The level of energy prices, mostly the price of natural gas, which usually sets electricity prices in New York, will determine how much renewable energy the program will seek. In a low cost environment, the program could add 1,000 MW. In a high price environment, it could add as much as 3,000 MW of renewable resources, Harris says.

Letting in the Sun

At the far end of the state what is arguably one the most ambitious state-funded projects calls for the repurposing of the site of the former Republic Steel factory into the largest solar panel factory in the Western Hemisphere.

The RiverBend project is s showcase of the state’s strategy for building projects that attract 21st Century businesses and jobs, and it is the centerpiece of Buffalo Billion, an investment plan that Cuomo announced in his 2012 State of the State speech.

Aspects of the Buffalo Billion program are patterned on the success of an earlier program in which the state funded the creation of research and development space to attract innovative technologies to New York State.

That program created the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the State University of New York’s Albany campus. Since its founding about 15 years ago, CSNE has attracted over $20 billion in investment from private companies to New York State, according to David Doyle, a spokesman for the State University of New York.

Its success also resulted in CSNE being moved out from under SUNY Albany and set up as part of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, a new, separate branch of the SUNY system with campuses in Albany and in the Utica-Rome metropolitan region.

Fort Schuyler Management Corp. (FSMC), founded in 2009, is the not-for-profit real estate management and development firm affiliated with SUNY Poly.

FSMC acted as the agent for the state in developing the RiverBend project, setting up and conducting the solicitations for the contractor and engaging in negotiations with the tenant, SolarCity of San Mateo, Calif.

SolarCity, however, was not the original tenant. The RiverBend project originally called for Silevo and Soraa, a solar panel manufacturer and a maker of LED lights, respectively, to occupy two, separate 250,000 sq ft buildings that would be used for R&D and to host manufacturing facilities.