Kristen Cheriegate | ICAST Policy Analyst
New York Opens States First Publicly Funded Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Using federal funds from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, Kingston New York opened the state’s first public electric vehicle (E.V.) charging stations. This is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda to build a reliable E.V. network connecting 79,000 miles of roads and highways. By the end of 2024, N.Y. Power Authority plans to open more than a dozen additional NEVI-funded stations. The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation worked with all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, to advance the goals of the NEVI program. Additional NEVI-funded charging stations in the northeast will be operational in the coming months, with Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Maine having already broken ground.
New Mexico Approves Solar Home Improvement Funding
The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) Board of Directors has approved $3.5 million in funding from the 2024 New Mexico Housing Trust Fund to support solar systems for homes that are receiving NM Energy$mart Weatherization Program services. From 2010 through the present, MFA has managed Energy$mart program, which has fully weatherized over 10,000 homes, averages 27% energy savings per home, and annually saves 21.7 metric tons of carbon in each weatherized home.
New Federal Partnership to Decarbonize U.S. Building Sector
The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Dept. of Energy announced a partnership at the 28th U.N. Climate Conference (COP28) to address the challenges posed by the climate crisis while ensuring low- and moderate-income communities benefit from a clean energy transition. The partners have included a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on domestic efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the building sector and to cut costs for consumers through energy efficiency improvements.
New York City Removes Zoning Restriction for Energy Efficiency
The New York City Council has approved the “City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality” initiative to remove zoning impediments to rooftop solar, solar parking canopies, onshore wind, and energy storage systems. The initiative comprises 17 policies, including:
- Opening up over 8,500 acres of parking lots for the potential installation of solar panels
- Easing wall height and thickness restrictions that hinder building electrification and retrofit efforts
- More than doubling commercially zoned land where E.V. charging facilities can be located
- Expands building rooftop and yard allowances to accommodate the increased need for outdoor electrified equipment
- Updates the framework for accessory mechanical equipment, like HVAC units, to reflect the needs of electric retrofits and other energy infrastructure by enabling equipment to cover up to 50% of buildings to a height of 15 feet
The release says these changes are expected to help facilitate environmentally friendly retrofits for over 50,000 buildings and make more than 400 million extra square feet of space available for E.V. chargers.