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Just In! for September 26th, 2026
The weekly newsletter of the New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO)
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Just In! is NY-GEO's weekly news feed for members. See more information on memberships here. If we send you a complimentary copy and you're not a member of NY-GEO, it means we value your role in the transition to renewable heating, but without a membership, please don't count on getting Just In! weekly. For past issues, check out the Just In! Archive available on the NY-GEO.org website.
Today’s contributors who’ve suggested news items include: Bill McKibben, Christine Hoffer, John Ciovacco, John Rath, Julie Tighe, Kim Fraczek and Rory Christian
| | Governor Hochul Announces $100 Million for All-Electric New Home Construction – “The New Efficient Homes New York: Heat Pump Incentive program supports the adoption of cold climate air source heat pumps (ASHP) and ground source heat pumps (GSHP) throughout new single-family and small homes, as well as new multifamily buildings under 50,000 square feet across New York State. Today, $75 million is available to developers and home builders on a per dwelling unit basis with additional funding for projects located within disadvantaged communities, as identified by the Climate Justice Working Group… NYSERDA is now accepting applications on an open enrollment basis until December 15, 2029, at 3:00 p.m. EST, or until funds are fully committed.” In addition, $25 Million is available for new construction design support with funds available on the same timeline. The Governor’s release also notes more funding for NYSERDA’s Buildings of Excellence Competition. Link. | |
Ribbon cutting at all-electric new homes to announce Governor Hochul’s new construction funding. In attendance among others are NY Public Service Commissioner John Maggiore (3rd from left), Albany area NY State Senator Patricia Fahey, NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris (6th from Left) and Susanne DesRoches, NYSERDA Senior Vice President, Clean and Resilient Buildings (1st on the right)
NY-GEO Board Member Donovan Gordon is a 2026 ENYA Award Nominee – “The Energy New York Awards (ENYA) honor a diverse array of individuals and organizations that exemplify excellence in energy innovation, sustainability, and community impact. Recipients span sectors including public policy, engineering, real estate, academia, and grassroots advocacy.” The awards will be given November 9th at the Town Hall @ 2 Penn Plaza in NY City. Link.
| Gas Distribution System Regulatory Handbook Released - Justin Gundlach, General Counsel and Research Director – Future of Heat Initiative – This “Handbook is a good place to start if you are looking for background, context, points of comparison, or recent history with respect to an issue in a gas planning proceeding or gas utility rate case – or if you want to point someone else to a resource to help them get up to speed quickly. The Handbook is designed to be consulted as a reference rather than read cover to cover: practitioners can turn straight to the issue raised by the proceeding in front of them – a rate case, a leak-prone pipe filing, a depreciation study, or a ‘future of gas’ docket.” Link. | | NY-GEO Tables at Borderland Music Festival – An estimated 15,000 people attended the annual Borderland music festival headlined by Jack White and Alabama Shakes at the Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora, Southeast of Buffalo. NY-GEO tabled at the event along with Rock for Renewables, the Museum of the Earth, the Sierra Club, the Clean Air Coalition, and a portable solar powered cell phone recharging station. There’s a two minute interview on geothermal and the Win the Win campaign which will save NYers $600 Million on our utility bills by cutting incentives for gas expansion at this link. | The amazing Renee Volgelsang of Rock for Renewables interviews NY-GEO board member Bill Nowak. | |
Day 2 at Borderland
2.5 Million More New York Households Are Eligible to Get Discounts on Utility Bills - “Governor Hochul today launched a new statewide enrollment drive to help millions more New Yorkers get a monthly discount on their utility bills through the State’s Energy Affordability Program (EAP). While 1 million households statewide are already enrolled in the EAP, the State estimates that approximately 2.5 million more households are eligible to enroll for monthly discounts – including many that are now eligible due to Governor Hochul’s expansion of program eligibility. Depending on household income, the EAP can help New Yorkers save up to hundreds of dollars per year on utility costs, with discounts set to make a typical utility bill less than six percent of household income.” Link.
| Lessons From Early State Pilots of Geothermal Thermal Network Business Models – International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) newsletter – “Utilities in several states now own and operate ground heat exchangers as regulated infrastructure. A geothermal thermal network utility business model places the buried heat exchanger on the utility side of the meter. The customer connects to a shared thermal source instead of installing and maintaining the ground heat exchanger (GHX) alone. Pilot programs in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Minnesota, and Illinois have moved past the concept stage. Several are in the ground. Others are in design or regulatory review. Together they have surfaced practical lessons that matter to engineers, contractors, regulators, developers, and educators. Some of those lessons are technical. Many are about process, coordination, and workforce readiness.” Link. | | |
Graphic provided by Phoenix Foundation Company as part of a presentation at the 2026 IGSHPA Annual Conference
What "Obligation to Serve" Means When the Commodity Is Heat - International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) newsletter – “Regulators across North America are wrestling with a new question. Can a utility be legally required to deliver heat the way it delivers gas or electricity? A thermal energy network forces that question into the open. These systems move thermal energy through shared water loops rather than through combustion at each building. That shift changes the regulatory picture, and it lands squarely on the desks of engineers, contractors, and utility planners. If you design or install ground heat exchangers, the answer shapes your next decade of work.” Link.
