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Posted on 04/16/2026 6:08:04 AM PDT by MtnClimber
It’s the feel-good story of the week, if you don’t mind taking joy from others’ misfortunes. When it comes to the wind and solar energy grifters, I don’t mind a bit taking joy from their misfortunes.
The last few days bring the news that apparently the majority of the remaining wind and solar electricity projects still in development in New York State are under imminent threat of cancelation. At this point the details are sketchy, and nobody is attributing the news to any named source as far as I can find. Nevertheless, the story is sufficiently widely-reported from normally reliable sources that I’m ready to give it credit.
The Albany Times-Union appears to have been the first with the story in a piece from April 12 with the headline “Clean energy projects in NY on hold as battle over costs escalates.” The gist is that the developers of some two dozen “clean energy” (wind and solar) projects in upstate New York have approached the State and demanded more money above agreed prices in order to proceed with previously contracted developments. Unless they get the additional funds, they are threatening to walk away from the projects. Excerpt:
Nearly two dozen of New York’s clean energy projects may be scrapped because they are financially impractical, a possible outcome that would exacerbate the state’s struggling efforts to meet increasing power demands while also ensuring the electric grid becomes less dependent on fossil fuels. The stalled wind and solar projects would power roughly 2 million homes, but the developers want to renegotiate state contracts to reflect tariffs and rising labor costs not factored in when their deals were struck between 2023 and early 2025. Without more revenue, the projects won’t be economically viable and will need to be canceled, according to a trade organization representing them.
The Times-Union piece does not contain a list of projects threatened with cancelation, nor the names of their developers in question. However, it does contain this quote from one Deanna Cohen, identified as a spokesperson for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA):
The authority “expects its developers to honor their commitments,” spokeswoman Deanna Cohen said. “The competitive bidding process is designed to protect consumers and result in fair and cost-effective contracts.”
Corroborating the Times-Union story, here is a piece yesterday from FingerLakes1.com. Excerpt:
According to Public Power NY, developers are signaling they may walk away from projects after the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority declined to renegotiate contracts to account for higher costs tied to tariffs and inflation. . . . The potential cancellations could significantly impact New York’s renewable energy pipeline at a time when the state is already behind pace on targets established under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Well, NYSERDA, what are you going to do if the developers of most of your renewable-energy projects just walk away?
Readers here with long memories may recall the nearly identical saga that played out from 2023 to 2025 involving New York’s grand schemes for offshore wind developments to replace most of its fossil fuel power plants. I covered this situation in various pieces over that time period, including this one from April 17, 2025 that included an overview of the entire history. The short version is that beginning in 2019 New York State entered into fixed-price contracts (in the range of $80-90/MWh) with big-time developers (Equinor, Ørsted, etc.) to develop 4+ gigawatts of off-shore wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean; but in September 2023 the developers all came in and demanded big price increases and threatened to cancel. The State (through NYSERDA) initially bluffed and blustered that it was going to hold the developers to their contracts. But after multiple months of that, NYSERDA caved and re-bid the contracts, ending in early 2024 with contracts with the same developers at nearly-doubled prices in the range of $150/MWh. And then President Trump swept into office in January 2025 and blew the whole thing “out of the water” as they say. (At least one of the off-shore projects has since been revived under some kind of deal between the Trump administration and Governor Hochul. However, the rest of the off-shore projects look rather dead at this point.).
So with regard to the upstate and on-shore projects, we are now at the place where we were in September 2023 with the off-shore projects. Does the State hold any more cards this time around? It may hold even fewer cards this time, because many of these upstate developments have likely qualified for federal tax benefits that, in light of the One Big Beautiful Bill, will no longer be available to anyone who starts today from scratch.
Another option for New York, and by far the best one, would be take this opportunity to walk away from the renewable energy fantasy. In any re-bid of the on-shore wind contracts, the prices are likely to be double to triple the price that could be had from a brand new natural gas plant. And the power from a natural gas plant would be dispatchable and reliable, instead of the intermittent power from wind turbines or solar panels that is never there when you really need it. I don’t think that our Governor and bureaucrats are quite ready to go that route yet, but they are getting closer with every passing day.
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Manhattan Contrarian ping
It was all a fraud, based on a fantasy ideology, corrupted science, and lots of printed-money-debt.
I’m all in for clean energy, however our battery,
Power storage technology just isn’t up to it, yet.
not everybody can have a Grand Coulee dam.
Majority Of New York’s Pending Wind And Solar Projects Getting Canceled.....
is the feel-good story of the week, if you don’t mind taking joy from others’ misfortunes.
OK by me....... as long as they’re liberals.
Now that we know what was happening in Minnesota, I'm wondering how many people personally profited.
Very true. Your upstream neighbors really get upset.
Thank you, FRiend...I always appreciate the content you post, it is uniformly interesting, educational, and...right up my alley! Great way to start the day.
The Muzzie New Yawkers are full of wind and hot air but as for solar, most of them aren’t very bright. I don’t see this working out.
Respectfully, it's probably best if we not use the left's jargon and call it "clean energy". I prefer the term "alternative energy". I'm not convinced things like solar are better for the environment.
That being said, I'm with you on the possibility that maybe one day the power storage tech will be there. But not now. About the only practical use I see for battery storage for the grid is something like catching a sudden increase in load.
Maybe if there are times that the grid operators are caught surprised at demand spikes and need a few minutes to ramp up reserve power plants (i.e. a natural gas fueled plant that they run only at peak times like a 100 degree summer afternoon). Maybe the battery storage can temporarily handle the power deficit until the reserve plant is online.
My decentralized solar, with battery storage, works amazingly well...for a single residence's purpose...and not allowing me to be all the way off the grid. It does enough to save me more than it costs me, but that's it. I can't have all the 1st world creature comforts and be off-grid without getting a way too expensive upgrade to my solar capacity, inverter capacity, and storage capacity.
Ooh, the state, at least someone in it, has realized that they can no longer afford fripperies like virtue signaling crappola like that.
Sunk cost fallacy
Better start building power plants … rapidly.
Non-dispatchable power generation is a better term. Which must be backed up by dispatchable power if you want a reliable system.
If, as seems likely, Republicans sit on their asses and let fired-up Democrats win midterm elections and take control of Congress - just how long will it be before the Green New Scam makes a comeback?
Granted, Trump will have veto power over legislation...while he’s in office. But 2028...
Pretty much, although coal and nuclear are somewhat non-dispatchable too. The other factor is energy storage, which at present we lack the ability to do at utility scale.
And don’t forget the grift to certain political parties.
Long start up times no doubt. But if you’re running at 80% you can get to 95 or 100% pretty quickly.
Natural gas fueled combustion turbines are the ticket for peaking, though. And hydro.
BLUF: these alternative energy projects were always “financially impractical” since they could not stand without subsidies but they are now arriving at the truth-telling and can no longer fast talk their way around that reality.
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