N.Y. Public Service Law § 66-P – Establishment of a renewable energy program

1. As used in this section:
1. (a) "jurisdictional load serving entity" means any entity subject to the jurisdiction of the commission that secures energy to serve the electrical energy requirements of end-use customers in New York state.
2. (b) "renewable energy systems" means systems that generate electricity or thermal energy through use of the following technologies: solar thermal, photovoltaics, on land and offshore wind, hydroelectric, geothermal electric, geothermal ground source heat, tidal energy, wave energy, ocean thermal, and fuel cells which do not utilize a fossil fuel resource in the process of generating electricity.
3. (c) "bill credit" shall have the same meaning as in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of subdivision twenty-seven-b of section one thousand five of the public authorities law.
4. (d) "disadvantaged community" means a community defined as a disadvantaged community under article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law.
5. (e) "renewable energy" means electrical energy produced by a renewable energy system.
6. (f) "low-income or moderate-income end-use consumer" shall mean end-use customers of electric corporations and combination gas and electric corporations regulated by the public service commission whose income is found to be below the state median income based on household size.
2. No later than June thirtieth, two thousand twenty-one, the commission shall establish a program to require that: (a) a minimum of seventy percent of the state wide electric generation secured by jurisdictional load serving entities to meet the electrical energy requirements of all end-use customers in New York state in two thousand thirty shall be generated by renewable energy systems; and (b) that by the year two thousand forty (collectively, the "targets") the statewide electrical demand system will be zero emissions. In establishing such program, the commission shall consider and where applicable formulate the program to address impacts of the program on safe and adequate electric service in the state under reasonably foreseeable conditions. The commission may, in designing the program, modify the obligations of jurisdictional load serving entities and/or the targets upon consideration of the factors described in this subdivision.
3. No later than July first, two thousand twenty-four and every two years thereafter, the commission shall, after notice and provision for the opportunity to comment, issue a comprehensive review of the program established pursuant to this section. The commission shall determine, among other matters: (a) progress in meeting the overall targets for deployment of renewable energy systems and zero emission sources, including factors that will or are likely to frustrate progress toward the targets; (b) distribution of systems by size and load zone; and (c) annual funding commitments and expenditures.
4. The commission may temporarily suspend or modify the obligations under such program provided that the commission, after conducting a hearing as provided in section twenty of this chapter, makes a finding that the program impedes the provision of safe and adequate electric service; the program is likely to impair existing obligations and agreements; and/or that there is a significant increase in arrears or service disconnections that the commission determines is related to the program.
5. No later than July first, two thousand twenty-four, the commission shall establish programs to require the procurement by the state's load serving entities of at least nine gigawatts of offshore wind electricity generation by two thousand thirty-five and six gigawatts of photovoltaic solar generation by two thousand twenty-five, and to support three gigawatts of statewide energy storage capacity by two thousand thirty.
6. In any proceeding commenced by the commission with a goal of achieving one hundred eighty-five trillion British thermal units of end-use energy savings below the two thousand twenty-five energy-use forecast, the commission will include mechanisms to ensure that, where practicable, at least twenty percent of investments in residential energy efficiency, including multi-family housing, can be invested in a manner which will benefit disadvantaged communities, as defined in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law, including low to moderate income consumers.
7. In the implementation of this section, the commission shall design programs in a manner to provide substantial benefits for disadvantaged communities, as defined in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law, including low to moderate income consumers, at a reasonable cost while ensuring safe and reliable electric service. Specifically, the commission shall:
1. (a) To the extent practicable, specify that a minimum percentage of energy storage projects should deliver clean energy benefits into NYISO zones that serve disadvantaged communities, as defined in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law, including low to moderate income consumers, and that energy storage projects be deployed to reduce the usage of combustion-powered peaking facilities located in or near disadvantaged communities;
2. (b) In pursuing the state's solar deployment goals, the New York state energy research and development authority shall consider enhanced incentive payments for solar and community distributed generation projects, focusing in particular but not limited to those serving disadvantaged communities, as defined in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law, which result in energy cost savings or demonstrate community ownership models; and,
3. (c) In the allocation of ratepayer funds for clean energy, direct the New York state energy research and development authority and investor owned utilities to develop and report metrics for energy savings and clean energy market penetration in the low and moderate income market and in disadvantaged communities, as defined in article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law, and post such information on the authority's website.
8. The power authority of the state of New York shall, no later than twelve months after the effective date of this subdivision, file a petition to commence, and the commission shall commence, necessary proceedings to enable the power authority of the state of New York to provide bill credits from renewable energy generating projects under the renewable energy access and community help program, or "REACH", established pursuant to subdivision twenty-seven-b of section one thousand five of the public authorities law, to low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in disadvantaged communities for renewable energy produced by renewable energy generating projects developed, constructed, owned, or contracted for by the power authority of the state of New York pursuant to subdivision twenty-seven-a of section one thousand five of the public authorities law. Such bill credits shall be in addition to any other renewable energy program or any other program or benefit that low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in disadvantaged communities receive, and any other incentives made available by the power authority of the state of New York. For purposes of this subdivision, a renewable energy system developed, constructed, owned, or contracted for by the authority shall be:
1. (a) sized up to and including five megawatts alternating current and interconnected to the distribution system or transmission system in the service territory of the electric utility that serves the low-income or moderate-income end-use consumers that receive bill credits; or
2. (b) sized above five megawatts alternating current and interconnected to the distribution or transmission system at one or more points anywhere in New York state. The commission shall, after public notice and comment, establish such programs implementing REACH which:
  1. (i) provide that jurisdictional load serving entities shall enter into agreements with the power authority of the state of New York to carry out REACH;
  2. (ii) provide that jurisdictional load serving entities shall file tariffs and other solutions determined by the commission to implement REACH at a reasonable cost while ensuring safe and reliable electric service;
  3. (iii) provide that, unless they opt out, low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in disadvantaged communities, including such end-use electricity customers who have or who reside in buildings that have on-site net-metered generation or who participate in a community choice aggregation or community distributed generation project, shall receive bill credits for renewable energy produced by a renewable energy system developed, constructed, owned, or contracted for by the power authority of the state of New York pursuant to subdivision twenty-seven-a of section one thousand five of the public authorities law;
  4. (iv) consider enhanced incentive payments in bill credits to low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in disadvantaged communities for renewable energy systems including solar and community distributed generation projects as provided for in paragraph (b) of subdivision seven of this section;
  5. (v) to the extent practicable include energy storage in renewable energy systems to deliver clean energy benefits to low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in disadvantaged communities as provided for in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision seven of this section; and
  6. (vi) address recovery by jurisdictional load serving entities of their prudently incurred costs of administering REACH in electric service delivery rates of the utility in whose service territory low-income or moderate-income end-use electricity consumers in a disadvantaged community participate in REACH.