Governor Kathy Hochul plans to spend $100 million for phase one of a massive New York Green New Deal Project to cut the carbon footprint of Albany’s Empire Plaza.
The “decarbonization” of the Empire State Plaza, as outlined in the Empire State Plaza Energy Infrastructure Master Plan is a multi-phase project led by the Office of General Services and New York Power Authority as part of Hochul’s effort to advance her “Climate and Environmental Justice Goals”.
“Thanks to the $100M investment OGS is primed with our partners to cut the carbon footprint at the Empire State Plaza by 20%,” state Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy said on X.
The second phase is expected to reduce carbon emissions at Empire Plaza by an additional 30% with no price tag revealed at this point. The total cost of this Green New Deal Project is unknown.
The Empire State Energy Infrastructure Master Plan outlines a phased approach to reduce the state and local environmental impacts of Empire Plaza’s operations.
This funding will pay for the electrification of the existing steam-driven chillers, implementation of energy efficiency improvements, and installation of a new heat recovery chiller. These phase one improvements will result in a reduction of approximately 20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the Empire State Plaza.
“New York State is leading by example in our efforts to reduce emissions, making significant investments to decarbonize our agency buildings and operations,” Governor Hochul said. “My administration remains committed to leading the fight against climate change and we’re aligning our investments to build a cleaner, greener New York.”
Previous energy efficiency work at the Empire State Plaza has included the electrification of one of the Plaza’s five steam-driven chillers, the installation of energy-efficient LED indoor and outdoor lighting systems, and the ongoing replacement of existing emergency generators at the Sheridan Avenue Steam Plant with efficient, low-emission, and low-noise units.
Hochul’s statement on this project did not address any savings to the taxpayer or whether the grid could handle the added burden of the electrification in this phase of the project on top of the other electric mandates being handed down by Albany. As with many of the Green New Deal projects, the upfront costs are massive, but the savings and benefits down the line for taxpayers are less clear if any exists at all.