Publicly Owned Renewables: How did NYC’s Build Public Renewable Act happen? Anjali

 Approach: I feel that my secondary sources offer a range of perspectives on the history of energy justice, energy democracy, public power projects, New York environmental organizations, and labor and environment scholarship. While I am sure there are primary sources that might be helpful from various perspectives and time periods, I want to start with primary sources that are directly about the BPRA (Build Public Renewables Act) during the time period of 2019 (when it was launched) to now. This allows me to get an understanding of the fundamental facts, reactions, and debates around the BPRA. Once I have that I can try to explore and see what other primary sources to reference. As I mentioned in my site description, I am very interested in three things; how this win even happened/how did people organize for it,  how will it be enforced, and why labor and climate organizing must be intertwined. For the sake of this assignment, I will mostly focus on the primary sources that share interviews and detailed timelines about how the act came to be. 

1. Build Public Renewables Act Senate Assembly Legislation (pages 115-143), February 1, 2023, State of New York, Senate-Assembly  https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2023/s4006c#page=115 

 The actual legislation is interesting to read. The BPRA is considered an amendment to the Public Authorities Law. The law details the various deadlines for New York state, through the NYPA (New York Public Authority) to implement, defines terms like renewable energy and decarbonization (“eliminating all on-site combustion of fossil-fuels and associated co-pollutants with the exception of back-up emergency generators”). As I do more research, I plan to reference the language of the legislation. 

2. “After a four-year campaign, New York says yes to publicly owned renewables”, Akielly Hu, Grist Magazine, May 4, 2023

https://grist.org/energy/after-a-four-year-campaign-new-york-says-yes-to-publicly-owned-renewables-strong/ 

Grist is a prominent environmental journalism outlet and their article was one of the top hits when googling the BPRA. The article feels like an essential understanding of the base implications of the law, who was involved in pushing for it and what it might inspire with other environmental organizations in other states. The article also interviews a key actor in this law’s passing, Sarahana Shrestha, state assembly woman in New York who was key to pushing for the act. There is a good quote from Shresta in the article, stating that the BPRA addresses, “fundamental questions about who should own energy, who should serve energy, at what cost, and what kind of energy should we be making, and who should be deciding those things.” While it is a wordy quote, I think it is an easy way to understand what questions are at stake when moving from a private model to public ownership. 

3. “The Problem with New York’s Public Power Campaign — and How to Fix It”, Matt Huber, Fred Stafford, July 30, 2022, The Intercept

https://theintercept.com/2022/07/23/new-york-build-public-renewables-act/

 I wanted to include this article because it provides a more critical take on the BPRA and also highlights some of the obstacles to getting the act passed including how it failed to pass the State Assembly twice in 2020 and 2021. While the article was published before the bill did finally end up getting passed, I know from personal communication with the author Matt Huber that he still has some critiques about the process and the bill itself as it stands. Fleshing out some of these critiques can help me include in my report possible hiccups and areas of improvement that future bills in other states can learn from. 

4. “Opinion: NY’s climate progress is failing. A new plan for public power can fix it.”, Julia Salazar, Sarahana Shrestha, July 27, 2024, City & State New York. 

https://www.cityandstateny.com/opinion/2024/07/opinion-nys-climate-progress-failing-new-plan-public-power-can-fix-it/398385/?utm_medium=email 

 I chose this article because it is published in a local newspaper and is also written by two state assembly members who were key to passing the BPRA. They address us more recently, in the summer of 2024, to call out NY’s Governor Hochul for the lack of concrete progress in enforcing the BPRA. They share that there has been minimal transparency in the planning process and no public commitments to build clean energy, despite the law requiring such benchmarks. The article reads as a public record or public statement issued by elected officials calling out the Governor. 

5. “Bulletin 134: A Public Power Victory in New York State – Build Public Renewables!”, June 2, 2023, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy website.

https://www.tuedglobal.org/bulletins/a-public-power-victory-in-new-york-state-build-public-renewables 

According to their website, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) is a growing global network of over 120 unions and close allies working to advance democratic control and social ownership of energy. Partners include the CUNY union and the Rutgers Faculty Union. This article then focuses on the BPRA, praising its accomplishment and reflecting on how public power reduces the cost of utilities for low-income residents because there is no profit incentive like there is for companies like ConEdison or PSE&G. 

6. “How New York’s Democratic Socialists Brought Unions Around to Public Renewables”, The American Prospect magazine, June 19, 2023. https://prospect.org/environment/2023-06-19-new-york-democratic-socialists-unions-public-renewables/

I chose this article because it focuses on the relationship between the organizers of the BPRA and labor unions. The article charts how at first many unions were opposed to the idea but with organizing, building relationships, and prioritizing labor protections, more were won over. I think that gathering more information to get clarity on the labor aspect of the law will be an important next step during my research for this project. 

7. “Report: One-third of households struggle to pay energy bills”, Cathay Bussewitz, September 19, 2018, AP News. 

https://apnews.com/national-national-general-news-7c9aa47401664a6aa8914ec3e69e9298 

I chose this article because it was cited in the Grist article. I wanted to follow some of the citations for statistics on energy bills and racial justice. I think this article is important because it focuses on some prominent statistics that are often brought up in discussing this bill. The article states that nearly a third of U.S households have trouble paying their energy bill, disproportionately racial minorities.  

8. “A Grid that Never Sleeps: Awakening New York City’s Renewable Potential”, Public Power NY Report, October 2024. https://publicpowerny.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NYPA-NYC-Position-Paper.pdf 

This is an original report created by the Public Power NY coalition, which is the primary group that fought for the BPRA. It is the latest of several relevant reports created by community groups that detail the importance of the BPRA. This report focuses on the future of the BPRA, how to implement it, advocates for more renewable projects to be implemented in downstate New York and not just upstate New York. The report highlights some intra-New York considerations I hadn’t thought of before. I think understanding the specifics of how organizers want things to be implemented now is important. 

