In his first State of the State address, the Governor said this would be achieved through improved energy efficiency and an increased use of renewable energy, and that this goal could also create 50,000 jobs.

“It is time to control the cost of energy and how much we use. It is time to make New York more energy independent and more energy efficient, to develop our own sources of clean and renewable energy, and build new state-wide systems for energy generation, transmission and distribution,” Paterson said.

Governor Paterson also announced the creation of a clearinghouse to serve as a single point of access for information on all energy efficiency programmes for schools, hospitals, and local governments. A website will be created to provide a single point of contact for all of the State’s clean energy programmes.

Finally, the Governor announced the creation of a consortium on hybrid electric batteries and energy storage technologies for the development of technology for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

This will be implemented through the existing partnerships led by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and expanded to add funding and partners, to ramp-up research and development of energy storage technologies that will support this new ‘clean energy’ economy.

To complement this consortium, the Governor intends to create a New York Energy Policy Institute to coordinate the knowledge base and expertise of New York’s higher education institutions.