Subsidy Sheet: Hochul’s Energy Plan: Cheap Electricity for Big Business, Cuts in Efficiency Aid for Residents
It is not the best time to be trying to invest in clean energy for the US. While solar and wind power have taken off faster than expected globally, the Trump administration is doing its best to pump the brakes, phasing out federal tax credits for renewable energy and leaving states uncertain about covering costs without them. Gov. Hochul has already backed away from a previous target of reaching 100 percent clean energy by the year 2040 while expressing openness to building new natural gas pipelines, and NYSERDA President Doreen Harris has said for the immediate future, New York state energy policy will be focused more on reliability than on phasing out fossil fuels.
All this is happening against a backdrop not only of White House hostility, but of rapidly increasing energy demands, especially from New York IDAs’ favored subsidy recipient, data centers, which are sucking up record amounts of power and threatening to drive up electric rates as a result. Meanwhile, Micron has projected that its new computer chip plants near Syracuse — set to receive $5.5 billion in state tax credits, plus such goodies as discounted electric bills — will eventually use as much electricity in one year as it takes to power all of Buffalo for six.
At the same time, New York Focus has revealed, NYSERDA is slashing the budget of its Empower+ program, which funds energy efficiency upgrades for low- and moderate-income households, from $220 million this year to $80 million in 2027. (Empower+ program administrator Scott Oliver blamed state and federal budget cuts.) Burning more fossil fuels to power corporations’ lavish energy needs while cutting aid to residents who want to save on electricity should be an excellent way to create more long, hot summers.
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In other recent subsidy news:
- The zoning board of Wawayanda has rejected plans for an Amazon warehouse that would have received $31 million in sales and property tax breaks from the Orange County IDA, not because of the public cost, but because the 104-foot proposal height was deemed too tall. An Amazon spokesperson said the company is still “evaluating our options and potential next steps.”
- New Jersey is pitching its new soundstages and film production tax credits as an alternative to shooting in New York, and California expanded its tax credits after producer/lobbyist Scott Budnick brought Common and J. Cole to lobby lawmakers, and Louisiana expanded its tax credits, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed phasing out his state’s tax credits, and even Wisconsin has now dipped its toe into film subsidies for the first time. (Also in California: The CEO of the state’s manufacturers’ trade association responded by saying his industry should get tax credits next.) Asked if all these competing subsidies show that states are engaging in a race to the bottom, Budnick replied: “We don’t know if it’s going to be a race to the bottom, and if it ultimately is, we’re going to need to stay competitive.” Film Subsidies 2025: First One to the Bottom Wins!
- Not raking in the public tax expenditures: Broadway plays and musicals, now that Empire State Development’s NYC Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit has run out of money. The state added $100 million in May to its tax credit pool, which covers up to 25 percent of most production costs for selected theatrical productions, but that fund has already been exhausted. In total, the program has funded $400 million worth of shows with tax dollars since it was established in 2021 to help Broadway with pandemic recovery.
- Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says he is “focused” on getting the Tri-City Valley Cats signed to a new lease at Hudson Valley Community College, and suggested converting the field from grass to turf and building a retractable dome over the 6,500-seat Joseph L. Bruno stadium. “All winter, you’ve got kids in there playing soccer, lacrosse, everything else,” McLaughlin told the Times Union, estimating the cost of a new field plus a roof at $20-25 million. “Not saying it’s going to happen, but it would be fun to do.” The Valley Cats play in the Frontier League, an independent minor league that could face an uncertain future if baseball tries to shrink its minor leagues again in the future, something that is very much on the table.
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