Seven years ago, National Grid targeted Bushwick Avenue with an enormous and unnecessary fracked gas transmission pipeline called the North Brooklyn (NBK) Pipeline. After four years of community organizing, two lawsuits, and relentless regulatory advocacy, our coalition stopped the pipeline and its related infrastructure in its tracks.

Last week, Sane Energy Project partnered with NineDot Energy to welcome elected officials, representatives from Mayor Zohran Mandani’s office, and community advocates to celebrate a new milestone: the announcement of a 5-megawatt battery storage facility on the very route where the pipeline was once proposed. The project will help power nearly 5,000 homes during periods of peak electricity demand when neighborhoods, like Bushwick, have historically been vulnerable to blackouts, at the same time supporting a cleaner, more resilient, and more affordable electric grid.

This project represents more than a new energy facility. It symbolizes a shift from developing harmful fossil-fuel infrastructure to building the clean-energy future our communities deserve. We are proud to partner with NineDot Energy, whose commitment to community engagement helped turn this vision into reality.

This victory belongs to the advocates who spent years educating neighbors, organizing communities, showing up at hearings, and refusing to give up. We are deeply grateful to our partners at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the Utility Customers Association, NYers for Clean Power, and Solar One for standing with us every step of the way.

We were also honored to celebrate alongside leaders who have championed a clean energy future, including State Senator Julia Salazar, Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Assemblymember Maritza Davila, Congressional candidate Claire Valdez, NYC Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez, and Lydia Wiener, Policy Advisor for Clean Energy in the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice.

The work continues, but this moment offers a powerful glimpse of what’s possible when communities lead. Together, we didn’t just stop a pipeline; we helped open up space for the clean energy future that New Yorkers deserve.

Read the Politico Article

Like, Follow, Learn

Future of Heat Initiative Policy Director:
National Grid’s “Rate Freeze” Is “A Royal Scam”

Our friends at The Future of Heat Initiative provide regulators, including New York’s Public Service Commission (PSC), with rigorous technical, legal, and economic analysis to ensure utility proposals receive the scrutiny they deserve. But in National Grid’s so-called “rate freeze” case, Department of Public Service Staff (YOUR utility watchdog) are not appearing as participants on the public docket, leaving the public without transparency into what role NYS Public Service Staff are playing in reviewing National Grid’s proposal. This lack of visibility is especially concerning in a proceeding where the utility is seeking to avoid the full evidentiary scrutiny and regulatory process of a traditional rate case.

That’s why Future of Heat Policy Director and former Massachusetts utility regulator Jamie Van Nostrand calls National Grid’s proposal exactly what it is: “A Royal Scam.”

Read the Future of Heat Article

Your Public Comments Are Not Being Added to the Record! But, we are fighting for you.

You took action. You submitted 224 public comments on National Grid’s proposal to the Public Service Commission (PSC). But so far, only 23 comments appear to have been posted to the public docket.

Sane Energy Project filed a letter this morning with the Commission documenting this omission and requesting that all timely submitted public comments be added to the official record. When New Yorkers show up and participate, the public record should make their voices visible.

Read the letter we filed this morning, learn what’s really behind National Grid’s proposed “rate freeze,” and demand the transparency and regulatory oversight New Yorkers deserve before customers are left paying the bill.

And rest assured: if your name is not highlighted in yellow on our tracking document, we are fighting to make sure your comment is added to the record.

File a Comment With the PSC

Sat, Aug 1, 2pm-5pm: Join Sane Energy at the Kingsland Wildflower Festival

Sane Energy is tabling again at this amazing event; stop by and say hi!

Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roof & Community Engagement Center, Brooklyn, NY

Time: Sat, Aug 1, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT

Location: Kingsland Wildflowers MAP

Our friends at the Newtown Creek Alliance will host hands-on activities, art, plants, entertainment, and more!

Explore our rooftop wildflower meadows

• Experience art installations, performances and live music

• Learn about native wildlife and ecology, including Newtown Creek

• Engage with participating community and environmental organizations

• Buy native plant species

• Enjoy food and drinks with friends and family

Kingsland Wildflowers is a 25,000 sqft native pollinator garden nestled in Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s industrial business zone. The project partners include: Alive Structures, Broadway Stages, Newtown Creek Alliance, and NooArts.

RSVP for Kingsland Wildflower Festival

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. Our friends at the Boxcutter Collective are performing their Cardboard Pizza Circus with a section about our campaign to shut down the Greenpoint LNG facility in the Puppet Fringe on the Lower East Side August 12-15th. Click here for more information and tickets.

P.P.S. Sane Energy relies on a special group of monthly donors to provide consistent support that keeps us fighting the fossil fuel industry and pushing for public renewable energy. We invite you to join the Sane Energy Sustainers for as little as $5 a month.

And that message comes after a week that laid bare the urgency of the moment: We just endured another stretch of dangerous heat, intentional utility shutoffs to prevent the aging grid from failure, and thousands of storm-related power outages across the state.

While our communities face the growing impacts of a changing climate, too many elected officials continue to defend the status quo instead of investing in the resilient, 21st-century energy system New Yorkers deserve.

We should not have to bear the brunt of extreme heat, storms, and energy shutoffs just because some business-as-usual politicians prioritize corporate money over communities and refuse to fund and implement the solutions that already exist.

Around the world, we are seeing the dangers of energy systems built around control, extraction, and geopolitical power. From fossil fuel companies protecting profits to governments weaponizing energy infrastructure, the lesson is clear: communities are safest when our energy systems are democratic, resilient, and locally controlled.

Sign Up for Public Power Hearings

Sane Energy OpEd in BKReader on the Fine Print in National Grid’s “Rate Freeze”

Organizing can change the narrative.

Our job is to make sure it also changes the rules.

National Grid didn’t propose a “rate freeze” because it suddenly changed its business model. It did so because years of YOUR public organizing have put investor-owned utilities on the defensive. That’s a testament to the growing movement demanding affordable, democratic energy. But a headline is not the same as accountability. While National Grid promotes a “rate freeze,” it continues pursuing billions of dollars in fossil fuel infrastructure that customers could ultimately be asked to pay for. New Yorkers deserve more than reassuring announcements. We deserve transparent regulatory processes, real oversight, and permanent solutions to the affordability crisis that limit the monopoly power of fossil fuel utilities.

We’re seeing this same pattern play out elsewhere. Whether it’s utility rate cases or executive actions on data centers, public announcements cannot substitute for durable, enforceable policies. New Yorkers should celebrate progress when organizing forces powerful institutions to respond, but we should also insist that the substance matches the story.

Read Sane Energy’s statement on National Grid’s proposed “rate freeze” and get the inside scoop. Then sign up to fight back by telling the Public Service Commission that transparency, accountability, and affordable clean energy matter more than headlines.

Read Our Op-Ed

Send a Comment to the PSC

Thurs, July 23, 6:00pm Greenpoint, Brooklyn Library
Energy 101: How Our Energy System Works

& Why Public Power Matters

Ever wonder why your utility bills keep rising, who controls New York’s energy system, or what “public power” actually means?

We all rely on energy, but few of us are ever taught how New York’s energy system actually works. Join Sane Energy Project, in partnership with the Public Power NY coalition and the Energy Democracy Alliance, for an interactive Energy 101 workshop exploring the journey of energy from extraction to your monthly utility bill.

