New York's governor unveils launch of NY Green Bank

Dec 20, 2013 - New York governor Andrew M Cuomo yesterday said that his plan for a USD-1-billion (EUR 733m) NY Green Bank was becoming a reality with an initial funding of USD 210 million.

The NY Green Bank is expected to start operation early next year. It will offer credit enhancement, loan loss reserves and other financial products to renewable and low-carbon energy projects. The main goal of the bank’s establishment is to provide support to economically viable clean energy projects that cannot access financing at present as a result of market barriers like federal policy uncertainty and the lack of publicly traded capital markets for clean energy, Cuomo explained in a statement.

The initial funding includes USD 45 million coming from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and USD 165 million more redirected from other state programmes and approved by the Public Service Commission (PSC) on December 19.

“The Green Bank is just one component of the State’s new chapter on energy policy that focuses on enabling self-sustaining private markets and reducing dependence on subsidies,” said Richard Kauffman, chairman of Energy & Finance for the state of New York. The bank is seen to help New York cut its emissions, boost renewable energy generation capacity and ensure a cleaner environment, while also bringing more investment, energy infrastructure and jobs to the state.

The PSC will review the NY Green Bank’s quarterly progress reports and will work with it to be sure that financial offerings meet the established investment criteria.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.733)

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