mandate," Packman said.

"PLAs are important for helping projects to finish on time, on-budget, and with a highly skilled workforce.”

--Editing by Robin Sayles

 

New York clean power tender highlights US dash for tax credits | Reuters