Using the Greenpoint LNG facility as a case study, we’ll unpack how our current energy system operates, why investor-owned utilities continue investing in fossil fuels, and why communities across New York are organizing for public power and a renewable energy future. Whether you’re new to these issues or looking to deepen your knowledge, this is a great place to start.

RSVP for July 23rd Teach In

That’s why, after a 36% rise in National Grid gas bills over the past three years, New Yorkers understandably welcomed National Grid’s recent announcement that it wants to freeze gas delivery charges (the largest portion of most National Grid bills, used to pay for gas infrastructure) until March 2028.

But the announcement of its request for a rate freeze was surprising. They were expected to submit a proposal for a multi-year rate increase in April; instead, they filed a complex request for a rate freeze at the end of May.

Ostensibly, National Grid has finally heeded the laser focus on cost-of-living concerns that have helped politicians like Mayor Zohran Mamdani resonate with local residents. Governor Kathy Hochul also appears to be singing from the same songbook, but it’s not lost on us that this sudden rate hike freeze is coming during an election year.

Yes, a rate freeze will spare customers an increase next year in delivery charges, but with National Grid’s $15 million lobbying investment in Albany, it begs the question: if National Grid previously claimed that exorbitant rate hikes were so urgent, how can increases all of a sudden be avoided now? And what will rate hikes in the non-election years following the freeze look like?

Sane Energy Project reviewed National Grid’s petition to the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility watchdog, and the 109 pages of fine print attached to the company’s proposal. In its request, the company aims to freeze the costs of current delivery charges through March 2028. But buried in the fine print are requests to create tracking mechanisms, future cost deferrals, and surcharges that could allow National Grid to recoup some of those expenses later.

Read Sane Energy's Initial Filing

New Yorkers need to know: which costs are delayed today, and who will pay them tomorrow? National Grid wants regulators to approve this proposal quickly to avoid a process that guarantees transparency and accountability. In a typical rate case, which is how utilities ask regulators to let them change customer rates, individuals and organizations can file to participate in negotiations. New Yorkers deserve the opportunity to scrutinize plans that affect millions of households and shape the future of our energy system.

Also to note, is that a freeze on delivery charges is not the same as a freeze on utility bills. As construction on the Williams NESE Pipeline is slated to begin, New Yorkers could still see supply charges rise to cover additional fracked gas entering National Grid’s system – potentially erasing any relief and being justified for supporting data centers that do not yet exist.

Until fairly recently, National Grid faced limited public scrutiny and benefited from years of relatively closed-door rate case negotiations. Throughout most of the 2010s, only a handful of ratepayer advocacy organizations fought on behalf of the public. That began to change in 2019, when a large coalition of Brooklyn residents filed to participate in National Grid’s rate case after the company lied about supply constraints and sent alerts urging customers to lobby in favor of the Williams NESE pipeline during the project’s second application, after New York denied the first proposal in 2018. Then, real transparency was won. By participating in that rate case, we learned that National Grid built the first three sections of the North Brooklyn Pipeline without adequate opportunities for public input. After that revelation, tens of thousands of concerned New Yorkers submitted public comments, making clear that ratepayers across New York City and Long Island were paying attention. That pressure helped stop the North Brooklyn Pipeline and costly, toxic expansions at the LNG facility in Greenpoint. New Yorkers deserve a thorough review process and honest answers to these questions now.

Is National Grid’s request for a freeze meant to provide genuine relief, or is it merely a temporary pause before large increases are levied later? And is their proposal a cynical cover-up of hidden costs under the guise of professed empathy for New Yorkers struggling to pay their bills?

New Yorkers need affordable energy. We need solutions that protect the planet and reduce our dependence on expensive fossil fuels. And we deserve a regulatory process grounded in transparency. We don’t expect that National Grid would grant us that decency, so we must fight for it by filing comments during the Public Service Commission review process. New Yorkers shouldn’t pay more money for their energy bills in the long run, but we will be paying attention.

Public Comments are being accepted for review by the Public Service Commission until August 24, 2026. Sane Energy Project is providing a one-stop comment prompt that will be filed directly to the public record at the PSC.

File Your Comment Here

The Knicks parade shutting down lower Manhattan did not stop Sane Energy and 350Brooklyn from showing up at the Thurgood Marshall courthouse to celebrate our heroes–the plaintiffs, attorneys, and community members fighting to protect New York Harbor from the harmful Williams NESE pipeline. Oral arguments challenging New York State’s approval of this disastrous fracked gas project began on June 18, 2026. The case is in federal court since the plaintiffs are suing to uphold the federal Clean Water Act, which sets our water quality standards. We will update you on the case as it develops. Williams Transco has not broken ground–the fight isn’t over!

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National Grid Thinks a “Rate Freeze” Gives It Cover to Expand Fossil Fuel Infrastructure For Williams NESE Pipeline and LNG in Greenpoint

National Grid makes its money by building more gas pipelines, and they believe it recently announced a “rate freeze” that will buy them time to quietly build out more fossil fuel infrastructure, then charge us for it later. Exhibit A is the wasteful Williams NESE pipeline, which harms our waters and has been projected to power AI data centers rather than National Grid’s downstate customers, who would end up paying for it. Sign up to fight back – let the Public Service Commission know we’re on to National Grid’s tricks and we won’t pay to be poisoned!

Send a Comment to the PSC

Missed Our Energy Systems 101 Training?

Have No Fear, Watch the Recording!

Confused by utility bills, rate cases, and energy acronyms? You’re not alone.

Get in the know so we can sharpen our strategy for the fight ahead!

Catch up on an accessible, no-jargon breakdown of how New York’s energy system works, from pipelines and power plants to the electricity in your home. We’ll explain who calls the shots (PSC, NYPA, NYISO– we promise to unpack the alphabet soup), how decisions are made, and why all of this matters for your wallet, your community, and our climate future.

Plus: get the latest updates on the proposed Williams NESE fracked gas pipeline and National Grid’s latest attempt to distract the public with a one-year “rate freeze” while continuing to push expensive fossil fuel infrastructure behind the scenes.

Find out what a rate case is, and how YOU can fight back against high utility bills.

Watch the Energy 101 Recording

Sun June 21, Solstice Party Was Meaningful

See More Photos

We’re on a climate roller coaster right now–the same day Governor Hochul succeeded in gutting the climate law, we found out about National Grid’s proposed one-year “rate freeze” curve ball. Perfect time to gather together to remember why we do this. We saw birds, ate burritos, and took in great performances. Our amazing volunteers brought to life a performance titled the Interspecies Council of the Rockaways and defeated Dr. Frackenstein, a villainous character who champions extraction.

Boxcutter Collective led us in song and presented the Bread & Puppet cantastoria Courage, and The Last Chance Medicine Show performed to everyone’s delight. Thanks to everyone who showed up for the Summer Solstice Social for People and Planet at the Coastal Conservation Center at Arverne Nature Preserve, co-hosted by Sane Energy Project, Surfrider NYC, Boxcutter Collective, and the Last Chance Traveling Medicine Show!

Thank you for fighting and celebrating with us.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. Sane Energy relies on a special group of monthly donors to provide consistent support that keeps us fighting the fossil fuel industry and pushing for public renewable energy. We invite you to join the Sane Energy Sustainers for as little as $5 a month.

Since National Grid announced its proposed one-year rate freeze, we’ve been digging into the details of its 109-page proposal to the Public Service Commission–what we found raises serious concerns. A rate freeze should not serve as cover for expanding dangerous fracked gas infrastructure, and we believe National Grid may try to move forward with costly new gas projects now, only to demand customers foot the bill later. In other words, if they build now, we could still pay later for fossil fuel infrastructure we don’t need.

