Nasdaq.com: You'll Never Guess Which State Is Building a
Renewable Energy Empire
Published:
Monday, July 25, 2016 - 10:42
Nasdaq.com
Nope, try again -- it's not California. Don't feel bad; most people probably thought of the Golden State first, too. But back east, it's New York that's busy, trying to prove it doesn't have to play second fiddle in leading the adoption of renewables.
Cleaning up
In January, New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, announced the launch of a $5 billion fund meant to expedite growth of renewable energy and other "green" initiatives over the next 10 years. According to the governor's office, the Clean Energy Fund will yield more than $39 billion in overall customer savings and be instrumental in the state achieving the governor's goal of sourcing 50% of the state's electricity needs with renewable resources by 2030.
Although many companies will contribute to realizing the lofty goal, SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) will surely win big. The leading residential solar installer already has a significant presence on the population-dense Long Island, Westchester Country just north of New York City, and the state's capital, Albany. But the relationship between SolarCity and New York transcends the Clean Energy Fund. In May, New York approved a $485.5 million grant (just a portion of the $750 million to be spent in total) to be spent on construction of SolarCity's "gigafactory" currently being built in Buffalo. When completed, the facility is expected to produce up to 10,000 solar panels per day.
