A recent report from the Vote Solar Initiative and other environmental organizations says that efforts to produce enough solar energy to power 1 million New York homes by 2025 could provide substantial economic benefits.
Specifically, the amount of new solar energy generated under this effort would be 5,000 megawatts of electricity.
For example, the report predicts that more than 22,000 jobs would be created by such an effort, in part because solar energy reportedly creates more jobs per megawatt than other forms of electricity generation. The overall economic benefit of this effort would be an estimated $20 billion, while affecting the average monthly electric bill by only about 39 cents.
"There's nothing more important right now for New York than new jobs - and expanded use of solar power is an important way to create the new jobs and the clean energy we need," said State Senate Majority Conference Leader John L. Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat.