| Electrification Is Paying Off vs. Gas in Australia - Jay Gordon - Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis - In this article titled Electrification Saves Victorians $185m In Three Years, see the documented economic advantages (and risks) of electrification for space and hot water in Victoria, Australia. One of several findings are that residential electrification has reduced Victoria’s annual gas demand by an estimated 5.6PJ/year since 2023. This is equivalent to 10.5% of demand from large commercial and industrial users. Link. | NYLCV Reviews NY’s Progress on Clean Energy for Climate Week – Although this essay from the NY League of Conservation Voters omits building decarbonization, it includes useful data on progress related to wind, solar, electricity storage and transmission. Link. | Advanced Grid Tech Gets a $1.9B DOE Boost - Jeff St. John – Canary Media - “As the U.S. grid strains to meet rising demand, 31 projects across 26 states get federal funds for high-tech cables, sensors, and controls to boost capacity.” Link. | Tech Money and Big Oil are Coming for CNN - Sammy Roth – Climate Covered Goggles – “Like most major news events, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s decision to settle a high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Paramount Skydance — clearing the way for the Ellison family to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery — has a climate angle. Several climate angles, actually.” Link. | | Editor’s note: Some of the building decarbonization articles we cover focus on air source heat pumps (ASHPs). The ascribed benefits of ASHPs usually also apply to ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), but these two technologies can have significantly different impacts. ASHP efficiency drops during extreme temperatures, increasing peak demand and potentially straining the electric grid. In contrast, GSHPs maintain high efficiency year-round, helping meet climate goals without overloading the grid. NY-GEO continues to advocate for policies that make ultra-efficient GSHPs the default choice in New York. | | |
NY-GEO Conference Highlights
| | All 1,400 Photos from the NY-GEO 2026 Conference in Brooklyn are posted! - See if you can find your picture at this easy to navigate Google Photos link. | | |
Presentation Recordings Are Now Available for All Sessions @ NY-GEO 2026 Brooklyn - We are pleased to announce that the curated content from NY-GEO 2026 Brooklyn is now available on our website. You can access all the NY-GEO 2026 recordings and slide deck materials here.
NY-GEO Conference Archive 2023-2025 Resource Now Available
With the addition of the Brooklyn 2026 program, NY-GEO now offers 141 educational sessions online, spanning 2023 through 2025. This extensive resource is designed to answer your questions and further the progress of GHP and Thermal Technologies. We extend our sincere gratitude to the professionals whose support makes NY-GEO Conferences possible. Find NY-GEO Conference Archive 2023-2025 landing page here.
NY-GEO 2027 Saratoga Springs - Looking ahead, please join us in Saratoga Springs April 26-28. As a valued member of our community, you are receiving the first opportunity to register, exhibit, and sponsor. Begin your preparations now for NY-GEO 2027 Saratoga Springs - Learn more here.
Not a member of NY-GEO? Why Not? Seriously - you should join here.
| | "We know from a recent study that every tenth of a degree in temperature rise that we prevent keeps 140 million of our brothers and sisters in habitable zones on this planet. And nothing has changed my basic conviction about the key: we need to keep building huge movements to finally break the political power of the fossil fuel industry and force the emergency conversion to clean energy." —Bill McKibben | Bill McKibben on 81st UN General Assembly in NYC – Essay in the Guardian - “Though 2026 seems likely to set a new global temperature record (and 2027, as El Niño gathers steam, is almost certain to break it), and though the planet has careened from one climate disaster to another (European heatwaves that killed tens of thousands, a Nepali flood that wiped out entire communities), and though scientists warn that we’re reaching precisely the global tipping points they’ve long feared (the new research on the faltering great currents of the Atlantic should send a literal chill up your spine), there’s a distinct lack of political momentum... But there is one solitary (and very literal) ray of sunshine amidst this gloom: the steady rise of solar, wind and batteries. That clean energy trinity has broken out of its Chinese base and over the last few years expanded quickly across the planet – from Karachi to California to Cuba, solar panels are going up faster than any energy source has ever grown.” Link. | Acclaimed Climate Writer Bill McKibben delivering solar panels to a NY City apartment building that President Carter had helped rehab in 1982 with habitat for humanity | |
Frequent Sources for Just In! briefs:
City & State First Read
POLITICO (Weekly NY & NJ Energy email)
Canary Media
Sunstone Strategies & the National Building Electrification Network
HEATMAP - We don't directly link to HEATMAP articles because they're behind a paywall, but HEATMAP is well worth subscribing to.
Author Bill McKibben's Crucial Years Blog
Renewable Energy World
ACHR News
Inside Climate News
Building Decarbonization Coalition
Renewable Heat Now
NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
Just in! is produced each week by NY-GEO board member Bill Nowak. Thanks to fellow NY-GEO board member John Ciovacco of Aztech Geothermal for his weekly proofreading contributions to this publication. We welcome your feedback and suggestions sent to billnowa@gmail.com.
