Senator Kevin S. Parker
New York State Senator, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
New York State Senator Kevin S. Parker is a veteran energy policymaker with more than two decades of legislative experience shaping New York’s energy, utility, climate, and telecommunications policy. As Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, Senator Parker plays a leading role in advancing legislation governing the State’s electric and gas utilities, renewable and emerging energy technologies, grid infrastructure, energy affordability, telecommunications, and New York’s transition to a cleaner and more resilient energy economy. Senator Parker’s expertise in energy policy extends across both majority and minority service in the Senate. Prior to becoming Chair, he served as the Ranking Democratic Member of the Energy and Telecommunications Committee, giving him extensive experience with utility regulation, Public Service Commission oversight, energy markets, ratepayer protections, generation and transmission infrastructure, and the rapidly evolving technologies transforming the energy sector. Throughout his tenure, Senator Parker has championed policies that balance New York’s climate and clean-energy objectives with reliability, affordability, economic development, and consumer protection. His legislative portfolio includes initiatives involving renewable and zero-emission generation, energy storage, microgrids, grid modernization, transmission and distribution infrastructure, renewable hydrogen, carbon capture, distributed energy resources, and the redevelopment of brownfields and dormant generation sites for clean-energy purposes. Senator Parker has also long advocated for energy equity and environmental justice. His proposals have sought to expand access to resilient and renewable-energy infrastructure in public housing and disadvantaged communities, including the deployment of microgrids and distributed-energy systems. He has consistently emphasized that the economic benefits of the clean energy transition, including employment, workforce development, contracting, investment, and emerging technologies, must extend to communities that historically have been underrepresented in the energy sector. His leadership extends beyond New York. Senator Parker has served as Chair of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators’ Energy, Transportation and Environment Policy Committee, where his work has focused on clean-energy development, environmental justice, infrastructure, economic opportunity, and increasing participation by communities of color in the growing green economy. His depth of legislative and regulatory experience has positioned him as a knowledgeable voice on the intersection of energy innovation, consumer protection, infrastructure, environmental responsibility, and economic opportunity.
