Energy in NYS and the US
Robert Ciesielski, Chapter Energy Committee Chair
NYS released its State Energy Plan (SEP) in December, 2025. The document opens up NYS to an “all of the above” approach to energy, although the SEP is still promoting “zero-emissions” and continues acknowledging the threat of greenhouse gas emissions to the global climate. The SEP is thus far superior to the Federal Administration’s denial of climate change, destruction of renewable energy and electric vehicles markets, and blatant imposition of maximum use of oil and gas in the U.S and abroad to protect it political funders. In this difficult situation the Sierra Club is working to show the economic and climate advantages of renewable energy, battery storage and electrification of New York State to the maximum extent possible.
Like countries without gas and oil, New York State’s businesses and residents annually import $50 billion in gas and oil to operate the economy, power vehicles and heat homes. According to energy investor Ron Carlton, continuing to burn fossil fuels is a “self-imposed financial penalty”. Solar and wind linked to battery storage are less expensive for generating electricity than gas, oil or coal. Utility-scale solar costs between 4 and 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, even without subsidies; with batteries solar costs between 5 and 13 cents per kilowatt-hour. By comparison, generating electricity from fracked gas costs 13.8 to 26 cents per kilowatt- hour according to the energy research firm Lazar, PV magazine and Yale Climate Connection.
In his effort to maximize the burning of fossil fuels in the U.S., President Trump has promoted the unfettered and unregulated development of two questionable industries – datacenters and cryptocurrency. Last year the U.S. tripled its planned gas-fired capacity. A third of the newly planned 252 gigawatts of gas capacity is to be situated on site at datacenters. The Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter supports a State bill (Senate version S9144 and Assembly version A10141) which would impose a 3-year moratorium on datacenters larger than 20 megawatts in size, pending a review of energy usage and other environmental factors. Last year the Chinese AI start-up, DeepSeek, demonstrated that much less energy could be used to power its AI project than current U.S. technology.
Besides its enormous energy usage, AI’s social value is questionable. Already thousands of employees at various companies have been replaced by AI. The technology has allowed questionable and distorted findings using stilted algorithms and produced deep fakes and results based on ideology.
Some Proof of Work Cryptocurrency “mines” use as much electricity as cities. This massive use of electricity is already increasing utility rates throughout the US and NYS. New York’s moratorium would also include new cryptocurrency facilities. Trump and his family “Trust” have been earning millions of dollars in the cryptocurrency business. Many have noted that cryptocurrency is a speculative business, geared to the rich who can afford high-risk to make more money. Crypto is also vulnerable to fraud, bribery, tax evasion and criminal activity.
Besides the datacenter moratorium, the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter supports several other energy related bills. The Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power Act (ASAP), S6570/A8758, would increase the goal for distributed solar power from 6 gigawatts to 20 gigawatts by 2035. The State has already attained the installation of 7 gigawatts of distributed power, which includes rooftop solar and community solar, and which is the largest source of solar generated electricity in the State. The bill would also require the State and utilities to work to streamline the installation procedure and reduce costs for hookups. The cost of installing rooftop solar in Australia is 3-4 times less than in NYS largely due to differences in governmental regulations.
We also support the Solar Up Now New York Act (SUNNY), S8512A/A9011, which would permit the use of portable plug-in solar panel generators a/k/a “balcony solar” in New York homes and apartments. These small units produce up to 800 watts of electricity and can power a small refrigerator or computer. They can be installed by the homeowner without the need for a permit. Some 3 million of these units are being used in Germany.
The development of affordable renewable energy protects your pocketbook and future generations. If you would like to become involved in promoting the above bills, please message the Sierra Club Niagara Group at niagarasierra@gmail.com.