What's happening
This bill amends the Recharge New York power program to set new pricing requirements, allow allocation reductions, and require unanimous board approval to exceed power limits.
Why it matters
Requires that Recharge New York market power (from authority sources) be priced at least 8% below the default service rate. this could help participating businesses and organizations achieve more predictable and favorable electricity costs, potentially making the program more attractive and spurring economic activity.
Gives recipients the option to reduce their allocation of market power first if their actual usage falls below their allocation. this flexibility can help recipients manage costs more efficiently, particularly if market power is more expensive or less desirable than hydropower.
Imposes a new requirement for unanimous board approval to exceed the program’s 910-megawatt allocation cap. this makes it significantly harder to expand the program’s total power beyond the set limit, ensuring that all board members must agree before any increase, which may lead to more cautious program growth and stricter oversight.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Lower Recharge NY Power Costs
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Reported and committed to rules
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8368
IN SENATE
May 3, 2018
Introduced by Sen. GRIFFO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to recharge New York power
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph 8 of subdivision (a) of section 188-a of the economic development law, as added by section 2 of part CC of chapter 60 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(8) "Recharge New York power" shall mean and consist of equal amounts of (i) four hundred fifty-five megawatts of firm hydroelectric power from the Niagara and Saint Lawrence hydroelectric projects to be withdrawn from utility corporations that, prior to the effective date of this section, purchased such power for the benefit of their domestic and rural consumers ("recharge New York hydropower"), and (ii) power procured by the authority through a competitive procurement process, authority sources (other than the Niagara and Saint Lawrence projects) or through an alternate method ("recharge New York market power"); provided, however, that if such recharge New York market power comes from authority sources, the use of that power shall not reduce the availability of, or cause an increase in the price of, power provided by the authority for any other program authorized in this article or pursuant to any other statute; provided, further, however that if such recharge New York market power comes from authority sources, the use of that power shall be at least eight percent less than default service.
§ 2. Paragraph 3 of subdivision (c) of section 188-a of the economic development law, as added by section 2 of part CC of chapter 60 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(3) The board's recommendation shall require that if the actual metered load at the facility where the allocation is utilized is less than the allocation, such allocation will be reduced accordingly, provided that, the recipient may elect to reduce the recharge New York market power allocation first, and provided further that, under its
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15087-01-8
S. 8368 2
contract with the authority, the recipient shall be afforded a reasonable period within which to fully utilize the allocation, taking into account construction schedules and economic conditions. The authority shall reallocate any withdrawn or relinquished power for the recharge New York power program consistent with paragraph four of this subdivision.
§ 3. Paragraph 7 of subdivision (c) of section 188-a of the economic development law, as added by section 2 of part CC of chapter 60 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(7) The board shall not recommend a total of recharge New York power allocations in excess of nine hundred ten megawatts except upon the unanimous recommendation of the board.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the economic development law, in relation to recharge New York power
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to increase the effectiveness of the ReCharge New York Program. The ReCharge New York program provides New York businesses the ability to buy low-cost power and spend the savings on retaining and creating jobs. ReCharge New York allocates discount power to companies across the State, an incentive that is proven to keep companies and jobs in the State.
Due to market conditions, growing mission, and new mandates the low-cost power provided by the ReCharge New York Program may not be less expen- sive than market power. This legislation would increase the value of the current program.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 and 2 of the bill would amend § 188-a of the economic develop- ment law to provide that the price of ReCharge New York market power shall be no less than eight percent lower than the utility default rate for electricity provided to similarly-situated customers, and provided further when NYPA bills under this program, the full allocation of ReCharge New York hydropower shall be billed first before any ReCharge New York market power or supplementary market power required by the customer is billed.
Section 3 of the bill would amend § 188-a (c)(7) of the economic devel- opment law to provide explicitly that ReCharge New York power allocation has the authority to recommend an allocation greater than ten megawatts.
Section 4 provides an immediate effective date.
Justification
Awardees of NYPA ReCharge Power have an option to accept and purchase ReCharge Market Power from NYPA. ReCharge Market power is purchased on the open market. Eligible ReCharge applicants often wave a ReCharge Market power allocation because the product is not competitive. This legislation would challenge NYPA to provide power at less than the util- ity default service which is a justifiable goal for NYPA.
In any month a recipient of ReCharge Hydropower does not consume as much power as projected, the recipient must reduce their Hydropower allo- cation proportional with any load reduction. NYPA currently only provides a ReCharge Customer an allocation of ReCharge New York Hydro- power of between 5 to 25% of the facilities load.
Legislative history
New Legislation.
Fiscal implications
The bill would have no impact on the State budget.
Effective date
Immediate.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.