What's happening
This bill authorizes New York municipalities to collectively procure electricity and gas for residents and businesses through community choice energy aggregation programs.
Why it matters
Empowers local communities to shape their energy future. By allowing municipalities to aggregate the buying power of residents and businesses, the bill gives communities more control to negotiate better rates, choose greener energy sources, and design programs that meet local priorities like renewable energy or energy efficiency.
Expands access to detailed utility data for better decision-making. The legislation requires utilities to share extensive usage and billing data with local program administrators, enabling municipalities to make informed choices about energy procurement, efficiency investments, and renewable project siting, potentially leading to smarter, more tailored energy solutions.
Prioritizes consumer protections and transparency. Strong provisions ensure customers are notified, can easily opt out, and are protected from cancellation fees unless tied to specific community investments. It mandates supply rates must be lower than utility averages (unless customers choose higher-priced green options), and requires clear communication and reporting on program performance.
Promotes competition and accountability among energy suppliers. By establishing a competitive bidding process with strict benchmarks for service, price, and environmental benefits, and granting the Public Service Commission audit and enforcement authority, the bill encourages ESCOs to offer better deals and perform reliably or risk losing contracts and facing penalties.
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Who cares
City, town and village governments
The bill would let them procure electric and gas supply through local or joint aggregation programs and arrange energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Residential and business utility customers
Eligible customers would be enrolled unless they opt out within 60 days of mailed notice, while existing ESCO customers could opt in.
Energy services companies
ESCOs could bid for municipal supply contracts but would face price benchmarks, restrictions on cancellation charges and refund obligations for contract violations.
Investor-owned utilities
Utilities would have to provide extensive customer usage and billing data to program administrators while continuing to deliver electricity and gas to participating customers.
Headline styles
Let Towns Pool Energy Buying
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Let Towns Pool Energy Buying
In Assembly Committee · Energy · Sponsor Kevin Cahill
Full text
8 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3604
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 11, 2019
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications
AN ACT authorizing certain municipalities to participate in a community choice energy aggregation program by a single municipality or through an inter-municipal agreement with two or more municipalities in order to coordinate efforts to procure electric and/or gas supply services on behalf of participating residents, businesses and municipal customers within municipal jurisdictional boundaries
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Definitions. The following terms, when used in this act, shall have the following meanings:
1. "Customer" shall mean a customer of record who received residential or non-residential electric and/or gas supply services from a distribution utility at the time of a local resolution by his or her municipality to participate in a municipally administered community-wide energy aggregation program, provided that such customer did not receive electric and gas supply services from an energy services company and/or a publicly-owned utility.
2. "Distribution utility" or "distribution utilities" shall mean any investor-owned utility in the state of New York.
3. "Participating customer" shall mean a customer who receives electric and/or gas supply services through a municipally administered community-wide energy aggregation program, including residential and commercial, and municipal customers.
4. "Community choice aggregation," "program," or "community energy aggregation program" shall mean an inter-municipal agreement or a municipal resolution for the purpose of coordinating or initiating efforts by a municipality or by community choice aggregators to request bids for and potentially select an ESCO or ESCOs to provide electric and/or gas
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01939-01-9
S. 3604 2
supply services to participating residential, commercial and government customers.
5. "Municipal governing board" is single municipal board for local programs limited within municipal jurisdictional boundaries, or an inter-municipal agreement entered into by resolution of two or more municipal boards aggregating load on a regional basis.
6. "Energy services company" or "ESCO" shall have the same meaning as such term is used in subdivision 5 of section 44 of the public service law.
7. "Municipality" or "municipalities" shall mean a city, town or village located in the state of New York.
8. "Community choice aggregator" or "energy aggregator" shall mean a municipality authorized pursuant to a local resolution to participate in an inter-municipal agreement establishing a municipal energy aggregation program to offer energy services to residential, commercial and municipal customers located within the energy aggregator's jurisdictional boundaries.
