Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard has spurred just one-fifth of the new renewable energy generation promised in 2016.
New data from New York Independent System Operator (ISO), which oversees the state’s electrical grid and wholesale market, indicate that 28 percent of the energy sold into the competitive market in 2017 came from renewables, up from 24 percent a year earlier.
On their face, the numbers in the ISO’s annual load and capacity report seem to point to significant progress toward Cuomo’s goal of having 50 percent of the state’s electricity come from renewables by 2030. That increase, however, was driven primarily by increased output from existing hydroelectric generators, chiefly the state-run dams at Niagara Falls and Massena. The two largest dams, which produce most of the state’s hydroelectric power, saw an 8 percent jump in output "due to increased water levels on Lakes Erie and Ontario resulting in higher water flow to the Niagara and St. Lawrence hydroelectric plants."

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