New York City Could Face a Green Power Shortage

In recent weeks, New York City officials have taken steps to reduce carbon emissions from the Big Apple. The City Council passed a package of bills issuing strict caps on greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed a "Green New Deal for New York City" that pledged to power all municipal buildings with hydroelectric power. But these efforts have some concerned this could lead to a shortage of renewable energy.

The crux of the problem is the availability of green power sources: according to Crain's New York Business, at the moment, there is only one hydroelectric transmission line that has managed to navigate the complex web of state and federal permits and is ready to be built. Plus, there's no way to store excess power collected by the solar power arrays scattered across New York City's rooftops, since the city fire department is worried that large, lithium ion batteries in private buildings may explode. At the same time, real estate developers and landlords say they haven't gotten enough credit for the efforts they have already made to make their buildings more sustainable—and they worry they'll no longer be able to avoid emissions fines by offsetting them with renewable energy because the city is buying it up.  

 But Crain's reporter Daniel Geiger told WNYC's Jami Floyd that proponents of these moves like the Urban Green Council believe tough caps and strict plans could be just what is needed to kick the green power industry into gear.

"They say that it creates in 2019 a market over night for private sector providers, for government to take action, to say 'listen, these mandates now exist, there's going to be demand for green power, so if you build it, obviously people are going to buy it," Geiger said.

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