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Presented by Ørsted: POLITICO's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Marie J. French and Emily Ngo | Presented by Ørsted | | 
Gov. Kathy Hochul makes a clean energy announcement in Queens on the progress of the construction of the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line on Sept. 19, 2023. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | Gov. Kathy Hochul celebrated a major transmission project to bring clean energy in New York City — but she hasn’t taken a stance on the developer’s push for more ratepayer subsidies. Hochul attended the ceremonial construction kickoff Tuesday for the Champlain Hudson Power Express’ converter station in Astoria, alongside her top climate officials, the Quebec premier and project officials. This is the second time Hochul has attended a construction event for the 339-mile transmission line, scheduled to enter commercial operation in May 2026. “This means that we are on the cusp of a transformation,” Hochul said after popping on a hat emblazoned with “CHPE,” the nickname for the project. The project is a huge deal for New York. The 1,250 megawatt project will bring enough Canadian hydropower to the city to dramatically reduce its reliance on fossil fuel power plants. It’s expected to supply about 20 percent of the city’s electricity. But now it’s not without uncertainty. Developers of the Blackstone-backed project told the state’s utility regulator, the Public Service Commission, last month it would be “arbitrary and capricious” and violate state contract law if other clean energy projects got more money and they did not. This comes after onshore renewables and offshore wind developers with state contracts asked for an “inflation adjustment” and other increases to the subsidies they’ll get from ratepayers, citing the pandemic and impacts from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The increase sought by Champlain Hudson could total almost $2.9 billion, according to one method proposed by the developer. And that would largely be a hit to ratepayers. Any higher price for the clean energy benefits of the project will have an impact on New York City, as well. The city agreed to purchase credits from the project and another transmission line, also seeking increased payments, to cover the electricity use of its buildings. New York City hasn’t weighed in formally on the Champlain Hudson request. But Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said the company’s claims should be scrutinized. “I think the Public Service Commission has to balance the fact that we need that clean power — the Champlain Hudson Express, the [other transmission line] Clean Path, the offshore wind — we need all of it,” he told Playbook. “I’m sure that some of the concerns are real, but CHPE is under construction. So this isn’t something about ‘Oh, if they get more money, we should get more money to have larger profit margins.’ It should be only if your costs actually increased, should the PSC consider that.” Hochul did not take questions at the Champlain Hudson event, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the subsidy request. — Jason Beeferman contributed reporting. IT’S WEDNESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? Signing voting rights legislation that includes early voting by mail and limiting where election lawsuits can be brought. WHERE’S ERIC? Doing a series of local TV interviews in the morning, giving remarks at the State of Our Schools address, speaking at a flag-raising ceremony for Nepal, making a climate-and-jobs-related announcement and meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden. Then he’ll host a reception for the Great Broadway Sweep Week and attend the Atlantic Council’s Global Citizen Awards dinner. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I knew — like any New Yorker who walks the streets at night knows — that the bags of trash and the rats represent a united axis of filth that conspires to challenge our city’s success.” — Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch on the coming requirement that all businesses place their trash in lidded containers.
| | | | A message from Ørsted: For New York Climate Week, Ørsted is sharing its approach to renewables: building clean energy right, now. This means doing more than just decarbonizing the power sector. It’s our commitment to making a positive impact on people, nature, and climate. It’s job creation, community investments, biodiversity conservation, and emissions reduction – right, now. | | | |  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | 
As part of his recently proposed budget cuts, Mayor Eric Adams announced a slew of non-salary spending categories that will be frozen until next summer. | Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office | CAN’T SPEND WITHOUT SIGN-OFFS: The Adams administration provided agencies Friday with a detailed list of non-salary spending categories that are frozen until next summer as part of the mayor’s latest proposed budget cuts. The roster, a copy of which was reviewed by Playbook, includes some serious line items. Take a catchall category called general contractual services. At the NYPD, this includes software services used by the counterterrorism division, lab equipment and a contract relating to mental health services. Getting around the blockade will require department heads to appeal to not only the Office of Management and Budget, a separate mayoral directive revealed, but to the chief of staff, the first deputy mayor and chief adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a close confidante and political guardian of Adams who is increasingly being consulted on budget requests. Because the list of verboten purchases includes things as routine as office supplies and furniture — and seemingly, change orders on current contracts — all manner of quotidian spending decisions typically made by agencies will now be routed through OMB, which has already been criticized for its slow pace of filling city vacancies. A city spokesperson disputed OMB’s slow hiring pace and said the freeze is necessary because of a looming budget gap and increasing costs related to asylum seekers. — Joe Anuta U.N. PLAYBOOK: The high-level week at the U.N. General Assembly kicked off Monday. Track all the news, analysis — and, of course, gossip — with our daily newsletter by Suzanne Lynch, who will be on the ground in Manhattan. Sign up to POLITICO’s U.N. Playbook here.
| | | | GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | | | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | | 
GOP City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli will be traveling to the nation's capital to provide testimony on how federal immigration policies are affecting local governments. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | GOP DIGS IN: Republican legislators are a distinct minority in the city, but they’ve been a vocal one condemning Democratic leaders’ handling of the migrant surge. On Wednesday, GOP City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli will be in Washington, D.C., to testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security on what Borelli says are “dangerous, misguided” immigration policies impacting local governments. (Expect some sparring between Borelli and Democratic panel member Rep. Dan Goldman.) A day earlier, Borelli, City Council Member Joann Ariola, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and other officials filed for an injunction against the governor and mayor alleging that Floyd Bennett Field and other protected federal parkland are being used as migrant housing “in contravention of state, federal and local laws.” And the plaintiffs include Democrats as well, including State Assemblymember Jaime Williams. Adams responded Tuesday: “If they want to go to court and sue to stop us from doing the Floyd Bennett Field, they have the right to do so, but if we’re not putting it in Floyd Bennett Field, we’re going to put it somewhere.” — Emily Ngo More from the city: — Protesters on Staten Island late Tuesday blocked a bus carrying migrants, leading to arrests (CBS News) — Progressives rallied against Adams’ budget cuts, saying they threaten services. (City & State) — City Council is eying the hiring of diversity monitor to take on school segregation. (Gothamist) — City Hall is considering shorter stays for migrants in emergency shelters. (The City)
| | | | A message from Ørsted:   | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | | 
Ed Cox will assume the chair of the state Republican Committee as the 2024 elections near. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | COX ELECTED: It’s official: Ed Cox is back in the driver’s seat of the state Republican Committee. Cox led the state party from 2009 to 2019 and returned earlier this year after his successor Nick Langworhty was elected to Congress. On Tuesday, Cox was unanimously elected to serve a full two-year term as chair, cementing his spot once again atop the party as it heads into the critical 2024 elections that includes the presidency, all 26 House races and all 213 state legislative races. Cox will be looking to build — or at least maintain — on the gains the party made last year when it picked up three House seats that helped the GOP win the House majority. “Our New York Republican Party has never been so united. Unity is our strength, and united we will prevail against the radical progressives who have seized power in New York,” Cox said about the Democrats’ control of state government. And he gave a preview of the same message that Republicans used last year to win races in key battlegrounds in the Hudson Valley and on Long island: “New Yorkers just want common sense government and safe streets, good jobs, good schools and an affordable cost of living. It’s time for a change and Republicans are that change.” — Joseph Spector HOCHUL ON HATE: Hochul on Tuesday announced new state efforts to fight antisemitism that includes the creation of the state Anti-Hate in Education Center that will aim to combat hate and create a safe and inclusive environment across New York. The state Division of Human Rights will also bolster its hate and bias incident data collection and launch the agency's first-ever small grants program for community anti-bias work. State Police will re-launch law enforcement efforts to host hate crime investigative seminars, she said. “We'll never show indifference to the evil of antisemitism. Not now, not ever. Not here in the State of New York.” Hochul said during a speech at the Center for Jewish History. — Joseph Spector More from Albany: — It was Hochul, not Adams, who planned to meet with Biden in the city (Daily News) — Republicans won a temporary freeze in New York’s redistricting fight. (POLITICO) — Giuliani’s former lawyers — also top state lobbyists — are suing him for $1.36M in unpaid legal fees. (POLITICO)
| | | | Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler suggested Adams could be responsible for what’s being called a migrant “flophouse” in Rockland County. (LoHud) — How a closer look led to the unraveling of a murder case in Yonkers. (LoHud) — SUNY Potsdam is facing severe financial problems and will have to slash its budget and announce layoffs to stay afloat. (Times Union)
| | | | A message from Ørsted: What is clean energy right, now?
It’s Ørsted’s approach to renewables. We see clean energy projects as more than just a way to generate sustainable power – they're a chance to prioritize people, preserve nature, and protect our climate.
So, how do we do it?
• Creating jobs and training workers
• Investing in local communities
• Preserving ecosystems and biodiversity
• Decarbonizing the power supply chain
• Accelerating the energy transition
By deploying renewable solutions now, the right way, we’re make lasting, positive impacts on the American workforce, economy, and environment.
That’s clean energy right, now. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | SPOTTED at a dinner at La Mercerie in New York on Monday hosted by American Global Strategies' Robert O’Brien and Alex Gray: Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, former Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), Allison Hooker, Madeleine Westerhout, Rwandan Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana, Singaporean Ambassador Lui Tuck Yew, Azerbaijani Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, Monacan Ambassador Maguy Maccario Doyle, Wolfgang Amadeus Brülhart, Adam Pugh, Neil Auerbach, Karan Bhatia, Mauricio Claver-Carone, Robert Cox, Tom Grizzetti, Tomoyuki Hirata, Doug Kelly, C. Lloyd Mahaffey, Jay McFadyen, Julia Nesheiwat, Bond Payne, C. Renzi Stone and Carolyn Wu. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Menashe Shapiro, Adams’ deputy chief of staff.
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