EVENTS:
*Indicates a New Listing
** Indicates Updated Information
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*2026 09 29 - The ABCs of VPPs: An Introduction to Virtual Power Plants – 1:00 pm ET – Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) is hosting a webinar outlining how VPPs operate, key policy design considerations for states, and the current VPP landscape in the US. Panelists will include Adam Warren (Luminate LLC), Todd Olinsky-Paul (CESA), and Nate Hausman (CESA). Register here.
2026 10 01 - LiUNA Building Renewables Summit - Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, NY – 8:00 am to 5:00 pm ET – “...this event is about embracing the opportunities of renewable energy now. It is being hosted by the Laborers’ International Union of North America, (LIUNA) a powerhouse construction union a half-million strong that builds and maintains a vast array of infrastructure and renewable energy projects in New York State, and across the United States and Canada. The event will offer discussion panels and networking opportunities with high profile attendees who will be speaking alongside key innovators in the space.” Link.
*2026 10 08 - The Real Cost of Gas Pipeline Replacements - 1:00 pm ET – Building Decarbonization Coalition and Future of Heat Initiative - “As many as 43 states and Washington, D.C. have had some form of accelerated replacement program… By allowing gas utilities to recover capital costs from customers more quickly, often through monthly bill surcharges, these programs have helped accelerate spending on gas infrastructure. Nationwide, 71% of a typical customer’s gas bill now goes toward gas pipelines, while 29% pays for the gas itself. Using Pennsylvania and Massachusetts as case studies, we’ll examine how states can reform these programs to better target safety investments, strengthen regulatory oversight, protect customers from unnecessary costs, and require consideration of non-pipeline alternatives.” Register here.
2026 10 13 - Valuing GHP Technologies as Grid Assets - 11:30 am ET - NY-GEO Lunch n Learn - Presented by Kevin Kitz, P.E., KitzWorks LLC. Register here.
*2026 10 15 - Renewable Heat Now 2027 Campaign Kickoff! - 7:00 – 8:00 pm ET – “We have some exciting speakers lined up to share more about our plans for the 2027 legislative session and a few impactful events you can attend before the end of the year! Show up ready to take action!” Register here
*2026 10 23 - New Piping and Multi-Source Design Concepts for ATL Systems - – 11:30 am ET – IGSHPA October Town Hall – Gaylord Olson, inventor or co-inventor of 12 patents - “As ATL (Ambient Temperature Loop) Thermal Energy Network (District) Systems continue to evolve, there are significant opportunities to optimize the available land space, combine with thermal storage, incorporate hybrid systems, and use methods for piping that can maximize all sources of energy transfer. This presentation will explore design concepts that the presenter recommends for additional research. The goal is a design with a lower total cost of ownership than what is currently being done and a network that is easily expandable in all directions. Register here.
*2026 11 04 - LMI EE/BE Quarterly Forum - 10:00 am – 3:15 ET – “DPS Staff invites you to attend the latest Low & Moderate Income (LMI) Energy Efficiency/Building Electrification (EE/BE) Quarterly Forum. This conference continues the quarterly discussions of LMI EE/BE program performance. It will be held in-person in New York City with an option to join virtually via Webex.” Register Here.
2026 11 10 - Projected Design Life of Plastic Piping Used in Geothermal Ground Heat Exchangers - 11:30 am ET - NY-GEO Lunch n Learn - -Piping Updates to CSA/ANSI/IGSHPA C448 Series: 25 presented by: Lance MacNevin, P.Eng., The Plastics Pipe Institute. Register here.
Building Performance + HVAC Conferences Happening in 2026 – Compiled by Britt Heller at Heatspring Magazine
2027 04 26th to 28th - NY-GEO 2027 Saratoga Springs - As a valued member of our community, you are receiving the first opportunity to register, exhibit, and sponsor. Begin your preparations now for NY-GEO 2027 Saratoga Springs - Learn more here.
2027 06 15th to 17th – Ground2Grid Thermal Energy Summit – BNP Media & The Driller – “…The first national event fully dedicated to the lifecycle of Thermal Energy Networks (TENs). Taking place…at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, Ground2Grid will convene a diverse community of industry pioneers, policymakers, engineers, financiers, developers, drillers, and community stakeholders to forge partnerships and accelerate the clean energy transition… Registration opens February 20, 2026.” More information.
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Become a NY-GEO Member - NY-GEO is the driving force in the mass adoption of Ground Source (Geothermal) Heat Pumps for residential, commercial, and utility-scale heating and cooling in New York State. NY-GEO's mission is to grow the geothermal heat pump industry and develop its workforce while educating policymakers building/property developers and residents about the benefits of geothermal heat pumps.
We are a member-funded, non-profit trade organization and we depend on YOUR SUPPORT to expand the use of clean, renewable, geothermal heating and cooling systems for the benefit
of all.
Learn more about the benefits of becoming a NY-GEO member and why your membership is important to advancing GHP, Click here.
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