Governor Hochul’s Top Energy Advisor Tells Westchester Business Leaders: “Energy Policy Is Economic Policy”

Deputy Secretary Sean Ewart Aligns with CEAC Priorities:

Demand Response, Solar + Storage, and All-of-the-Above Solutions

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — March 27, 2026 — Governor Kathy Hochul’s Deputy Secretary for Energy, Sean Ewart, delivered a direct address to Westchester’s business community today, affirming a message central to the Business Council of Westchester’s (BCW’s) Clean Energy Action Coalition (CEAC), energy policy is economic policy.

Ewart spoke to 70 Westchester leaders who attended a special luncheon of Dealmakers – a bi-monthly lunch gathering designed for business professionals in the area with a strong interest in real estate development. Sponsored by Murphy Brothers Contracting and R.M. Friedland, attendees gather to gain insight into the evolving landscape of real estate in the Westchester and Lower Hudson Valley regions. The March 27^th luncheon was cosponsored by EarthKind Energy Consulting as an opportunity for leaders to hear about New York’s evolving energy policies and the upcoming Business Council of Westchester’s Clean Energy Action Conference on April 14^th. You can register for the BCW’s Clean Energy Conference here: https://web.thebcw.org/atlas/events/1849/details.

At the forum, Ewart laid out the Governor’s all-of-the-above energy strategy — and confirmed alignment with priorities that the BCW CEAC champions for Westchester municipalities, businesses, and residents.

STATE PRIORITIES ALIGN WITH CEAC’S AGENDA

Ewart’s remarks directly echoed the three priorities the CEAC has advanced with Westchester municipalities and the business community:

Demand Response & Energy Efficiency

Ewart opened his policy framework with a principle CEAC has promoted for years: the cheapest and cleanest megawatt is the one you never have to use. The Governor’s strategy centers on permanently reducing demand and empowering consumers as the first line of grid defense.

Solar + Battery Storage

The Administration’s commitment to distributed solar and energy storage aligns squarely with CEAC’s municipal and commercial deployment work across Westchester. Ewart emphasized that local, resilient power — insulated from global fuel market volatility — is an affordability, reliability, and national security imperative – as well as an environmental necessity.

Renewable Diesel & Practical Transition Fuels

Echoing CEAC’s position that we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good, Ewart called for leaning into cleaner solutions like renewable fuels— recognizing that electrification alone won’t work for every application, and that practical bridge fuels are essential to keeping the transition moving.

“The Governor’s office is speaking our language. Demand reduction, distributed solar and storage, and practical fuels like renewable diesel — these are the tools the BCW’s CEAC are advancing in Westchester. We’re encouraged by this alignment and ready to accelerate the work together.”

— John Ravitz, Executive Vice President/COO, Business Council of Westchester

ABOUT THE CLEAN ENERGY ACTION COALITION

The Clean Energy Action Coalition (CEAC) is a program of the Business Council of Westchester that convenes municipal leaders, commercial real estate developers, nonprofits, utilities, and clean energy professionals to build an affordable, reliable resilient, and sustainable energy system by accelerating the adoption of energy efficiency, demand response, solar, battery storage, EV infrastructure, heat pumps, renewable fuels, and related technologies throughout Westchester County and the Hudson Valley region.

— and we want your organization there too.  #CleanEnergy #Westchester #BCW #CEAC #NewYork #Solar #BatteryStorage #DemandResponse #RenewableDiesel

— BCW Clean Energy Action Coalition / EarthKind Energy Consulting