From Sane Energy’s statement to the Public Service Commission:

“Sane Energy Project submits this filing to ensure transparency and a complete evidentiary record so that the Commission can fully evaluate whether this proposal serves the public interest or merely shifts costs into less visible forms of recovery over time. It is therefore essential that the Commission ensure full transparency and robust evidentiary support before any approval.”

Read Sane's Full Filing Here

Send YOUR Comment to the PSC

Thur Jun 25 6:30 PM
Reflections from Climate Conference in Santa Marta, Colombia

Join youth climate justice organizer Keanu Arpels-Josiah as he reflects on his experience at The First International Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, and what it means for how our movements in New York move forward.

The conference was hosted in late April in Santa Marta, Colombia, to provide a space for committed governments, civil society, youth, and indigenous leaders to come together and chart a future beyond fossil fuels.

Join Keanu Arpels-Josiah, 350 NYC, Third Act NYC, Sane Energy Project, Sunrise Movement NYC, Fridays For Future NYC, and The New York Society for Ethical Culture as he reflects on the conferences and the path forward.

Free RSVP Here

We hope to see you in June.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. We couldn’t wait to celebrate the passage of the SUNNY Act in Albany. So last weekend a bunch of advocates got together with Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (center, just to the left of the boy holding the banner), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Assembly, to applaud its adoption. Now we just need the Governor to sign the bill so we can get balcony solar in New York!

National Grid just announced that it will request a one-year freeze on rates for its NYC customers, a major shift after years of proposing unaffordable increases.

Why now? After sustained public pressure, rate cases are no longer happening in the shadows. For years, Sane Energy has worked to shine a light on the backroom process of setting utility rates and to challenge the assumption that utilities should get whatever they ask for.

We welcome short-term relief, but we’re reading the fine print in National Grid’s request. If costs are simply delayed until after elections, New Yorkers could face even higher bills later. We’ll keep you posted as we analyze the filing, and prepare everyone to file public comments. Read Sane Energy’s statement: National Grid’s Rate Hike Freeze Is A Political Ruse In An Election Year.

Read the Gothamist Article

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JK from Sane Energy Featured on NBC for Stewarding Balcony Solar in NYC

JK Canepa, Chair of the Energy Committee of Manhattan’s Village East Towers, stewarded the installation of a balcony solar system - exactly what the SUNNY Act is making possible. Watch how easy and safe it is as featured on NBC Thursday morning! Call Governor Hochul to sign the bill that was passed in both the Senate and Assembly.

Watch the News Clip Here

Email the Gov to Pass SUNNY

In addition to drawing attention to rate cases and working to stop gas system expansion, Sane Energy’s other campaign for public power has become an election-year talking point. Many candidates are supporting public power in their platforms–they know it’s the solution to the fossil-fueled price gouging hitting New Yorkers hard. Thank you for being on the front lines of change.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

In eviscerating the state’s landmark climate law, Governor Hochul has betrayed weakened frontline communities and advocates across race and class who, in a sustained, decades-long struggle, have shifted the political terrain, winning a fracking ban, passage of climate laws, and public power policy that has started to dismantle the harmful, outdated, extractive system marked by corrupt monopoly power. Before the gutting of the climate law, New York was a leader–thanks to the governor’s actions, the state’s climate agenda has been reduced to just average.

Despite this setback, we will continue organizing to stop utility overcharges, end the continued buildout of the gas system, and expand public renewable energy as a foundation for a just and affordable energy future.

While the budget includes limited but meaningful investments in public renewables, weatherization, and pre-electrification work, real affordability means reducing dependence on volatile fossil fuels, stopping unnecessary gas system expansion, weatherizing homes, preparing buildings for electrification, and investing in public and local renewable energy that lowers bills, builds resilience, and shifts power away from corporations seeking to capitalize on what should be a public good.

Our movement’s strength isn’t only about policy wins. Our power comes from relationships, shared political education, and sustained organizing that brings frontline experience to bear on state-level decision-making. Our work doesn’t stop in this discouraging moment– times like this demand continued coordination, discipline, and clarity about where power lies and how to build a movement to shift it.

Despite the governor’s misguided actions, we’re shining a bright light on the solutions that will lead to a sane energy future.

Read Sane Energy's Statement on CLCPA

Like and Share Our Instagram Post

And talkin’ about shining a bright light on solutions:
We Organized and Won $100 Million for Public Power and the Passage of the SUNNY Act!

There’s a very bright spot in the budget thanks to all of you: As a result of your letters, calls, and grassroots pressure, we were able to win $100 million in the budget to support the buildout of public renewables by the New York Power Authority (NYPA). This means lower bills, cleaner air, more union jobs, and a path to decarbonizing New York despite the climate arson policy pushed by Hochul and Donald Trump.

The buildout of NYPA renewables will kick off this summer with the Somers Solar project in Fort Edward– we will keep you posted on this historic step for our campaign and our state!

The next step is to win a commitment from the state to build even more renewable energy. Thousands of New Yorkers and elected officials, like Mayor Zohran Mamdani, have called on Governor Kathy Hochul to build the 15 gigawatts (GW) of public renewables necessary to move decisively toward decarbonization, but Hochul is pushing an “all of the above” energy plan that doubles down on more costly strategies centering more fracked gas and nuclear power. All of your letters and calls fighting for public power have highlighted the solutions New York needs to get on track. Now let’s keep pushing to get the full 15 GW!

PPNY's Statement on the Budget

Solar Up NOW, New York! The SUNNY Act Passes!
Now it Goes to the Governor’s Desk to Sign

Read Press Release Here

Save the Date for Our Summer Solstice Social for People and Planet

As an antidote to the disappointment we’re feeling after the climate law rollback, we want to get together to share hope and community with you. Please join us in Far Rockaway on the Solstice for Climate Mixer at the Arverne Nature Preserve, co-hosted by Sane Energy Project, Surfrider, and the Boxcutter Collective. Hope you can join us!

RSVP for June 21st Mixer Here

We’re so grateful you’re with us in the movement for clean energy and climate justice.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

We’re keeping a bright light on the solutions for our future during this dark period of Governor Hochul’s climate law rollback. While the state budget remains unresolved, we have not lost sight of our priorities. Last weekend, we hosted a walking tour of National Grid’s Greenpoint LNG facility, attended by NYC Councilmember Julie Won, followed by a bike tour with Newtown Creek Alliance highlighting the LNG facility and its risks to the surrounding neighborhood. We also held an art build, bringing creativity and community together in our movement to stop fossil fuel expansion in New York State.

On Monday, we held an Energy Systems 101 training with a special focus on your utility bills. All attendees learned a lot. We hope you can join us at the next online training on June 15th at 7pm to find out how to fight back against high bills and protect the climate.

RSVP to June 15th 7pm Energy System 101

Sane Energy Project Speaks at Largest Solar Project on Coop Roof in NYC

Associate Director Michael Paulson represented Sane Energy at the rally to urge the mayor’s office to support solar projects on low- and middle-income cooperative buildings (HDFCs). We are very excited about the solutions emerging from our city, and we can’t wait to see more in the works!

A Bright Spot! NYPA Board Meeting: 5GW of New Renewable Projects Under Consideration

This week, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) board met and discussed building 4.8GW of new public renewable projects. Implementation of the Build Public Renewables Act, which you fought so hard to pass, is at hand. NYPA’s commitment to building public renewable projects is a bright spot in dark times for our climate goals that could move us towards lower emissions, lower bills, and energy independence. It was even acknowledged at the board meeting that there is strong public support for 15GW. That’s all thanks to you!

