NY Renews Announces 2026 Climate, Jobs & Justice Agenda
As Gov. Hochul Rolls Back Major Protections in NY’s Climate Law, Coalition Demands End-of-Session Action to Boost Solar Production and Curb Energy Bills
For Immediate Release: May 15, 2026
Contact: Marie Scarles, marie@nyrenews.org, (646) 389-8429
Web: www.nyrenews.org | Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Facebook
New York — The NY Renews coalition announced its 2026 Climate, Jobs & Justice Agenda today, a set of critical legislative priorities championed by member organizations.
Despite extraordinary efforts by New Yorkers across the state to defend NY’s climate law, Governor Hochul is poised to unilaterally and significantly weaken the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Facing a truncated end to the legislative session and devastating losses to leading climate policy in New York, the NY Renews coalition announced its 2026 Climate, Jobs & Justice Agenda today, a set of critical legislative priorities championed by member organizations.
To build a truly affordable, reliable clean-energy economy, NY Renews urges the passage of the ASAP and SUNNY Acts to boost solar and battery storage:
Solar Up Now, New York, or SUNNY Act (A.9111/S.8512B)
SUNNY cuts red tape so renters, homeowners, businesses, and schools can install plug-in solar to reduce their energy bills and cut emissions.
Accelerate Solar for Affordable Power (ASAP) Act (S.6570/A.8758)
To lower household energy costs and meet growing electricity demand, New York needs to increase energy supply quickly and cost-effectively. The ASAP Act would help accelerate rooftop and community solar deployment and drive down interconnection costs, lowering energy costs for homes and businesses across New York.
To oppose utility and big tech greed and corporations profiting off the hardworking backs of New Yorkers, NY Renews calls for the passage of the Data Center Moratorium bill and for utilities to return money they weren’t approved to earn from their customers via the Ratepayer Refund Act:
Ratepayer Refund Act (S.07693/A.08150)
The Ratepayer Refund Act requires electric and gas utilities to return all revenues in excess of their authorized rates of return on equity to ratepayers. (Return on equity, or ROE, is the allowed rate of profit on capital investments made by utilities; it usually accounts for 15-20% of customer bills.)
Data Center Moratorium (S.9144/A.10141)
This bill establishes a temporary moratorium on data center construction and requires the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Public Service Commission to conduct thorough reviews over the course of three years and institute rules and regulations to prevent the industry’s harms. The rapid expansion of data centers across the United States, driven by the AI and crypto booms, presents one of the greatest affordability, environmental, and quality of life threats of our time.
Now is the time for the Legislature to show New York what it means to lead during challenging times — as the nation looks on. The coalition urges legislators to pass these bills to mitigate as much harm as possible and champion policies that could help New York speed up solar permitting, put money corporate utilities have squeezed from customers back into our pockets, and halt the expensive, environmentally catastrophic expansion of data centers across our state. It’s not too late to take meaningful action to help our state build an affordable, reliable, clean energy future with solar and battery storage, counter corporate utility greed, and lower New Yorkers’ energy bills.
"This is a terrifying time where our Governor is actively weakening our nation-leading Climate Law while New Yorkers continue to struggle with outrageous utility costs and public health crises," said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. "Frontline and environmental justice communities are calling on our elected officials to support the 2026 Climate, Jobs & Justice Agenda to further investments in communities that face the most burdens from the climate crisis. This comprehensive package of legislation will help protect New Yorkers by defending and advancing a reliable and clean energy future."
“Amid flooding, storms, heatwaves, and ever-rising fossil fuel energy costs, the Governor has decided that her top priority is to gut NY’s nation-leading climate law,” said Dawn Wells-Clyburn, Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo. “This is a bad-faith move, and one that will have extreme consequences for our communities. That’s why, in the last days of session, we are calling on members of the legislature to commit to passing the 2026 Climate, Jobs, and Justice Agenda in full to accelerate our transition to clean, affordable solar energy, put dollars that corporate utilities siphoned from our pockets back where they belong, and ensure that data centers don’t proliferate unchecked across our state.”
“We are witnessing a dangerous and deeply irresponsible attempt to weaken one of the nation’s strongest climate laws at the exact moment working families are already struggling under rising energy costs, extreme heat, flooding, and economic instability,” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of UPROSE. “Governor Hochul’s reported proposal is not a pathway to affordability. It is a pathway to deeper climate devastation, higher long-term costs, and greater burdens on frontline communities already paying the price for decades of environmental injustice. Weakening climate protections while utilities continue to profit off an extractive energy system is both reckless and complicit in advancing the climate crisis. At a minimum, passing the bills in the 2026 Climate, Jobs, and Justice Agenda shows that the legislature understands the stakes for our communities — and is willing to act on it despite the Governor's rollbacks."
“We will remember 2026 as the year Governor Kathy Hochul gave everything she had to eviscerate the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, empowering polluters and further endangering New Yorkers for generations to come. The Legislature must show that it is committed to standing up to polluters, reining in corporate and utility greed, transitioning to an affordable, renewable energy economy, and combating the climate crisis—even when the Governor is determined to do the opposite,” said Ethan Gormley, Legislative Coordinator, Citizen Action of New York.
“As the Governor pushes climate law rollbacks that will have devastating and deadly consequences for communities across the state, including here in the Hudson Valley, it’s never been more critical for members of the legislature to do everything in their power to pass policies to accelerate clean, affordable solar energy infrastructure, defend households from corporate utility greed, and protect communities from the unchecked harm of power-guzzling, air-polluting data centers,” said Xaver Kander, Political Director at For the Many. “The 2026 Climate, Jobs, and Justice Agenda, if passed in full, will play a meaningful role in our climate future, even as we face unprecedented setbacks.”
“The Governor has totally disregarded our environmental justice communities on Long Island and beyond. We are on the frontlines, and every delay and denial is a premature death sentence for our community members. Here in North Bellport, we are already experiencing the lowest life expectancy on Long Island. There were no negotiations with us in mind or at the table. We won’t forget this,” said Monique Fitzgerald, Climate Justice and Campaigns Director at the Long Island Progressive Coalition. “Our community is still being hit with unaffordable utility bills and a proposed data center. So we need to pass the data center moratorium to stop even more devastation to our area. In addition, ASAP and SUNNY will help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, and the Ratepayer Refund Act will provide some much-needed relief.”
“ASAP and SUNNY will help accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, the Ratepayer Returns Act will put money back in our pockets, and the data center moratorium will halt the rapid and dangerous expansion of data centers in our state. All of these efforts are key in a year where the Governor has taken extraordinary action to gut our nation-leading climate law,” said Caroline Chen, Director of Environmental Justice at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. “The legislature must take action this session, and in years to come, to protect our communities — particularly Black, Brown, and low-income across the state — from the effects of the climate and affordability crisis, and following the Governor’s environmental rollbacks.”
“Given the Governor's determination to undo the state's landmark 2019 climate law, it's extremely important for the legislature to pass these four bills," said Katherine Alford, Co-facilitator of Third Act NYC. "Our 1,000 members strongly support these bills, and are lobbying hard to get them passed. We have this responsibility to future generations — even as the Governor shirks her responsibility to all New Yorkers, present and future."
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NY Renews is a coalition of nearly 400 environmental justice, labor, and community groups, and the force behind the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. We fight for good jobs and climate justice for New Yorkers statewide.