New York City officials, community groups and clean‑energy advocates used the Senate joint committee hearing to stress that implementing Local Law 97 and meeting the CLCPA will require targeted financing, transmission build‑out and neighborhood‑scale heating solutions. Elijah Hutchinson, executive director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, told senators that the city has completed its first Local Law 97 compliance deadline and is expanding municipally owned solar, organics processing for renewable gas and other programs, but that New York City needs state tools to make compliance affordable. Hutchinson urged the legislature and PSC to prioritize system‑benefit and bonding funds for low‑ and moderate‑income housing, to scale NYCHA clean‑heat programs, and to solicit upstate‑to‑downstate transmission so the city can receive large‑scale renewable energy that takes years to site and build. Advocates and unions pressed for utility‑led thermal energy networks (so‑called U10 projects) as a way to heat and cool multi‑family buildings without individual electrification conversions. The Senate saw a broad cross‑section of testimony supporting quicker approvals for U10 pilots, and unions and developers said U10 projects can deliver jobs while reducing peak electric demand and easing building electrification for dense neighborhoods. The Alliance for a Green Economy, New Yorkers for Clean Power, SANE Energy Project and others urged the PSC to advance multiple U10 projects into construction and to consider thermal networks as part of a broader alternative‑fuel and non‑pipe approach for buildings. Municipal officials warned that state funding decisions have so far favored upstate projects that are easier to decarbonize, while dense city housing — which often has higher retrofitting costs and more complex tenant/owner dynamics — has not received proportional support. New York City’s representatives urged that system‑benefit charge funds and other state monies be shaped to prioritize multifamily and affordable housing, and called for scaling revolving loan funds and flexible financing tools for building owners. The hearing also revisited the role of RECs and large‑scale offshore wind procurement; city and advocates said transmission delays and federal permitting barriers have reduced the supply of eligible tier‑4 renewable certificates that building owners can use to meet Local Law 97 compliance. Lawmakers pressed NYSERDA, the PSC and the utilities for a coordinated roadmap — including procurement and transmission sequencing — that aligns state incentive programs with the timing of Local Law 97 compliance cycles so building owners can access affordable options before fines become due.