Read Public Power NY's Statement

While the climate law rollback fight drags on in budget negotiations, we are happy to share some good news and offer ways to get involved and fight for the future New York deserves.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

National Grid is slated to file a rate case with the Public Service Commission any day now, and we are ready! After your utility bill already went up 11% at the beginning of April from the 2023 rate case, and during a crippling affordability crisis, National Grid has the gall to go to our state regulators asking for MORE of your money.

Does that sound insane? We think so!

Gas is so 20th century and we need to stop the price gouging, customers are captive and cannot opt out of this monopoly utility model, which is what we have regulators for! We call on the Public Service Commission to do their job and DENY a rate hike.

Stay tuned, we will bring you more information as it develops. Here’s ways you can give involved:

Sign Up to Join the Fight

Sat, May 16 at 3pm: Fossil Fuel Walking Tour at National Grid’s Liquified Fracked Gas Facility

• When: Saturday, May 16th, 2026

• Where: McGolrick Park (near flagpole) MAP

• Time: 3:00PM- 5:00PM

• Optional Happy Hour: 5:00-7:00PM near McGolrick Park

Why Join

Learn about National Grid’s LNG facility, the largest fracked gas site in New York State. See how fossil fuel infrastructure, utility decisions, and pollution affect neighborhoods in North Brooklyn, and explore how communities are building alternatives.

What’s at Stake

• National Grid plans to expand fracked gas infrastructure into the 2050s, ignoring New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

• Toxic facilities like the Greenpoint LNG site sit in the heart of North Brooklyn, next to homes businesses and playgrounds.

• Every month, our utility bills pay for this pollution. Without action, we could be locked into decades of climate damage and health risks.

• This Spring, National Grid will ask the Public Service Commission to raise rates again- your voice can make a difference.

  RSVP for May 16th Walking Tour

  ---

Sun, May 17 at 10am: Fossil Fuel Bicycle Tour with Sane Energy and Newtown Creek Alliance

This 5-mile bike tour will explore the past, present, and future of fossil fuel infrastructure along Newtown Creek. From the establishment of the world’s first kerosene refinery in 1854, to the ongoing cleanup of the country’s largest terrestrial oil spill, to the current environmental justice impacts stemming from National Grid’s 117 acre Liquified Natural Gas facility – Newtown Creek has a long and troubled history with fossil fuel production, storage, and pollution. We will see many of the historic and current operations along the Creek, learn more about the hazards they present, and discuss paths towards a cleaner energy future.

RSVP for May 17th Bike Tour

Sun May 17: Art Build with Boxcutter Collective

Come hang out with us, get creative, find community, and make art for future walking tours at the Greenpoint LNG facility.

• Who: Boxcutter Collective and Sane Energy Project

• When: Sunday May 17th 12:00pm- 3:00pm

• Where: Pickerel Pie Studios 10-24 46th ave, Long Island City, Queens, NY, 11101 MAP

Art is how we remember. Art is how we warn. Art is how we win.

Join us to create bold, visionary art that tells the truth: climate justice means no pipelines, no rate hikes, and no sacrifice zones.

RSVP for May 17th Art Build

May 18th at 7pm: Energy Systems 101 Online Training Rate Case Edition

RSVP for May 18th Our Power Hour

Phew! We know that’s a lot to take in, but we know we can’t afford higher bills and more dangerous gas expansion! So thank you for joining us in this fight.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Read Letter Here

Like and Tag Your Legislators Here

Last week we celebrated workers of the world, as well as our tireless movement working to secure thousands of green, union jobs in New York. Budget negotiations are still underway, so there is time for your voice to be heard! Public Power and Thermal Energy Networks are the solutions New York needs to create more jobs, lower everyday New Yorkers’ bills, scrap fracked gas, and meet our climate goals. Learn about the solutions with us!

Read: Public Power Op-Ed: Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha’s Brilliant Case for Publicly Owned Renewables

Read the Op-Ed Here

Write a Letter to Fund Public Power Here

Balcony Solar: A Day of Action for the SUNNY Act

Sane Energy, Climate Families, Third Act, VOTE Solar, AGREE, Solar United Neighbors and Green CoOp Council were in Albany this week to help pass the SUNNY Act in the Assembly, cut utility costs, and power a cleaner future.

The SUNNY Act (Solar Up NOW NY) just passed the State Senate unanimously, proving there’s real bipartisan momentum for policies that lower bills and build clean energy right here at home. Call your Assemblymember to co-sponsor SUNNY today!

Like and Share Our SUNNY Act Post

Thur, May 7 The Center for Architecture Opening Featuring Sane Energy’s Fight Against National Grid’s LNG

Repair – Democracy and Urban Spaces addresses the urgent need to repair not only the physical infrastructure of our environments but also the political and social inequities embedded within them. You’re invited to the opening night of the exhibition, which features Sane Energy’s fight against the Greenpoint LNG facility and examines how the concept of repair can serve as a lens to reimagine democratic, equitable spaces.

Register Here- Free

Thur, May 13 Sane Energy Speaking at You Don’t Bomb the People

More Info

Sane Energy’s Kim Fraczek Writes: “Energy is a Human Right” for the Human Impacts Institute

Read and Like the Blog Here

So thank you for joining us in this fight. To sign up for our walking tour (May 16th), art build (May 17th), and Energy System 101 training (May 18th) coming up this month, visit our linktree.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Keep Calling Assembly and Senate Leadership to Make Sure They Hold the Line

Assembly:

Speaker Carl Heastie (HAY-stee): 518-455-3791

Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes: 518-455-5005

Senate:

Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins: 518-455-2585

Deputy Majority Leader Sen Michael Gianaris (gee-uh-NAIR-iss): (518) 455-3486

“Hi, I’m ________ and I’m calling to urge ________ to stand strong against Governor Hochul’s proposed rollbacks to the climate law. Now more than ever, we need clean and renewable energy to protect New Yorkers from volatile fossil fuel prices and the worst impacts of climate change. Loopholes and accounting tricks won’t drive the good energy policy that we desperately need.”

Every day more voices are speaking up to protect New York’s landmark climate law from Governor Hochul’s proposed devastating rollbacks. During her tenure as Governor, she has dragged her feet and kicked the can down the road on building public renewable projects. She has also allowed dangerous fracked gas pipelines into New York State, all while utility bills keep rising.

YOUR voice has made all the difference! Thousands are taking to the streets, emailing, calling, and using all the tools at their disposal to tell the legislature in no uncertain terms to defend it. Since the Governor announced her plan to undermine the law in early March:

• New Yorkers have sent and placed more than 33,350 emails and calls to elected officials;

• Approximately 3,400 have taken to the streets in rallies and other mobilizations;

• More than 100 local elected officials have voiced their opposition in a letter to legislative leaders;

• 100 faith leaders sent a letter to Governor Hochul on Earth Day characterizing upholding of the climate law an economic issue, a public health issue, a justice issue, and most of all, a moral issue;

• Dozens of scientists from all over the world signed a letter in support of CLCPA’s greenhouse gas accounting methodology

Did you know that when the budget is late, legislators can have their pay withheld? One of the ways the Governor gains leverage to force a dirty deal.

