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Just In! for October 3rd, 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, Brian Ferrarese, Christine Hoffer, Donovan Gordon, Renee Vogelsang, and Sammy Roth.
Way too much building relevant clean energy news came through this week ! Hope you can use your best scanning skills.
| | Vermont Gas Invests in Geothermal - Catherine Boudreau – Latitude Media – “The utility joins a growing 'gas-to-geo' push as it expands into cleaner energy. Geothermal (heating & cooling)… is emerging as a way for gas utilities to make the shift toward cleaner energy without abandoning their entire business model — especially in states that have passed laws mandating decarbonization. Vermont Gas is making the leap, today announcing its first investment in geothermal ground loops. The utility, which serves about 56,000 customers in the northwestern part of the state, is covering the upfront cost of the new infrastructure that will provide heating and cooling for a new affordable housing project. Dandelion Energy is handling the system design and drilling… Residents of the new housing project in Vermont will still pay a monthly utility bill to cover the cost of their power, in addition to a $25 to $35 monthly fee over 20 years to access geothermal.” Editor's note: In a groundbreaking advance for a utility-owned project in the Northeast, the ground loops won’t be networked, but will be drilled individually for each building. Link. | |
Dandelion drilling rig for geothermal ground loops as a new housing development gets underway
Gov. Hochul Signs Clean Energy Bill for Schools – Governor’s press release - “S.1986 gives school districts more time to pay off clean energy upgrades using money they save on their utility bills by increasing the time period for recovery to up to 25 years, up from the current 18.” Senator Harckham noted, “most of all, I am proud of the student advocates whose hard work and concern about their environment helped spur this initiative. Truly, this is a great example of young people driving change that will benefit us all.” NY-GEO backed this bill as it gives schools a more supportive platform for installing geothermal. Link.
| New Colorado Neighborhood Could Offer Glimpse into the Future of Home Energy Use - Phil McKenna – Inside Climate News – “Dandelion Energy, a geothermal startup, and Lennar, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, recently completed construction of nearly 100 homes at the base of Colorado’s Front Range, each equipped with its own ground-source heat pump… The Ken Caryl Ranch development is part of a larger initiative the company launched with Lennar in 2025 to install geothermal heating and cooling at more than 1,500 homes in Colorado over two years. Dandelion hopes to scale up to 10,000 homes per year nationwide in the coming years… Dan Yates, Dandelion Energy’s CEO and chairman (noted it’s) ‘the only system that actually reduces peak demand and electrifies homes at the same time.’ ” Link. | | |
Ken Caryl Ranch development
Interest in All-Electric Homes More Than Doubles in One Year - Jennifer Castenson – Green Builder – “When asked if they would purchase an all-electric house, only 36.1% of home buyers said yes in 2025. Today, 73.4% say that they would purchase an all-electric house, nearly tripling the interest in one year… Most homeowners (35.5%) believe the biggest benefit of an all-electric home is reducing their environmental footprint, moving ahead of saving money (25.7%).” Link.
