FIRST OFFSHORE WIND POWER HITS LONG ISLAND: New York has gotten its first power from an offshore wind turbine, nearly seven years after the Long Island Power Authority inked a contract for the South Fork wind project. The first of 12 turbines was completed last month and is delivering power to New York. "South Fork Wind will power thousands of homes, create good-paying union jobs and demonstrate to all that offshore wind is a viable resource New York can harness for generations to come,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. South Fork is expected to provide 130 megawatts of power. It’s located about 35 miles off Montauk and developed by Orsted and Eversource. The cost to customers for the project under a power purchase agreement is about $1.35 per month. The first power milestone comes as the offshore wind industry faces rising costs that have led to canceled projects in several states. The future of the other early New York projects is in limbo as developers decide how and whether to participate in NYSERDA’s new offshore wind solicitation with a Jan. 25 deadline. That process could result in new projects being awarded or the Equinor and Orsted projects still under contract getting new prices and moving forward. — Marie J. French TAX BREAK REQUESTS PILE UP: Renewable energy boosters are pushing for a few different tax breaks to bolster certain technologies, urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to include them in her upcoming executive budget. The state’s solar industry has been mobilizing its supporters to contact Hochul about lifting a $5,000 cap on a 25 percent tax credit for solar systems. They want to raise the cap to $10,000 and make it a refundable credit so low-income households and seniors can benefit. A bill to do so has already been introduced by Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Latrice Walker. “The incentive is supposed to make solar more affordable; however, the cap has not increased in 17 years and the incentive is often hard to access for low-income families and families living in co-ops and condos,” the New York Solar Energy Industries Association told supporters in an email setting up a call relay earlier this week. Another renewable energy industry group, the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, also wants sales tax exemptions for a range of electrification technologies: electric vehicles, including used ones; energy storage and heat pumps. “The inclusion of this exemption in the Executive Budget will help to reduce the upfront cost of purchasing or leasing an EV, a critical barrier to EV adoption,” ACE NY wrote in a budget memo to the governor’s office. — Marie J. French CONGESTION MOVING — POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board voted 9-1 on Wednesday to put out for public comment a plan to increase tolls for drivers heading into parts of Manhattan. The vote moves the landmark congestion pricing plan closer to reality after decades of debate about how to curb traffic in New York City, but there are still changes that could be made to the plan, which creates new tolls of $15 or more for most drivers coming into Manhattan south of 60th Street. It ain’t over til it’s over: New York City Mayor Eric Adams has asked for further exemptions for taxis, which are already set to get a discount. He’s but one player asking for a carve out to the plan the MTA voted to advance. At least for now, New Jersey officials also have some leverage over the MTA while a lawsuit the state filed to block the plan remains unresolved in federal court. "We can’t absolutely count on money showing up,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said, referring to the legal uncertainty while the case is pending. New Jersey is seeking more or larger exemptions for drivers who are crossing bridges and tunnels into New York. ABOUT THOSE TOLLS: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board took its first crack Wednesday at reviewing a landmark congestion pricing plan, which creates new tolls to fund billions of dollars of new public transit construction. But there are still several unanswered questions about that plan, including how much money the new tolls will raise for the MTA and exactly how the plan was crafted in the first place. The plan, for now, is based on recommendations from the Traffic Mobility Review Board, a six-member body created by state law to draft the landmark plan. The MTA board will now have to hold a series of public hearings before its board can finalize the plan. In an earlier press conference, the review board’s chair, Carl Weisbrod, said the traffic review board’s recommendations were unanimous. But one of the board members, John Samuelsen, quit in protest as the final report was released and his name was not on the final report. And while the board held three public meetings, it never voted in public on the recommendations. Samuelsen’s resignation hinted at the complicated task of crafting a controversial, first-of-its-kind tolling plan. In an interview last week, Samuelsen — who is also an MTA board member and head of the Transport Workers Union — said the recommendations were the product of one-on-one meetings and some Zoom calls by board members. Those calls and meetings were not open to the public. “A public body is supposed to conduct business in public, including voting on a report that is being released,” said Paul Wolfe, head of the Coalition for Open Government. Another question is how much money the tolls will generate. The recommendations assert that the tolls will fulfill the review board’s mandate, which is to give MTA enough revenue for $15 billion of capital projects. But the board report does not show the math. Tolls that are too high or too low could both undermine the point of the plan, which is to discourage traffic, yes, but also ensure enough people pay tolls to raise the revenue the MTA wants. The top staffer at the review board, known as the TMRB, said the board met its legal requirements. “The TMRB was required to make recommendations regarding Central Business District toll amounts and submit them to the TBTA Board for consideration,” the board’s executive Juliette Michaelson said in a statement released by an MTA spokesperson. “This requirement was met on November 30th when the TMRB sent a report unanimously approved by all five members to the TBTA/MTA.” And the tolling plan has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said people should love the tolls. “Anybody sick and tired of gridlock in New York City?” the governor said at a rally in support of congestion pricing on Tuesday. “Anybody think we deserve better transit, especially those who live and work here? Anyone think that people with disabilities deserve to have more accessibility when they travel through this city? Anybody want cleaner air for our kids and for future generations? Well then you love congestion pricing, right?” – Ry Rivard
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