Sane Energy was in Albany this week, and we hand-delivered 71 personalized letters to legislators who are courageously holding the line for our climate law, to the detriment of their own wallets, as their pay can be withheld until a budget is passed. We want them to know that we see them and we are grateful for them. It’s important to keep up those calls so they know we are watching.

ALBANY Times Union Speaking TRUTH to Power

We were very heartened to see the Albany Times Union, the paper of record at our state capital, publish an editorial laying out New York State’s dereliction of duty in allowing renewable projects to be canceled, and pushing our methane accounting and climate targets into the future, which we are endangering. Please read it.

Read the Editorial Here

Next Week, We are Going Back to Albany to Celebrate SOLUTIONS - Because New York Already has Them

Tuesday (4/28): Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) Advocacy & Media Day

Fighting to scale up one of the fastest, most effective climate solutions we have. Weatherizing homes cuts energy waste, lowers utility bills, reduces emissions, and keeps families safer and healthier year-round. It’s a win for affordability, public health, and the climate, and it needs to be funded at scale.

Wednesday (4/29): SUNNY Act Advocacy Day

The SUNNY Act (Solar Up NOW NY) just passed the State Senate unanimously, proving there’s real momentum for policies that lower bills and build clean energy right here at home. When federal support is cut, leaders don’t run, they solve. New York can move forward anyway by investing in solutions like balcony solar that put power directly in people’s hands.

Now the bill heads to the Assembly, and we need to show up and make it clear: we’re ready. Join Sane Energy, Climate Families, Third Act, Solar United Neighbors and Green CoOp Council in Albany on April 29th to help pass the SUNNY Act in the Assembly, cut utility costs, and power a cleaner future.

Center for Public Enterprise Recommends:

New York State, Build Public Power!

Private developers are ready to cancel 3GW worth of unfinished renewable energy projects in New York State because they won’t turn as much of a profit after tariffs and additional costs. Rather than losing out on all that renewable energy, the state should take it off their hands and finish the projects so we can make the transition and start meeting our climate goals. Sane Energy isn’t the only ones who think so; the Center for Public Enterprise just released a memo saying just that.

We want renewable energy projects, and we know that the best way to build them is through the New York Power Authority so we don’t have to worry about the profit margins of fickle developers or the greed of corporate monopolies. Let’s make sure $200 million is in the budget to fund Public Power NOW!

Read the Report

Write a Letter to Fund Public Power

We hope you celebrated Earth Day this week in whatever way felt right for you. We tabled at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the performance of Dear Everything: A Musical Uprising for the Earth is a folk-pop musical created by V (formerly Eve Ensler) and directed by Diane Paulus, focusing on youth activism against the climate crisis. Starring Jane Fonda as narrator, the show follows teenager Sophia as she rallies peers to protect local forests from greedy adults. From the stage, the Dear Everything Youth Council announced that Sane Energy received a generous grant to support our work - work that, of course, we cannot do without you.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Rather than complying with our legally mandated greenhouse gas emissions targets, the Governor has deflected responsibility on inflation, the hostile federal administration, but now has gone as far as to blame New Yorkers themselves for seeking enforcement of the law through the courts.

Well, if Earth Month doesn’t mean anything to Governor Kathy Hochul it certainly does to Sane Energy, and we have lots of ways for you to get involved to protect our planet!

Sane Energy hosted elected officials, impacted residents, and architects for a visioning tour at National Grid’s LNG storage facility. Consensus: “National Grid is a BAD NEIGHBOR!”

Our walking tour last weekend, organized in collaboration with the Center for Architecture and Newtown Creek Alliance, was a rousing success. In addition to scores of community members, New York State Assemblymember Claire Valdez, Councilmember Lincoln Restler, and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso spoke, and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher and New York State Senator Julia Salazar were represented.

Boost Our Post By Commenting

Everyone who attended was excited to envision how the 117 acres in Greenpoint that National Grid’s gas facility sits on could be put to better use for the community. Participants were eager to learn how they can fight National Grid by getting involved in the upcoming rate case at which the rates National Grid charges its customers will be decided. Look out for an announcement about an exhibition about the walking tour that will open May 7th at the Center for Architecture.

Fight National Grid's Rate Case

Sane Energy Crashed the Secret “Celebration” for the Groundbreaking of the Trump-Hochul Williams NESE Pipeline

New Yorkers have stopped this pipeline three times, but Governor Hochul allowed fossil fuel giants to break ground on the controversial NESE pipeline before final permits are approved. The closed-door ground-breaking event was led by Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who was handpicked by Donald Trump to dismantle environmental protections. The secretive event took place behind barricades and police lines and was monitored by officers on horseback and low-flying helicopters.

This show of force is revealing. When the state responds to our peaceful protest with this level of intimidation, it shows that the current gas system cannot stand on its own– our resistance is powerful enough to threaten it.

We will know within weeks if National Grid will attempt to force ratepayers to foot the bill for this pipeline and even more dirty fracked gas infrastructure.

Are you ready to fight back?

Read the Gothamist Article

Read the NYTimes Article

Join Greenfaith in Union Square at 12 pm on Thursday, April 16th, to Defend Our Climate Law

Will you join GreenFaith and New Yorkers of faith in putting pressure on Governor Hochul to uphold the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA)?

RSVP Here

🚲 Sun, April 19, 10am - 1pm: Special Fossil Fuel Biking Tour Along Newtown Creek with Sane Energy and Newtown Creek Alliance

Newtown Creek Alliance and Sane Energy Project are hosting a 5-mile bike tour in Brooklyn from Manhattan Ave Street End Park to Cooper Park that explores the history and ongoing impacts of fossil fuel infrastructure along Newtown Creek, including National Grid’s 117-acre LNG facility. The tour highlights environmental justice concerns about oil and gas operations and invites discussion about pathways toward a cleaner energy future.

We encourage those joining to be fairly comfortable bicyclists – the route has adverse street conditions and frequent truck traffic. We ask that all attendees complete a liability waiver and photo consent form prior to joining, available here.

Please bring a water bottle, snacks, and weather-appropriate clothing. We will have limited staff in attendance to navigate and provide support.

📍Meetup point: Manhattan Avenue Street End Park Brooklyn, NY MAP HERE

⏰Sunday, April 19 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Ending in Cooper Park

RSVP and More Info Here

🎨Sun, April 19, 2pm - 5pm: Join Us for an Art Build With Boxcutter Collective and Save the Bushwick Inlet Park!

We are teaming up with our friends who are working to Save the Bushwick Inlet. It’s going to be a great day. Come get creative with us, there’s lots of art to make!

• Where: Pickerel Pie Studio 10-26 46th Ave, Long Island City, NYC

• When: Sunday April 19th from 2pm-5pm

  RSVP for the Art Build Here

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Walk, bicycle, make art, sign up, write a letter, do what you can to protect our planet during Earth Month.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Your activism is working. Because of your comments, calls, and presence, the multibillion-dollar multinational corporation National Grid showed up, not because they wanted to, but because they had to.

Together, our activism creates accountability.

Corporate Utility National Grid Showed Up to Community Board 1 Meeting: We were there to make sure they can’t hide.

At their presentation, National Grid set the stage for doubt about alternatives to the gas program, called Non-Pipeline Alternatives, or “NPA’s”.

Opening with “it’s hard to understand at first glance” and “it can be tricky” before properly explaining, “NPA’s are incentives to customers. Instead of spending money replacing leak-prone pipes in the street, we redirect that money to customers. We offer it to customers and say, “We encourage you to fully electrify. If you all do so, then we can avoid replacing that pipe, and you can garner the benefits of clean energy and electrification.”

