Governor Kathy Hochul today signed legislation that will advance clean transportation efforts by removing barriers to the installation of electric vehicle charging stations on private property. The legislation will prevent homeowners’ associations from prohibiting homeowners from installing charging stations on their private property while also allowing the associations to provide input on the installation process. By making it easier for New Yorkers to transition to electric vehicles, this legislation will contribute to New York State’s goal of reaching 850,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025, and for all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035.
“We are sparking New York’s transition to clean transportation by removing barriers to owning and charging an electric vehicle,” Governor Hochul said. “It is not enough to encourage New Yorkers to buy electric – we must build green infrastructure that will drive New Yorkers to choose cleaner and greener modes of transportation. My administration will continue to advance our zero-emission transportation goals, and this legislation will benefit our climate and the health of our communities for generations to come.”
Legislation (S.8518A /A.6165A) will help remove barriers to the installation of electric vehicle charging stations on private property. Increasing the adoption of electric vehicles is essential for New York to able to meet emissions goals, but without a robust charging station network, New Yorkers may be discouraged from seeing electric vehicles as realistic alternatives to gas powered vehicles. This legislation will prevent homeowners’ associations from prohibiting homeowners from installing charging stations on their private property while allowing associations to provide input on the installation process. The new law will require that any denial of a homeowner’s application to install an electric vehicle charger to be in writing and contain a detailed description of the reasons for denial. If no written denial is issued to the homeowner within 60 days, the application will be deemed approved unless the delay in approval resulted from the homeowners’ association’s reasonable request for more information.
State Senator Michelle Hinchey said, “Making it easier for New Yorkers to own an electric vehicle is essential to fighting the climate crisis locally and meeting our state’s zero-emissions transportation goals. I’m incredibly proud to sponsor legislation in partnership with Assemblymember Harvey Epstein that expands the build-out of home charging infrastructure and helps ensure New York stays at the forefront of a clean energy future. I thank Governor Hochul for signing my bill into law and for her strong commitment to achieving the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”
Assemblymember Harvey Epstein said, “In New York, we’re setting bold goals for the adoption of electric vehicles. It’s part of our strategy to reducing emissions as mandated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. But to make the switch, we must ensure we have the charging infrastructure to match. Our legislation makes it easier for New Yorkers to go electric by removing barriers homeowners may face when seeking to install an EV charger at home. Thank you to Governor Hochul for recognizing the urgency behind increasing EV adoption.”
This legislation will help advance New York State’s goal to reach 850,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025 and to have all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035. New York is rapidly advancing these goals through a range of initiatives including EV Make Ready, EVolve NY, the Drive Clean Rebate, the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program, and Charge NY. These efforts contributed to a record increase in the number of electric vehicles sold in New York in 2021, bringing the total number of EVs on the road as of September 2022 to more than 114,000, and the number of charging stations in the state to more than 10,000, including Level 2 and fast chargers.
New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan
New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York’s unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $35 billion in 120 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting nearly 158,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector in 2020, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state’s 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.