| CA’s Newsome Signs Home Energy Choice Act – Earthjustice press room – “Today, (2026 09 30) Governor Newsom signed the Home Energy Choice Act (AB 2313) into law. ‘AB 2313 is a win for ratepayers, a win for the environment, and a win for public health,’ said (bill sponsor) Assemblymember Marc Berman. ‘Rather than being forced to have their gas hookups replaced, homeowners will get the choice to receive funds to electrify their homes while overall utility infrastructure spending goes down, lowering rates for all gas ratepayers.’ More than 100 organizations around the state have championed AB 2313 and Californians sent over 13,000 letters to their legislators and the Governor supporting the bill.” Link. | IEA: Trio of Energy Choices Point to Electrification – email from Dan Gearino at Inside Climate News - “If one form of energy becomes the cheapest, most secure and cleanest, you’d probably adjust your economy to use more of it, right? That’s one of the ideas underpinning a report the International Energy Agency issued last week about the global move toward electrification. Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, discussed some of the concepts from the report the following day at the United Nations. ‘Many, many years in the energy world, we had three choices in front of us. Shall I choose the most secure energy option? Shall I choose the most economic energy option? Or shall I choose the cleanest energy option?... We have to make choices, we have to make trade-offs but when we look at the world today, for the first time in years, all of these three objectives are getting aligned.’ ” IEA report at this link. Birol’s speech at this link. | Who’s Behind the Push to Weaken NYC’s Climate Law? - Benjy Sachs – NY Focus – “A ‘grassroots’ homeowners group leading the charge against Local Law 97 has deep ties to a powerful real estate industry association.” Link. | | Help Push a $600 Million Savings Across the Finish Line – Renewable Heat Now is seeking on-line signatures on postcards that support NY’s efforts to repeal the obligation for ratepayers to subsidize a form of gas system expansion known as “line extensions” or “the 100-foot rule”. The Legislature passed and Governor signed the repeal of the 100-foot rule, and regulations have been drawn up to enact the repeal. The postcards urge NY to follow through on the process and bring the savings home for ratepayers. NY-GEO urges you to add your name at this link. | |
NY-GEO board members Donovan Gordon and Bill Nowak are seated in the middle of the second row.
NYCHA’s Green Future? Officials Open ‘Showroom’ Apartment with Sustainable Features - Jeanmarie Evelly - “Want a tour of NYCHA’s climate-friendlier future? On Monday, the city unveiled a model apartment in Brooklyn designed to show off new, green technology being installed at select public housing developments across the city… The showroom, opened at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, aims to ‘give NYCHA residents, design-build teams, property managers and other stakeholders an opportunity to see and experience the technologies firsthand as they plan and carry out future public housing renovations,’ according to an announcement from the city… That plan—which so far, is only about half funded—calls for the installation of heat pumps at 20,000 NYCHA apartments and adding induction stoves in another 10,000 units, among other resiliency improvements, like electric vehicle charging stations… NYCHA residents who want to view the model apartment can arrange a tour through their tenant association.” Link.
| Why Won’t the Clean Energy Industry Play Dirty? - Kainoa Lowman – Washington Monthly – “Crypto and AI groups are spending massive amounts to prop up Republican majorities that have waged war on clean energy. So why does the industry still spend so little on elections?” Link. | Environmental Advocates NY Applauds Gov. Hochul’s Continued $1 Billion Investment in Sustainable Future Fund and New Energy Infrastructure Development Plan – “Today (2026 09 22), Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan for the second installment of the landmark Sustainable Future Program. The fund was first seeded with $1 Billion in 2025, and continued today with this additional $1 Billion announcement. The announcement also outlined a new Energy Infrastructure Development Plan. In response, Environmental Advocates NY Deputy Executive Director Katherine Nadeau issued the following statement: ‘Environmental Advocates NY celebrates today’s announcement, which puts critical resources behind the clean energy and climate solutions New Yorkers need now. At a time when federal action on climate and environmental protection remains deeply uncertain, New York has an opportunity and a responsibility to keep moving forward…’ ” Link. | New Yorkers Walk to Stop the Constitution Pipeline - "The Women’s Water Walk began Sept. 19 in Sidney, NY. The group is following the proposed route of the Constitution Pipeline, walking 108 miles through the Southern Tier and Catskills. The walkers are visiting rivers, lakes and streams along the route and plan to bring water they collect to Gov. Kathy Hochul in Albany." The walk is scheduled to conclude on October 4th, and the Water Delivery & Stop the Constitution Pipeline Rally will happen Tuesday, October 6th, at noon at the Million Dollar Staircase, in the NYS Capitol, in Albany. Link. And Dr. Kathleen Nolan of Catskill Mountain Keeper and the NY Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, talks about the pipeline with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine at this link. | Rising Heating Oil Prices Push Southern New England Homeowners to Buy Less Fuel - Mike Cerullo, NBC 10 News – “David Studley, owner of Patriot Oil in West Warwick, said he is seeing the impact (of rising oil prices) firsthand… As prices rise, Studley said more customers are ordering smaller deliveries. ‘We’re getting a lot of calls for 50 gallons right now. We never used to deliver 50 gallons up until a couple years ago, when the prices started increasing,’ he said. ‘They’re buying the minimum.’ ” Link. | U.S. House Testimony Against All-Electric Buildings – In this 5-minute video clip of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing, Congressmember Lauren Boebert questions various witnesses on problems she sees with Colorado’s building codes that require new construction to be all-electric in order to meet climate goals. Link. | | |
Patrick J. McCormick III of the National Center for Energy Analytics and Representative Lauren Boebert
Will New York’s 1GW storage contracts finally break the state’s big battery impasse? - Julian Spector – “The state stepped in with a market-based contract in hopes of jump-starting the big battery construction that has so far proved elusive.” Link.