And this is exactly what communities suffering from decades of pollution and high bills want to see - no more toxic, dangerous, expensive fracked gas pipelines.

But here’s what National Grid admitted: out of 1.8 million customers in their NYC territory, they’ve only reached about 80 people on Non-Pipeline Alternatives by having a third-party contractor send a letter in the mail with an offer. That’s not a serious effort. That’s not good faith.

We know what’s happening: they’re stalling, while pushing forward projects that lock us into more fossil fuels, like the Williams NESE pipeline, built with National Grid as the sole customer.

They didn’t expect this level of organized intelligence from the community. Special shoutout to community heroes Kevin LaCherra, Stephanie Fox from the NYC Comptroller’s office, and CB1 Enviro Committee Chair Steve Chesler, and to you. We are building a movement rooted in people power.

As National Grid approached New York State this month for a new compounding rate increase, we are ready. Because we won’t pay to be poisoned.

Get Involved- National Grid's Rate Case

April 1 National Grid Bills Went Up 11%,

Now They Want Permission to Hike Them Up AGAIN! How Greedy Can They Be?!

The next morning, after confronting National Grid at the Community Board meeting, Sane Energy organized a press conference outside their headquarters. While it’s hard to believe in an affordability crisis, utility bills went up 11% April first from permission granted to them in the 2023 rate case. Rate cases are highly influential to National Grid’s bottom line. Stay tuned to get involved in the next one this Spring! It’s hard to imagine any business with a monopoly expecting record guaranteed profits year after year while New Yorkers struggle to pay their bills and the climate collapses with their dirty pollution.

Like, Watch, Share Our Rally

Hochul Fights to Repeal Climate Law and Double Down on Gas, While Public Renewables Remain the Only Climate and Cost Solution for New Yorkers.

Your Pressure Is Paying Off: NYPA Puts $5 million towards Green Jobs Training and Considers 3.7GW of public renewable projects

The New York Power Authority’s board of trustees met on Tuesday, and we were watching closely. Thanks to your pressure, NYPA has accelerated funding for the REACH program, which will lower utility bills for New Yorkers who need it the most. While it was disappointing that only $2 million has been allocated for bill credits, this is an important step forward.

We were also encouraged that NYPA is now considering an additional 3.7 GW of public renewable projects in addition to the 5.5 GW already in their strategic plan. The green union jobs generated by these projects are a win-win that addresses the affordability and climate crises. In other news, NYPA unveiled a dashboard tool to track buildout progress, mandated by our legislation, the Public Renewables Transparency Act, signed in December. Clearly, our people power is working! Lastly, NYPA CEO Justin Driscoll confirmed there will be another public hearing and comment process this year. That’s another opportunity to show the public demands 15 GW of public renewables by 2030. When we learn about dates, we will let you know how to get involved.

Read PPNY's Full Statement

Assemblymember Emily Gallagher Explains Governor Hochul’s Dirty Methane Accounting Trick to YOU!

Methane accounts for ⅓ of the warming we’re experiencing on Earth. Governor Hochul’s threat to gut NY’s Climate Law would change how New York State measures it so it looks less harmful, and oppose 99% of climate scientists on Earth, all so she can help to expand fossil fuel infrastructure. New York State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher breaks it down for you. Watch her informative video. We can’t let Hochul delay efforts to curb the dangerous methane that National Grid is pumping into our neighborhoods.

Watch, Like and Share the Video

We know there’s a lot happening, and it’s hard to keep up. We’re grateful to you for staying informed about New York State’s sane energy future, we’re fighting for.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. Don’t forget to join our online teach-in April 9th on the Energy System 101 in NYState and…

P.P.S. Attend our special Fossil Fuel Walking Tour April 11th in collaboration with Newtown Creek Alliance and the American Institute of Architects.

* Both events will give you the opportunity to learn more about how YOU can get involved in the upcoming National Grid rate case!

After an eventful week of organizing and protesting in Albany to defend New York’s climate law (the CLCPA), Sane Energy Project took the time to gather and use our creativity to support the movement. In collaboration with our friends The Boxcutter Collective, we held an art build yesterday to work on the gorgeous flowers that represent the native plants that could rehabilitate the toxic land where National Grid’s LNG facility currently stands. The art will be used on walking tours of the site to educate about the fossil fuel infrastructure in our neighborhoods and inspire us to imagine what generative life could be there instead. If you couldn’t make the art build, you can see the art by joining us on a very special walking tour in April…

April 9th: New York Energy System Power Hour ONLINE

Rockaway and Long Island National Grid Downstate Edition

Sane Energy is joining together with Long Island Progressive Coalition, Rockaway Women for Progress, All Our Energy and the New York Energy Democracy Alliance to follow the journey of your energy from power plant to plug, uncover who’s calling the shots (and raising your bills), explore cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels, and learn how to fight back against National Grid raising rates in 2026! While we’re focused on Rockaway and Long Island for this Teach-In, you can learn about our energy systems we’re organizing to move for overburdened rate payers against National Grid, towards a fossil fuel free future.

• When: Thurs, April 9th 7pm-8pm

• Where: ON ZOOM

  RSVP to April 9th Power Hour

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April 11th: Fossil Fuels on Newtown Creek- Our Solutions and Vision for North Brooklyn & Across the Creek to Queens

• When: Saturday April 11th

• Where: Cooper Park (meet near the bathrooms/playground) MAP

• Time: 11:00AM- 2PM

• Optional Happy Hour: 2:30PM-4PM near McGolrick Park

(rain date Sunday April 12th, 2026 at 11:00AM)

This extended walking tour around the Newtown Creek is one you won’t want to miss. We have been planning something really special for you with the Newtown Creek Alliance and the Center for Architecture and local residents. See how fossil fuel infrastructure, utility decisions, and pollution affect neighborhoods on both sides of Newtown Creek, and explore how communities are building alternatives.

This isn’t just a tour, it’s a hands-on experience to learn, imagine, and take steps toward solutions that put people and the planet first.

What’s at Stake

• National Grid plans to expand fracked gas infrastructure into the 2050’s, ignoring New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

• Toxic facilities like the Greenpoint LNG site sit in the heart of North Brooklyn, next to homes, businesses and playgrounds.

• Every month our utility bills pay for this pollution. Without action, we could be locked into decades of climate damage and health risks.

• This spring, National Grid will ask the Public Service Commission to allow them to raise rates again- your voice can make a difference.

How You Can Participate

• Learn the issues and share your ideas on community solutions.

• Take action in the upcoming rate case.

• Support local environmental justice and waterfront access initiatives.

*this event will be filmed for a May 2026 exhibition at the Center for Architecture at 536 LaGuardia Place. Participants will be asked to sign a photo/video release form. If you prefer not to be photographed, that’s completely fine– we’ll support any level of comfort.

*refreshments will be provided

RSVP to the April 11th Walking Tour

Thanks for continuing to show up for New York’s future.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

After years of failed implementation, Gov. Kathy Hochul sides with expensive, toxic fossil fuel interests, echoing industry talking points while threatening an affordable climate law that New Yorkers are demanding be fully implemented.

photo credit: Ken Schles

Wednesday was a powerful show of solidarity. Over 500 people made sure that Kathy Hochul knows we cannot wait until 2030 to meet our climate goals. We cannot go against climate science that fracked gas causes climate change. Thirty legislators spoke at the emergency press conference, and the voices of New York scientists, engineers, health experts, parents, and renewable contractors filled the halls of the Capitol with chants of “Hochul: Don’t Gut Our Climate Law!”

