Establishes a process for the siting of major electric generating facilities

5 Co-sponsors

• Brian Kolb
• James Tedisco
• Clifford Crouch
• Nancy Calhoun
• Gary Finch

24 Multi-sponsors

• James Bacalles
• Greg Ball
• William A. Barclay
• Phil Boyle
• Daniel Burling
• Marc Butler
• Janet Duprey
• Joseph Errigo
• Joseph Giglio
• Stephen Hawley
• James Hayes
• Peter Lopez
• David McDonough
• Thomas McKevitt
• Joel Miller
• Marcus Molinaro
• Robert Oaks
• Jack Quinn III
• Andrew Raia
• Bill Reilich
• Joseph Saladino
• Dierdre Scozzafava
• Mike Spano
• David Townsend

BILL NUMBER:A2082A

Title of bill

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to siting major electric generating facilities; to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to making certain conforming changes relating to the siting of major electric generating facilities; to amend the public authorities law, in relation to making provisions of law relating to the siting of major electric generating facilities applica- ble to the power authority of the state of New York and the Long Island power authority; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the electric generating facilities intervenor account

Purpose or general idea of bill

Reauthorizes Article X of the Public Service Law for ten years with amendments that improve the process for the siting of major electric generating facilities.

Summary of specific provisions

Amends Article X of the Public Service Law, relating to the siting of major electric generating facilities, to allow communities to participate in the siting process sooner and in a more meaningful way by providing up-front intervenor funding. In addi- tion, the bill provides for protection of New York's natural resources, especially water resources and local waterfront revitalization programs.

Amends Article 6 of the Public Service Law, re-establishing a State Energy Planning Board, in order to ensure that the state has a viable state energy plan.

Justification

Article X was designed to implement an expedited review process for the siting of major electric generating facilities while recognizing the importance of, and providing for, citizen involvement in the siting process. However, Article X expired on January 1, 2003.

It is projected that with the decommissioning of existing plants and underinvestment in new power generation, we will have an energy short- fall that could begin to seriously impact downstate capacity and reli- ability between 2008 and 2011. Since it takes about fives years to site and build a power plant in New York, the critical time for reauthorizing our Article X siting law, which is already considered the best in the country, is now. This bill would re-authorize Article X for ten years, with reasonable changes to improve the current statute and provide regu- latory predictability, and this legislation. would also reinstate the State Energy Planning process.

Prior legislative history

2008: Held Energy 2009: Held in Energy

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Effective 180 days after enactment.