Environmental Justice: Being a Good Neighbor

At the core of NYPA’s Environmental Justice program is our commitment to being a good neighbor in the underserved communities that host our statewide facilities. By leveraging our energy expertise and resources, we seek to improve quality of life through community collaborations to bring programs and services that meet their unique needs. Our programs are community-driven with the goal of helping to offset some of the challenges faced by our neighbors.

NYPA’s Environmental Justice program is built upon four pillars: STEM education, weatherization and energy education, energy services projects and community engagement.

1. STEM Education

NYPA provides innovative and engaging STEM education enrichment to K-12 students in basic energy education and renewable energy technology.  We also provide STEM curriculum development and teacher training.

For college bound students, NYPA provides opportunities for students interested in pursuing STEM careers to shadow our employees in areas as diverse as engineering, cyber security, law, finance and public policy. These employees provide students with a real world understanding of the potential for interesting careers for students with strong STEM proficiency.  

2. Energy Education and Weatherization

For low income homeowners and renters, the Environmental Justice program sponsors energy education and weatherization programs. The interactive workshops enable homeowners to learn low or no-cost ways they can lower their electric bills. With the knowledge gained from the workshop, participants can install energy efficiency measures contained in a free weatherization kit distributed by NYPA at the end of the workshops.

3. Energy Services Projects

NYPA’s Environmental Justice program provides customized energy services programs and demonstration projects in our communities subject to our statutory authority. One recent example is a refrigerator replacement initiative for the Housing Authority in Massena, NY where NYPA replaced aged refrigerators with energy efficient models which benefitted its low income residents. We plan to expand our energy services offerings to include other clean energy projects throughout the state.  

4. Community Engagement

One of the ways NYPA engages and supports our communities is by participating in their public outreach. We use these opportunities to educate participants about the value of clean energy, and how to live a more environmentally responsible and sustainable lifestyle.

NYPA’s Environmental Justice program is continually evolving as our partners identify ways we can bring meaningful change to our communities. For NYPA, Environmental Justice is not only a deeply embedded corporate value, it is simply the right thing to do.