Legislators also made clear that claims about the law driving up costs are nothing more than fossil fuel industry spin. Kathy Hochul has failed to implement the climate law fully over the past five years, and now, when faced with scrutiny, is choosing to deflect, shift blame, and avoid accountability rather than take action. Instead of standing with New Yorkers at the Capitol, she left town to promote her spin in Buffalo and Syracuse, amplifying industry rhetoric rather than standing with the people demanding real climate and affordability action.

photo credit: Erik McGregor.

Sane Energy brought art, music, and the power of the sun as part of a carefully crafted strategy, serving as visual and creative thought partners to our movement. Together with legislators, we delivered a clear, unstoppable message to the Governor: defend New York’s landmark climate law and protect affordability for all.

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez speaking
photo credit: Erik McGregor

Call Your Legislator: Make Sure They Defend Our Climate Law

Send a letter: As Hochul works to weaken the climate law in the legislature, fossil fuel interests are trying to dismantle it through utility regulators.

Need to be brought up to speed about what the Governor is trying to do to our climate law? Read this article from Lauren Dalban at Inside Climate News for a comprehensive overview.

What Governor Hochul is Doing to Our Climate Law is a Nationwide Trend

We know that the cost of staying hooked on gas is astronomical and only rising. Governor Hochul herself has said that she won’t support a rate freeze and she knows the cost of gas infrastructure will get passed on to you and me.

Sane Energy is quoted in the excellent New Republic article Blue Governors are Tacking Rightward on Fossil Fuels. Fossil fuel interests are pouring tons of money into this disinformation campaign to try to prevent our legally mandated transition to a sane energy future.

New York State should lead the way, our law says so and we cannot let it be gut. What happens in New York will have a ripple effect across the country.

Read the New Republic Article

Thanks for defending our laws in the face of deep pockets and corrupt business interests.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Fossil Fuel Walking Tour

Defend the CLCPA Edition

What is the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), and why is it under threat right now?

Fossil fuel interests are pouring money into efforts to weaken New York’s nation-leading climate law, and now Governor Hochul is echoing those attacks.

While facing a lawsuit over her failure to implement the CLCPA, Hochul has tried to blame the law for rising energy bills. We pushed back with the facts. Just days later, she admitted the law is not responsible for high costs. So why is she still pushing to change it?

What would shifting methane accounting mean? What is cap-and-invest, and how could it impact your bills?

Join Sane Energy Project for a walking tour of National Grid’s Greenpoint LNG (Liquefied “Natural” Gas) facility, and see firsthand the fossil fuel infrastructure driving pollution, risk, and rising costs in New York.

In a relaxed, conversational setting, we’ll break down:

• What the CLCPA actually requires

• How current proposals could undermine it

• What’s at stake for our communities and our energy bills

You’ll also learn how to prepare for National Grid’s upcoming rate case, and how New Yorkers can organize to protect both our climate and our wallets.

At a moment when New York should be leading, these rollbacks would take us backward. We can’t afford to go back.

New Yorkers shouldn’t have to pay higher bills to be exposed to more pollution.We won’t pay to be poisoned.

Join us, and get the information and tools you need to fight back.

Can’t join us on Sunday? Take action now:

• Send a letter: As Hochul works to weaken the climate law in the legislature, fossil fuel interests are trying to dismantle it through utility regulators.

• Sign up to join next month’s walking tour on April 11

  ---

Wed, March 25: Albany: Hands Off Our Climate Law

Take the Fight to the Belly of the Beast!

Sunday, Mar 29, 2-5pm: Make Art to Shut Down Fossil Fuels

Join us, get involved, and use your creativity. Boxcutter Collective is hosting our second monthly art build to grow our community and create art for future fossil fuel walking tours and a summer performance at the Greenpoint LNG facility to SHUT IT DOWN! We hope you can make it!

• What: Sane Energy + Boxcutter Collective Art Build

• When: Sunday March 29th, 2-5pm

• Where: Pickerel Pie Studio, 10-24 46th Ave, Long Island City, Queens 11101

  RSVP to the Art Build

  ---

Thanks for showing up in every way that matters. March 25 in Albany is our moment—show up, make noise, and tell lawmakers: hands off our Climate Law! No rollbacks. No delays. No excuses.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. Want to dig deeper with us on fighting back against high utility bills? Come to our Online Energy 101 Power Hour training on April 9.

You Don’t Need to Rewrite the Law to Undermine It

A recent letter to the editor from Rory Christian sought to clarify what the New York Public Service Commission can and cannot change within the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act by focusing narrowly on statutory language, missing a more important truth.

This is not a question of what is written on paper, it is a question of power.

The PSC may not be able to rewrite the Climate Act’s emissions targets, but it has enormous control over whether those targets are realized or delayed. The question is not whether the Commission can formally amend limits, it’s whether it can weaken the policies that make those targets real. And it can.

The electric sector is not a technical side note in this law, it is the backbone. Reducing emissions from buildings and transportation depends entirely on a rapidly decarbonizing grid. Decisions about renewable energy timelines, infrastructure, and implementation are not minor administrative details, they determine whether the law succeeds or fails. Framing that authority as narrow or purely technical obscures where responsibility actually lies.

I’ve seen this disconnect up close. In 2023, after a heated National Grid rate case, I brought residents who live along the North Brooklyn pipeline route to a PSC meeting. These community members had spent years organizing to stop the unnecessary expansion of LNG vaporizers, a trucking depot, and a pipeline that would have locked in pollution and high bills for decades. When the projects were halted, we cheered. It was a rare moment where the system appeared to work in favor of public health and community voices.

But in that same space, something else stayed with me. I asked Chair Christian to meet the residents who had advocated and built the record in the rate case, and he obliged. Yet he turned to a young resident from Brownsville, a renter, and asked what she was doing to electrify her home.

It was revealing. Not because electrification isn’t essential, but because it exposed a fundamental misunderstanding of power. A renter does not control whether her building is electrified. Those decisions are shaped by policy, investment, and regulation - by institutions like the Public Service Commission. When those with the greatest authority frame systemic challenges as individual responsibilities, it signals a deeper problem.

That problem extends beyond a single agency. Under Kathy Hochul’s administration, we see a pattern: agencies soften the political impact of climate decisions while obscuring responsibility. The recent incomplete analyses from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority led to this distorted justification for climate law re-design. The PSC presents its authority as limited, even as it shapes the pace and scale of the energy transition. Together, this creates a convenient narrative: the costs are inevitable, the constraints real, and the state’s hands are tied. They are not.

We have the New York Power Authority, a public entity able to build and finance renewable energy at scale. It represents a path toward public power that prioritizes reliability and affordability without being bound to the profit motives of investor-owned utilities. This option remains sidelined while New Yorkers are told to accept a narrow set of choices defined by the very market structures that have slowed progress.

No one needs to formally rewrite the Climate Act to undermine it. If the systems required to meet its goals are delayed, weakened, or deprioritized, the targets will remain on paper, not realized..

New Yorkers deserve more than technical explanations that minimize this reality. They deserve honesty about where power sits, how it is being used, and who is accountable.

When those who hold power turn away from the mirror New Yorkers hold up, we have to wonder: Whose interests are they really defending?

This week we’re hearing encouraging news from the Legislature: New York’s One-House Budgets include funding for the Sustainable Future Fund to protect renewable energy projects, and Speaker Heastie has called for a moratorium on utility rate hikes.

