Energy

Investor funds: Tackle climate peril

DiNapoli co-hosts forum with groups holding $13 trillion; action termed good business

By Brian Nearing

Among the 181 investment fund leaders issuing the statement at a conference in New York City was state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who heads the $116 billion state pension fund, the third-largest in the nation.

“We cannot drag our feet on the issue of global climate change,” said DiNapoli. “I am deeply concerned about the investor risks climate change presents, and the human cost of inaction is unthinkable. As investors in the global economy, we can lead the way toward a future of lasting prosperity.”

The forum, co-hosted by DiNapoli, came as the United States prepares for negotiations, slated to begin in Copenhagen in December, to ratify a new international climate change treaty. The current agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012.

The outcome of the climate talks depends on U.S. congressional action on climate and energy legislation. The House passed a comprehensive bill in June, and Senate consideration of a similar climate bill is expected to begin within weeks.

Touted by organizers as the largest collection of investment funds ever to call for greenhouse gas limits, the $13 trillion combined total is equivalent to the entire U.S. economy for 2008. The investors’ statement called for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut globally by 50 to 85 percent by 2050, and for stepped-up government support for energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies.

A growing international scientific consensus has identified rising levels of carbon dioxide — emitted from the burning of oil, gas and coal — as the cause of climate change.

Long-term CO2 reduction targets will give investors “confidence about the future direction of climate policy. Investment decision-making is hampered by policy uncertainty and the absence of a binding reduction target,” according to the statement.

“If we fail to lead, if we adopt the attitude that we’re not going to act until enough other nations act, we will violate that duty. And we will run an even greater risk of leaving future generations a damaged planet and diminished hopes for prosperity,” said California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, whose state also signed the investors’ statement. California has the nation’s two largest public pension funds.

Other state pension funds that signed include Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

International pension funds participating included those of Sweden, South Africa and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

NYS Plan for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Formula Grant

EECBG

BALCONY Unites Business & Labor for Common Purpose

Extracted from The Official Newsletter for the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, Summer 2009
Employing a spirit of cooperation and collaboration, the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONY) has been at the forefront of seeking common ground among business and labor within the Empire State. Founded in 2006 by Alan Lubin, Executive Vice President of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and Bruce Ventimiglia, Chairman of the Saratoga Capital Management, BALCONY has been recognized as an effective, non-partisan coalition that has advanced significant public policy initiatives beneficial to businesses and workers alike.

Read the entire story: Newsletter Story

Read the entire Newsletter: Newsletter

Shocker: New Yorkers pay highest power bills in U.S.

by William Sherman

Turn on the lights or broil a burger and it will cost you more here than in any other city in the nation.

Metropolitan area consumers paid 59.1% more for electricity and 34.2% more for natural gas than the U.S. city average last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For example, New Yorkers paid 21 cents a kilowatt hour in June for electricity, while the average of 87 urban areas around the country was 13 cents, bureau data show. For natural gas, measured in therms, New Yorkers paid $1.42 per therm, while the average was $1.06.

Energy experts and utility company officials said the disparity is the norm, actually narrowing a bit from last year.

The relatively higher cost of fuel used by power generating plants, transmission and labor costs, and taxes are the reason for the disparities, they said.

“Power plants in most of the country use coal as fuel, while in New York State, we use more expensive natural gas and oil and only about 13% of generation comes from coal,” said Ken Klapp, spokesman for the New York Independent System Operator, which manages the state power grid.

Sal Graven, spokesman for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, said power delivery costs are higher here because “we’re remotely located from natural gas wells being drilled and you’ve got to deliver that gas to power plants and also to homes.”

Other areas of the nation, like the Pacific Northwest and upstate New York, have access to cheap hydroelectric power, “while we don’t,” said Ed Dumas, spokesman for the Long Island Power Authority.

Chris Olert, spokesman for Con Edison, noted that despite the disparity, the June bills for typical New York City and Westchester residents were 6.2% lower than those of June ‘08.

“It was $92.57 last year and $86.85 this June,” he said. “The big difference for us in this area is higher fuel costs for generation and taxes.”

Powering New York’s Economic Recovery

by Bruce E. Ventimiglia, Co-Chair, BALCONY

With our nation mired in one of the worst economic collapses since the Great Depression, I am heartened to see President Obama leading the charge to put Americans back to work. The President’s focus on revitalizing our long neglected infrastructure is a common-sense approach that will create jobs, spur investment and help turn around our slumping economy.

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