Hochul completes reshaping of utility regulator

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May 24, 2024 View in browser   By Marie J. French With help from Irie Sentner DRINKS ON US — Come celebrate the end of session with POLITICO. We’re hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, May 29, at the Albany War Room Tavern. Join fellow New York insiders for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, meet our editorial team and learn more about our coverage of politics, policy and power in Albany. You can RSVP here. New from New York Happening now: The Public Service Commission is rounding into shape with the nomination of another board member. There’s a woeful lack of polling places near college campuses in New York, a new report found. Mayor Eric Adams is joining other mayors to push again for migrants to gain federal permission to work legally. The NYC-DSA is weighing whether to endorse Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his primary. Gov. Kathy Hochul nominated Radina Valova to the state’s Public Service Commission, which has vast authority to hit renewable energy and zero-emission electricity targets. | Hans Pennink/AP A NEW PSC MEMBER: Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated a third woman to the state’s Public Service Commission, completing a transformation of the powerful utility regulator that plays a pivotal role in steering the state’s energy policy. Hochul nominated Radina Valova this week, according to two people familiar with the decision. POLITICO previously reported that she was a potential third nominee after Hochul sent nomination for two other women — Uchenna Bright and Denise Sheehan — with experience in the renewable energy policy space to the Senate. Valova is regulatory vice president for the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and formerly worked as senior staff attorney and regulatory affairs manager for the Pace Energy and Climate Center. “This is an extremely exciting time to be a commissioner, and she’s got the issues in her wheelhouse,” said Karl Rábago, who was executive director of the Pace Center during much of Valova’s time there. “She’s competent without being boastful; she’s experienced without being closed to new ideas,” he added, praising her intellectual curiosity and work engaging nonprofits in complex regulatory issues while at Pace. The commission has vast authority and responsibility to hit the state’s renewable energy and zero-emission electricity targets, as well as playing a pivotal role in the transition of the gas system to reduce emissions. The PSC is managing a tightrope between growing short-term costs for the state’s transition off fossil fuels and the future climate and health benefits. Valova has written about some of these issues, co-authoring a 2020 report on the need to limit the growth of the gas system and transition homes off fossil fuels. At Pace, where she also got her law degree, she coordinated a coalition of nonprofit organizations to get involved in rate cases and also led involvement in “Reforming the Energy Vision” proceedings before the commission. At the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Valova was charged with working to ensure policies to support distributed energy resources. Valova’s nomination could be considered by the Senate as soon as next week, state Sen. Kevin Parker said. A hearing is planned Wednesday. With Valova’s confirmation, Hochul will have filled three seats on the seven-member Public Service Commission, with six-year terms running into 2030. The next vacancies on the commission won’t be until 2027. Separately, however, Hochul is not expected to make a nomination for commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation before session ends, according to two people familiar with the discussions. That will leave interim Commissioner Sean Mahar in place as the department grapples with rolling out cap-and-invest draft regulations and a controversial decision on air permits to increase the amount of gas coming into New York via an existing pipeline. — Marie J. French PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook PM will be off Monday for Memorial Day and back in your inboxes on Tuesday, May 28.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     From the Capitol Only 58 New York colleges have polling places located more than a half mile away from dormitories, the New York Public Interest Research Group found. | Charley Lhasa THE YOUTH VOTE: Access to polling locations for college students living on campuses in the state might be falling short, according to a study today by the New York Public Interest Research Group. The organization reviewed 217 college campuses in New York. Of those, only 58 have polling places located more than a half mile away from dormitories. “This survey raises critically important questions that we urge the Board of Elections to investigate to ensure that the rights of young voters registered in their college communities are being protected under the law,” NYPIRG wrote in a letter to the state Board of Elections. Concerns over polling access come as college-age voters could be especially critical this election year. Campuses across the country have also become the sites of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the wake of the war in Gaza, shining a spotlight on student activism. In New York, state law requires that colleges with 300 or more registered voters living on campus have a polling place nearby or on the campus itself. Voter turnout among college students was low in 2022 — only 30 percent, according to NYPIRG. — Nick Reisman FROM CITY HALL Mayor Eric Adams and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are leading 40 cities in calling on the Biden administration for 2 million work authorizations for new arrivals and longer-term undocumented residents. | Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office WORK PERMIT PUSH: Mayor Eric Adams has a coalition of colleagues