But Governor Hochul is still threatening to undermine New York’s nation-leading climate law - the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) - by slowing or weakening key climate programs.

Want to understand what’s at stake?

Join us for a special fossil fuel walking tour of the Greenpoint LNG facility. We’ll break down what New York’s climate law actually requires, how current proposals could derail it, and what it means for our communities.

You’ll also learn how to prepare to fight back in National Grid’s upcoming rate case and how residents can organize to protect our climate and our wallets.

New Yorkers shouldn’t have to pay higher bills to be exposed to more pollution. We won’t pay to be poisoned.

RSVP for March 22nd Walking Tour

March 29, 2-5pm: Make Art to Shut Down Fossil Fuels

Join us, get involved, and use your creativity. Boxcutter Collective is hosting our second monthly art build to grow our community and create art for future fossil fuel walking tours and a summer performance at the Greenpoint LNG facility to SHUT IT DOWN! We hope you can make it!

• What: Sane Energy + Boxcutter Collective Art Build

• When: Sunday March 29th, 2-5pm

• Where: Pickerel Pie Studio, 10-24 46th Ave, Long Island City, Queens 11101

  RSVP to the Art Build

  ---

Albany: Hands Off Our Climate Law

Take the Fight to the Belly of the Beast!

Governor Hochul is threatening to weaken New York’s landmark Climate Law in the state budget due April 1. We’re not letting it happen.

On March 25, New Yorkers from across the state are heading to Albany to send a clear message to lawmakers: NO CLIMATE LAW ROLLBACKS. NOT IN THE BUDGET. NOT EVER.

While families struggle with rising utility bills and climate disasters grow worse every year, fossil fuel interests are pushing Albany to slow down the transition to clean energy. Weakening the Climate Law won’t lower costs—it will lock us into more pollution, higher energy bills, and deeper climate chaos.

New Yorkers fought hard to pass our Climate Law. We will fight just as hard to defend it.

Join us in Albany and show lawmakers that New Yorkers demand climate action, lower energy bills, and a future free from fossil fuels.

RSVP for March 25th in Albany

Thanks for showing up in every way that matters. March 25 in Albany is our moment—show up, make noise, and tell lawmakers: hands off our Climate Law! No rollbacks. No delays. No excuses.

With fire and fight,
Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

Photos: Michael Paulson and Gina Randazzo

The Hochul Administration is scheming to gut the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) – New York’s signature climate law that positioned us as a national leader – to line the pockets of fossil fuel executives at the expense of New Yorkers. That is what our governor is doing with her energy and political capital.

Read Sane's Statement

Like and Share Our IG Post

Call Your NYS Assemblymember

Sample Script: Hi, my name is _____, and I live in _____. I’m calling to ask Assemblymember _____ to protect our families and our futures by defending and funding NY’s Climate Law. Governor Hochul has indicated she may try to weaken the law; this would harm our health, worsen the climate crisis, and allow the fossil fuel industry to continue to drive up energy bills as they demand endless rate hikes to expand outdated infrastructure. Can we count on the member to stand with us and protect our law?

Listen to Sane on NPR

Sane Energy Stands Up for Public Power and NY’s Climate Law in Albany

In NYC on Monday and Albany on Wednesday, Sane Energy and the Public Power New York campaign stood up for New York’s climate law, calling for an end to fossil fuels and a full transition to renewable energy. At a press conference in the Capitol building, assemblymembers’ offices were flooded with constituent calls. New Yorkers know it is fracked gas, not the climate law, driving up energy costs. We will not allow the Governor to sell out to abusive, polluting industries. Publicly owned renewable energy is the solution to the climate emergency, and New York should not fall behind in leading the nation on this effort so the Governor can appease her donor class.

Defend Our Climate Law! Rally in Albany & make your voice heard!

Get on the Bus to Stop this Crisis!

Renewable Heat Now is planning mass action on March 25th to address what is missing in Governor Hochul’s budget and defend our climate law. Make sure you don’t miss this chance to fight for a sustainable future.

RSVP for March 25th in Albany

Sane Energy in the Press: WNYC and QNS

Listen to the Interview Here

Read the Article

Thank you for fighting with us, see you in Albany and call your reps to defend our climate law!

With all our love,

Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire

P.S. Creativity is how we face this crisis! Check out these cute pics from our art build with the Boxcutter Collective last weekend and put our next one on your calendar- March 29th!

And join us for our next fossil fuel walking tour of National Grid’s Greenpoint LNG site March 22nd!

New York City is really feeling the effects of climate change–two huge blizzards in one month, coupled with extended extreme cold spells, are evidence of climate change. We cannot continue to burn fossil fuels and expand gas infrastructure.

While Trump takes a wrecking ball to environmental protections at the EPA, Governor Kathy Hochul is doing the same, quietly, in New York. Her executive budget starves important programs that could help New York transition to renewables, and her support for new gas pipelines undermines our climate laws. With her “all of the above” approach, it is clear she has no intention of helping New York meet its mandated goals for transitioning to renewable energy.

We have to fight back in National Grid’s upcoming rate case and also push for the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build publicly owned renewables!

Read on to find lots of ways to get involved with your rage, your intelligence, and your creativity.

Get Involved- National Grid's Rate Case

Send Letter- Fund Public Renewables

Labor and Climate Movement Solidarity

One of the initiatives Governor Hochul defunded in her executive budget was the Sustainable Future Program. Last year, $1 billion was invested in New York’s energy future, with $200 million for developing thermal energy networks at SUNY and CUNY campuses. While big business interests try to pit labor and environmental activists against each other, it’s encouraging to note that the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of unions in the United States is demanding $1 billion for the Sustainable Future Program, which creates thousands of good-paying union jobs. The AFL-CIO asserts that:

“These projects not only strengthen New York’s energy independence, they also ensure workforce stability. [...] Continued investment in the Sustainable Future Fund is essential for meeting our climate goals, protecting public health, and supporting our economy through the creation of union jobs.”

Solidarity Forever!

Defend Our Climate Law! Rally in Albany & make your voice heard!

Two chances in March to MARCH through the halls of power and show that New Yorkers won’t back down.

Speaking of solidarity, NYRenews, Make the Road NY, and Invest in Our New York are planning a powerful day of action on March 10th to address our climate, immigrant rights, and affordability crises. Don’t miss it, let Albany know you want to protect immigrants, stop pollution, tax the rich, and fund the future!

RSVP- March 10th in Albany

Renewable Heat Now is planning mass action on March 25th to address what is missing in Governor Hochul’s budget. Make sure you don’t miss this chance to fight for a sustainable future.

RSVP- March 25th in Albany

Read Renewable Heat Now's Budget Memo

Feeling Creative? Want to Meet Cool People?

Join Us for our First Monthly Art Build this Saturday, February 28th!

MAKE ART. TELL THE STORY. FIGHT THE PIPELINES.

We can build a beautiful world!

Who: Hosted by Boxcutter Collective and Sane Energy Project for the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Campaign

When: Saturday, Feb 28, 2 pm - 5 pm

Where: Pickerel Pie Studio 10-26 46th Ave, Long Island City, NY, 11101 Queens! MAP

Art is how we remember. Art is how we warn. Art is how we win.

Join us to create bold, visionary art that tells the truth: climate justice means no pipelines, no rate hikes, and no sacrifice zones.

Thank you for fighting with us, see you in Albany and in the art studio!

With all our love,

Kim, Elliot, Mike, JK, and Claire