New York Leads Fight Against Climate Change

 

Gov. Cuomo Announces Largest Solicitation for Renewable Energy in the U.S. to Combat Global Climate Change

Seeks Up To 2,500 Megawatts of Renewable Energy and a Complementary Multi-Port Infrastructure Investment with Prevailing Wage Standards, Totaling More Than $400 Million in both Public and Private Money

Here are the 5 notable provisions in this comprehensive solicitation:

  1. Provisions requiring payment of the prevailing wage, a standard set by the New York State Department of Labor, and good-faith negotiations towards the use of Project Labor Agreements for workers associated with the construction of any awarded facility and continuing to prioritize opportunities for New York State Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprises and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses to support these projects;

  2. Incentivizing associated jobs, project spending, and infrastructure investments in New York State by requiring awardees to provide an economic benefits plan for evaluation, backed by independent audit and verification of the realization of these claims;

  3. Prioritizing low-income census tracts and Environmental Justice Areas to contribute to delivering the overall job creation and benefits to Disadvantaged Communities, consistent with the State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act;

  4. Sending a clear buy-clean demand signal to the market to encourage the consideration of the project's carbon footprint in design, sourcing and construction and spur use of advanced materials; and

  5. Actively addressing the interests of ocean users such as commercial and recreational fishing and environmental stakeholders as reflected in mitigation plans which are informed by New York's Offshore Wind Technical Working Groups as established by New York's Offshore Wind Master Plan.