Dive Brief:
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The New York Power Authority (NYPA) on Tuesday announced that it will consider utilizing battery storage and other advanced energy technologies to replace 461 MW of gas peaking generation operating at six sites in New York City.
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The announcement is a win for the environmental justice community, and advocates say it is unique: NYPA agreed to pay for consultants to represent the perspective of five environmental and clean energy groups in considering how the plants may be retired.
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The collaboration between the largest state public power utility in the United States and the environmental justice community could be a model for elsewhere in the country, said Lewis Milford, president of Clean Energy Group (CEG), one of the groups that will be represented by NYPA-paid consultants. Local advocacy groups are often underrepresented in energy infrastructure debates because they lack technical resources and funds, he said.