from around the country behind him in a push he’s been making since migrants began arriving in larger numbers to New York City two years ago: federal permission to work legally. Adams and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are at the helm of the bipartisan 40 Cities for Action’s call to President Joe Biden’s administration for 2 million work authorizations for new arrivals as well as longer-term undocumented residents. “There are several thoughtful ways to initiate this process,” the coalition writes in a letter. “For example, your administration could expand the existing program that grants ‘parole’ to the spouses and parents of U.S. military service members to include the 1.2 million undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens.” Their call has been echoed by members of Congress, business and labor leaders. It comes as the Adams administration begins a new process of restricting migrants from reapplying to live in city shelters after their initial 30- or 60-day limits are up. City officials say more than 198,000 migrants have come to the city since spring 2022. The Biden administration has taken some steps unilaterally, including expanding temporary protective status for Venezuela last fall, but has noted that more expansive changes require congressional action on comprehensive immigration reform. — Emily Ngo   POLITICO invites you to learn more about POLITICO's coverage of politics, policy and power in Albany. Join us on Wednesday, May 29 to connect with fellow New Yorkers over drinks and appetizers. RSVP HERE.     On the Beats The DSA is considering endorsing Rep. Jamaal Bowman at a meeting this weekend. | Francis Chung/POLITICO DSA WEIGHS BOWMAN ENDORSEMENT: A late endorsement of Rep. Jamal Bowman would be a way to strike a blow against AIPAC, the pro-Israel organization that recruited and funded George Latimer to run against him. That comes from the campaign plan posted online by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The race is an opportunity to oppose AIPAC “head on and help loosen their stranglehold on US politics,” the document says. Bowman is joining the NYC-DSA on Sunday evening for a forum as they consider an endorsement. But in a strange wrinkle, endorsing the endangered incumbent would align them with another Bowman endorser: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — a top recipient of AIPAC funding who the same DSA document calls “genocidal” for his support of Israel in the war in Gaza. The document highlights DSA’s role in ceasefire protests against “genocidal congresspeople such as Yvette Clarke, Dan Goldman, and Hakeem Jeffries.” Latimer’s supporters at Democratic Majority for Israel found that offensive. “It is but not surprising that Jamaal Bowman is pleading for help from an extremist group that attacks these great Democratic leaders in the most vile terms,” Mark Mellman, the president and CEO of the pro-Israel advocacy group, said. NYC-DSA and Jeffries’ team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bowman’s team seems increasingly willing to embrace the party’s left wing as the June 25 Democratic primary approaches. The campaign on Thursday announced an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders. — Jeff Coltin GOTTFRIED RUNS AGAIN: Richard Gottfried will be on the ballot again next month — two years after he wrapped up a 52-year tenure in the state Assembly, one of the longest stints in a state legislature in American history. Gottfried will be running in his Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood to be a judicial delegate, one of the people elected on primary day to pick nominees for open judgeships. He won a race for that job in 2023, when he agreed to head the ballot for the HKDems club as it ran a slate against the more established McManus Democratic Club. There won’t be a contested race this time around, but Gottfried said party leaders “still felt it would be good to have me run on the combined slate.” “The amusing thing was in 1968, when I first turned 21, which was the legal age for voting in those days, I ran for judicial delegate and was elected,” he said. That was the first race he ever won. Gottfried hasn’t completely abandoned the Capitol — he’s been lobbying members on Covid-19 oversight and was in the building in support of the push for legalizing aid in dying. “Politics can be very addictive if it goes well,” he said. — Bill Mahoney CLOWN SHOW: The fallout from former President Donald Trump’s rally in the Bronx continued today, with Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis criticizing Hochul over a “clown” comment to CNN. The controversy began in a CNN interview with Hochul chiding Trump for holding a rally in deep blue New York City. Hochul insisted Democratic-dominated New York would not be in play in the presidential election. “It won’t make a difference at all for Donald Trump to be the ringleader and invite all his clowns to a place like the Bronx,” Hochul said. That drew a rebuke from Malliotakis, a lawmaker who represents Staten Island, a Trump stronghold. “These comments are unbecoming of any elected leader, particularly a governor who represents one of the largest states in our union,” Malliotakis said, and added the governor should apologize. Malliotakis was among the handful of Republican House members who signed onto a statement in support of Trump that also denounced the “illegal and corrupt lawfare” as Trump faces an ongoing hush money trial in Manhattan. — Nick Reisman AROUND NEW YORK — The financial disclosures of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and her Republican opponent Mike Sapraicone highlight their personal differences. (Newsday) — The state is extending a $58 million lifeline to a fund for lifelong health care costs. (POLITICO Pro) — Rep. Ritchie Torres for governor? (New York Post)   Follow us on Twitter Joseph Spector @JoeSpectorNY   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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