Cuomo energy czar signals shift in grant strategy

David Giambusso

State energy czar Richard Kauffman wants out of the grant-giving business.

In public remarks and in interviews, he and energy officials at the state and federal level say the tradition of governments directly funding innovation, while still a big component of developing renewable energy, needs to give way to a model of pushing the marketplace to invest in new technology.

"The problem is not innovation, the problem is markets," said Kauffman, who is Governor Andrew Cuomo's energy and finance chair. "Where we're going to solve the valley of death is through market development and through the use of capital markets."

Kauffman, who also chairs the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the state's primary research engine, told the closing ceremony of EnerKnol's New York Energy Week last week that government grants alone won't create the type of permanent revolution the state is seeking in the energy world.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/energy/2014/06/8547859/cuomo-energy-czar-signals-shift-grant-strategy

This does not sound good. Green energy inventors need grants.