 9. “You Can Win Bold Climate Laws in Your State”, Summer 2023, Hammer & Hope Magazine, https://hammerandhope.org/article/climate-public-power-new-york 

I chose this article because I was interested in the interview of actual organizers who led the campaign for the BPRA. The interviewees answer questions about their own political perspectives, the connection between the BPRA and racial justice, and situate the win amongst many other organizing efforts across the country. I am interested in these interviews to really understand what motivated people to organize for this act. 

10. “New York Socialists Won Big On Climate, How Did It Happen?”, September 12, 2023, In These Times Magazine. https://inthesetimes.com/article/new-york-build-public-renewables-socialists-climate 

I chose this article because it not only includes interviews with organizers behind the BPRA, but also provides a history of similar climate bills in other states. The article provides a sort of literature review of various efforts for public power and climate labor legislation such as Illinois’ 2021 labor-led Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. The article also does a really excellent job of pinpointing a timeline of events to give context to the win. I noticed that multiple articles (including this one) have placed the BPRA in the context of Biden passing the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, providing direct funding for any public agency that builds renewable energy. The IRA helped the BPRA pass more smoothly. Reading these multiple articles about the act is definitely helpful for me to internalize some of the key important points in the story. A lot of the articles also pay tribute to FDR’s creation of the New York Public Authority. 

Primary Source Analysis 

“New York Socialists Won Big On Climate, How Did It Happen?”, September 12, 2023, In These Times Magazine. https://inthesetimes.com/article/new-york-build-public-renewables-socialists-climate 

This article tells a strategy history of the passing of the BPRA (Build Public Renewables Act) in New York state. When trials arose, how did organizers respond? When opportunities presented themselves, how were organizers able to take advantage? The article starts with introducing the protagonist of the story, the New York City chapter of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) and their political history of winning socialist electoral work and labor work but being on new terrain when considering climate work. The article relies heavily on an interview with Charlie Heller of NYC-DSA and cites various sources to color in the story being told about various New York politicians, New York climate law, and climate disaster history including the NYC blackout of 2019. Ultimately, the article argues that the Build Public Renewables Act was a historic win that was won through members of NYC-DSA taking strategic maneuvers, facing ups and downs, and learning what was working and not working. What seemed to ultimately work was bold public challenges to reluctant politicians, research on the actors and agents that were oppositional to climate reform, and reaching out to one’s neighbors by knocking doors and building a movement. 

 NYC-DSA decided to put out bold oppositional messaging to navigate various moments in their campaigning. After Kevin Parker, chair of the energy and telecommunications committee in the state Senate agreed to sponsor the BPRA, he started to beat around the bush, asking for DSA to get other legislators on board. When DSA organizers approached other officials, they were told that they wouldn’t support a bill unless directly asked by the lead sponsor. “He just lied to us,” Heller said, of Parker’s inaction and avoidance on the bill. Later DSA members discovered that Parker had received more than $110,000 from the energy industry since his first electoral campaign in 2002. DSA members weighed their next moves, should they draw attention to money politicians were taking from the energy industry? Ultimately, they decided yes. DSA activists held demonstrations exposing fossil fuel donations that politicians were receiving. Later, DSA members decided to primary against Kevin Parker, running their own eco-socialist candidate and DSA member, David Alexis. Ultimately, they lost that race and in hindsight, some DSA members including Heller, wondered if approaching this with electoral work was a mistake. However, the article argues that these primary races were integral to the BPRA passing. Other people winning their seats with open public support of the BPRA on their platform like Sarahana Shrestha, sent a message to status quo politicians who were not yet on board. Even Kevin Parker seemed to have changed course after being primaried by DSA activists, and decided to bring the BPRA to vote in the senate. Gustavo Gordillo, of NYC DSA said of Parker’s reintroduction of the bill, ​“We found out that the way to get them to do what we want is by open conflict that they can understand.” These acts of bold oppositional challenge made the difference between the BPRA being passed with most of its original intent and provisions, versus the BPRA being heavily weakened or not passed at all. 

Another essential part of organizing for the BPRA was research. Without research, activists would have never found out that Kevin Park was receiving fossil fuel money, or that ConEdison was keeping the lights on in wealthy areas while cutting power in black working-class neighborhoods like Flatbush. Research isn’t always in archives or internet deep dives but sometimes by visiting affected areas, speaking to people about whether their power is out or not, and following breadcrumbs to discover what is really going on, what’s being hidden from public scrutiny. Research is also important for campaign communications; when New York passed an ambitious sounding climate law,  The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, socialists in DSA were able to look into the law’s weak enforcement mechanisms and argue that the CLCPA would require massive system change including public power. “Without public power, the state would be breaking its own law”, says the article. Prioritizing research allowed DSA members the opportunity to publicize, critique, and provide public analysis to many New Yorkers who did not have much clarity or transparency on how the state planned to actually deal with climate issues. 

Finally,  the BPRA would not have passed without DSA’s focus on town halls, canvassing events, protests, and other forms of mass action to bring these issues to the doorsteps of everyday New Yorkers. The campaign germinated first from canvasses of neighborhoods who had both “suffered high electric rates and fallout of climate disasters”, according to the article. These canvasses led to town halls, which led to protests. The electoral campaigns for various DSA candidates in NYC who supported the BPRA also required massive participation. Power in numbers and an eye towards building a mass movement to back the BPRA was vital to the campaign’s eventual success. DSA showed off their people power when putting up a billboard pointing out that 68% of New Yorkers supported the bPRA but only 52% supported Hochul.