Response in Opposition to the Independent Power Producers of New York Petition to Establish a “Zero Emissions” Energy System Program Under the New York State Clean Energy Standard

Clean Energy Group joined two dozen organizations, including the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, in drafting and submitting a response to the State of New York Public Service Commission in opposition to a proposed “zero emissions” program that would make technologies like hydrogen combustion and renewable natural gas eligible under New York State’s Clean Energy Standard (CES). The response highlights that the petition, submitted by the Independent Power Producers of New York (IPPNY), fails to make a case for the creation of a dispatchable non-emission CES tier and that none of the resources the petition seeks to support are truly zero emissions resources, as they emit both health-harming pollution and greenhouse gases, unlike renewables and battery storage.