New York City's renewable energy buildout continues at a snail's pace. As of 2025, 90 percent of the power we use in the city comes from non-renewable power sources like fossil fuels burned at local power plants, while peaker plants burning fossil fuels continue to line the city's waterfront, spewing nitrogen oxide and other particulates into the city's neighborhoods during the hottest days of summer. The City has set a goal of relying on 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, but that looks increasingly unlikely, even with the long-awaited Champlain Hudson Power Express line bringing hydroelectricity in from Québec. New York's massive wind power projects are in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, and Governor Kathy Hochul has embraced an "all-of-the-above approach" to energy: approving a fossil fuel pipeline and pursuing a dramatic—and controversial—expansion of nuclear capacity in the state.
But there has been one bright spot amidst all the climate and energy backsliding—New York City has been building out its solar power infrastructure far faster than expected, with the city expected to smash a 2030 goal for 100 megawatts of solar four years early. Solar power, unlike wind turbines, nuclear energy, or hydroelectricity, is cheap to build, and is done with no collateral consequences for nearby communities.