53,000 New Yorkers across the city was subjected to blackouts during extreme weather conditions exposing the unfortunate truth; everything in our city relies on electricity and everyone is on one grid. Uninterrupted service is critical for New Yorkers and Con Edison’s grid has not been able to keep up with our need. As the Chair of the Renewable Energy committee, I strongly suggest the development of resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource projects. This will ensure uninterrupted electric power, which is crucial now more than ever.

Since I first took office, I’ve worked to strengthen the Brownsville grid with initiatives such as Solarize Brownsville and even advocated for the state’s first micro grid which is currently at Marcus Garvey Village. It’s time for the State and City to work collectively in finding a viable clean energy solution for all of New York. Scientists predict a continuance of extreme weather globally and we have to better prepare ourselves for the outcome.