| New York Power Authority to Take Over Majority Ownership of Rich Road Solar Development in Canton – North Country Now - “According to the Power Authority, the large-scale solar project will support more than 250 union construction jobs, and once operational, will contribute to the Power Authority’s Renewable Energy Access and Community Help (REACH) program, which provides bill credits to low-income New Yorkers.” NY’s Build Public Renewables Act (Sen. Parker, AM Carroll) empowers the state-owned Power Authority - the nation’s largest state public utility—to build, own, and operate large-scale renewable energy and battery storage projects. Link. | What’s Up with National Grid’s Proposed Rate “Freeze”? - Colin Kinniburgh – “The utility says it wants to keep rates steady for an extra year. But critics see the proposal as a backdoor rate hike.” Link. | EU Weighs One-Year Delay to Methane Rules as Winter Energy Risks Rise - Julianne Geiger – Oil Price – “The European Union is considering delaying methane reporting rules for imported oil and gas by as much as a year as tight fuel supplies and rising prices collide with Brussels’ climate agenda. The rules are set to take effect on January 1, 2027. Foreign oil and gas producers supplying the EU would be required to monitor and report methane emissions, with penalties for noncompliance. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said Tuesday that officials are examining whether to postpone the import provisions, not weaken them.” Link. | The US State Replacing Power Plants with Home Batteries - Jack Carroll – BBC – “Spread across thousands of ordinary homes, this ‘power plant’ has become Vermont's largest power source. It's protecting owners from outages and providing cheaper, cleaner energy.” Link. | An Unlikely Power Player in the Fight Over Solar on Farmland – Marie J. French – POLITICO – “Alexandra Fasulo's attacks on New York solar have reached Washington and the governor's race. The state has struggled to counter her claims, even when they don't hold up.” Link. | Startup Helps Food Carts Switch Loud, Dirty Generators for Batteries - Ysabelle Kempe – Canary Media - “A battery-swapping experiment in NYC lets vendors access clean power without having to buy the systems or charge them. The approach promises big cost savings.” Link. | Newsom Signs Virtual Power Plant Bill – Jeff St.John – Canary Media – “California’s outgoing governor approved bills to contain utility spending and allow customers to get paid to let batteries, EVs, and appliances ease grid stress.” Link. | MA Gov. Healey Urges Speed Up Review for Planned Gas Expansion - Jordan Wolman – CommonWealth Beacon - “HERE’S SOMETHING you probably didn’t have on your bingo card: The Democratic governor of Massachusetts asking President Trump’s administration to move faster in approving a gas expansion project. That’s exactly what Gov. Maura Healey did on Thursday, imploring Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a letter to move with a ‘sense of urgency’ in issuing required permits for the project to quickly move forward.” Link. | Planet China - Kiley Price interviews Dan Gearino and Dan Kusnetz – Inside Climate News – “From electric vehicle exports to massive overseas infrastructure projects, China is having a big—and contradictory—environmental impact worldwide.” Transcript and recording at this 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. | | This Week’s IGSHPA Member Spotlight is on ClimateMaster! – NY-GEO member “ClimateMaster’s role as a domestic energy and geothermal heating and cooling leader dates back to the late 1950s, when the company was founded in Florida. ClimateMaster was later relocated to New York, where it began manufacturing water-loop heat pump systems, and eventually moved its headquarters to Oklahoma City, where it continues to thrive today.” Link. | Businesses Sought to Sign Annual BEEP Letter on Electrification and Equity – Each year since 2021, the Renewable Heat Now campaign has organized hundreds of organizations