ALBANY, NY — New York State released the 2015 Energy Plan on June 25, which aims to put the state on a path to dramatically reduce energy-related emissions by 2030.

The plan targets a 40% reduction from 1990 levels in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), which come from power generation, industry, buildings and transportation, by 2030. That’s part of a larger goal of an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.

The New York State Energy Planning Board (EPB), which created the plan, says the reduction “is critical to protecting the health and welfare of New Yorkers.”

The plan calls for the increased use of renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydropower and biomass to help stabilize electricity prices while driving down carbon emissions. The goal is for 50% of electricity in the state to come from renewable sources by 2030.

Another goal is to obtain a 600 trillion BTU increase in energy efficiency gains in buildings, which means increasing building energy efficiency by 23% from 2012 levels by 2030.

Multiple state agencies were involved in the creation of the long-awaited and long-delayed plan, including the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, (NYSERDA). According to NYSERDA officials, members of the public submitted more than 100,000 public comments.

The plan was intended to align with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program, which was launched in 2014. According to a document on the PSC’s website, the plan “coordinates every State agency and authority that touches energy to advance the REV agenda, unleashing groundbreaking regulatory reform to integrate clean energy into the core of our power grid, redesigning programs to unlock private capital, and actively deploying innovative energy solutions across the State’s own public facilities and operations.”

The state’s energy initiatives have been hailed as among the most aggressive in the country, and while the plan is nonbinding, many environmentalists have been supportive of it.