The New York Solar Energy Industries Association has recommended nine ways for the administration of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to speed solar and storage deployment in the city, in a “solar+storage playbook.”
The playbook’s top proposal is for the city of 8.5 million people to raise its solar goal to 2 GW by 2035 and create a new storage goal of 2 GW by 2030. That “matters” because, the playbook says, the state’s grid operator NYISO is projecting that New York City could have reliability shortfalls over the next several years, and distributed solar and storage “are our fastest and cheapest tools” to meet the city’s needs for clean, reliable power.
Batteries
The playbook calls for Mamdani to lift a “de facto ban” on residential batteries in the city by supporting a city council bill that would align the city’s fire code with New York State’s recently enacted fire code. The bill would enable “safe residential and medium[-sized]” batteries that meet rigorous UL safety standards, and help provide resilience to power outages, the playbook says.
Describing New York City as a “load pocket,” with high density and high peak electrical demand, the playbook also asks Mamdani to call on utility Con Edison to grant community-scale batteries “transparent and fair access” to the distribution grid.
Rooftop solar
The city’s Department of Buildings, the playbook says, should enable owners of large buildings to purchase renewable energy credits from owners of small buildings who install solar, which would help the large building owners comply with the city’s Local Law 97, which requires them to reduce their buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions.
To speed electrical inspections for solar projects, the playbook says the Department of Buildings should either enable self-certification of projects, or authorize the use of special inspection agencies.
The playbook recommends detailed action items for each recommended policy. In two programmatic strategies, it recommends launching public education campaigns to promote clean energy adoption and acceptance, and scaling up solar-plus-storage at city-owned buildings.
Distributed solar and storage “will play a critical role” in the mayor-elect’s commitment to affordability, the report says. “These technologies lower energy costs for families, improve resilience against outages, and advance climate goals—all while creating good-paying jobs in New York City.”
The NYSEIA report is titled “Leveraging Solar and Energy Storage to Power an Affordable, Resilient New York City.”
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