to sign on to a letter to the Governor known as the Building Electrification and Equity Platform (BEEP) letter. The letter outlines steps the Governor can take to continue to move building electrification forward. NY-GEO has signed on this year, as have NY-GEO members Halco and Buffalo Geothermal. We urge all our members to review this year’s letter here, and if you agree, to sign on at this link. | | "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 | Revealing the Invisible Injustice of Extreme Heat – Bob Berwyn – Inside Climate News – “Thermal imaging shows how people experience scorching heat varies depending on their circumstance.” Link. | Long After Wildfire Smoke Is Gone, Heavy Metals Could Still Be Harming Survivors’ Lungs - Keerti Gopal – “A new study from University of Hawai‘i researchers links metals found in the ash of the 2023 Maui wildfires with impaired lung function.” Link. | Alito’s Recuses Self from Boulder Climate Superfund Case – Marianne Lavelle – Inside Climate News - “Justice Samuel Alito decided Monday to sit out one of the most consequential climate change cases to reach the Supreme Court, but legal experts expected continuing ramifications due to his ownership of individual corporate stocks, including in the fossil fuel industry. After months of resisting calls for his recusal, Alito reversed himself one week before the Supreme Court is set to open its term by hearing the oil industry’s bid to block Boulder, Colorado’s lawsuit to recover costs related to climate change.” Link. | Incoming El Niño Is So Extreme It Doesn’t Have a Scientific Name - Nina Dietz - "As a record breaking El Niño continues to grow in the Eastern Pacific, climate scientist Daniel Swain explains what may be in store for the next year as we brace for an El Niño ‘so far above anything we've previously seen, it doesn't even fit on the same axis.’ ” Link. | Even the New Yorker Has Lost the Plot - The Climate Silence Is Coming from Inside the House - Sammy Roth – “Politicians aren’t talking about climate change. Newspapers are cutting back on climate reporting. Films and TV shows rarely highlight climate. Surely, at least, the highbrow fiction published by the New Yorker — America’s most prestigious literary magazine — offers plenty of climate storytelling. Spoiler alert: nope.” Link. | How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters? - Simmone Shah and Rebecca Schneid - Time Magazine – “A massive nor'easter (swept) across the U.S. Northeast (last) weekend, impacting coastal regions from the Midatlantic to Maine—bringing heavy rains, flooding, and wind gusts surpassing 60 miles per hour in some affected areas. ‘Until we stop increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the intensity of rainfall, the intensity of these storms, will continue to increase as well… Until we stop making things worse, things are going to keep getting worse.’ ” Link. | Surprising Allies Backing Boulder’s Climate Case Before the Supreme Court – Kate Yoder - Grist – “Ranchers, conservative legal scholars, and former Republican EPA chiefs are siding against oil companies. Here's why.” Link. | Europe’s Extreme Summer Triggered Cascading Climate Shocks- Bob Berwyn – Inside Climate News – “During this past summer of climate extremes, more than half of Europe experienced dangerous levels of heat stress, the combined effect of temperature, humidity, wind and sunshine on the body’s ability to cool itself... The May-to-August period also brought record-low flows in many major European rivers and widespread losses of important food crops, including grain. The summer was so extreme that four of Western Europe’s 10 most severe heatwaves since 1950 occurred between late May and mid-August 2026. All four were more intense than Europe’s landmark 2003 heatwave, although they differed in duration and spatial extent.” Link. | |
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 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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