2023 New York Laws › PBS - Public Service › Article 4 - Provisions Relating to Gas and Electric Corporations; Regulation of Price of Gas and Electricity › 66-P - Establishment of a Renewable Energy Program.

§  66-p.  Establishment  of  a renewable energy program. 1. As used in
this section:
(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.
(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.
(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.
(d)   "disadvantaged   community"  means  a  community  defined  as  a
disadvantaged community under article seventy-five of the  environmental
conservation law.
(e) "renewable energy" means electrical energy produced by a renewable
energy system.
(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:
(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;
(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,
(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:
(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
(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:
(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;
(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;
(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;
(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;
(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
(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.