9. "Program administrator" shall mean a community choice aggregator that is designated pursuant to a local municipal governing board resolution or an inter-municipal agreement, or an employee or a contractor designated by a community choice aggregator to fulfill the responsibilities of: (i) requesting and compiling historical usage data of distribution utility customers as required under this act, (ii) submitting a request for bids for energy supply services from ESCOs authorized to supply electric and/or gas in New York state, and (iii) carrying out the administration of the contract and implementation of aggregated services.
10. "Department" shall mean the New York state department of public service.
§ 2. Community choice aggregation programs. 1. A municipality may, after adopting a resolution approved by a majority of its governing board, participate in a community choice aggregation program through an inter-municipal agreement with one or more municipalities in order to coordinate efforts, or through its own community choice aggregation program to procure electric and/or gas supply services, and municipal programs to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy installations, gas efficiency and renewable heating technologies on behalf of its participating customers.
Such community choice aggregation program must provide for the designation of a program administrator to facilitate the operations of a community choice aggregation program, including but not limited to the receipt of customer historical usage data information from distribution utilities pursuant to section three of this act and any communications necessary with potential ESCOs that would provide electric and/or gas supply services for such program, and otherwise entering into contracts with other energy efficiency and renewable energy developers, including gas efficiency and renewable heating technologies, provider power and/or capacity to the community choice aggregation program.
2. A community choice aggregator shall be responsible for responding to inquiries regarding the particular community choice aggregation program in which it is a participant. Such community choice aggregator shall provide contact information, including but not limited to a mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address and fax number at which it may be contacted in all notices to participating customers.
S. 3604 3
3. In establishing a contract for electric and/or gas services with an ESCO, a program administrator shall comply with article 7 of the public officers law.
§ 3. Establishment of community choice aggregation program. 1. The program administrator designated pursuant to an inter-municipal agreement or municipal resolution establishing a community-wide aggregation program shall provide a copy of such agreement to the distribution utilities and submit a formal request for usage information provided for under subdivision two of this section.
2. In order to augment energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, and within 60 days of the establishment of a community choice aggregation program or of an inter-municipal agreement establishing an aggregation program and the formal request, distribution utilities shall, at a reasonable cost as determined by the commission within 120 days of the effective date of this act, provide to the program administrator the following utility information regarding customers receiving gas and/or electric supply services from such distribution utilities who are eligible to receive service from the community choice aggregator:
(a) aggregate monthly usage (kWh) by rate schedule: energy consumption (kWh) for the most recent 60 months of completed information for each customer class for a given period of time for each municipality included in the data request;
(b) customer-specific information from the current billing periods as well as prior 60 months consisting of the following billing information: meter number, service agreement number, name on agreement, service address with zip code, mailing address with zip code, telephone number, monthly kWh usage, monthly maximum demand where available, Baseline Zone, low income residential participation (Home Energy Assistance Program or HEAP), End Use Code (Heat Source), Service Voltage, Medical Baseline, Meter Cycle, Bill Cycle, Level Payment Plan and other plans, HP Load and Number of Units, monthly rate schedule for all accounts within the community choice aggregator's territory;
(c) system wide residential and non-residential load shapes by New York Load Zones and New York Control Area designations for the most recent five years for which the distribution utility has completed information;
(d) standard system average load profiles by rate class also referred to as Dynamic Load Profiles & Static Load Profiles posted to the distribution utility's website;
(e) quarterly or monthly aggregated participation data for energy efficiency programs already tracked in New York State Energy Research and Development Authority reports, as available;
(f) aggregate monthly usage (kWh) by zip code within a city code;
(g) customer-specific information consisting of: service agreement number, monthly interval meter data where available, and rate schedule for all accounts within the community choice aggregator's territory;
(h) number of service agreements in each rate schedule within a municipal energy aggregation's territory or proposed territory;
(i) mapping of customer rate schedule to rate class;
(j) estimated annual generation revenues by community choice aggregator's territory;
(k) estimation of peak coincident and non-coincident demands;
(l) data fitting community choice aggregator's annual usage to New York Control Area load shapes; estimation of peak coincident and noncoincident demands;
S. 3604 4
(m) total annual kWh loads of bundled customers and customers already receiving ESCO service, firstly on a monthly basis and secondly on a rate schedule basis within the community choice aggregator's territory;
(n) aggregated residential, small commercial, large commercial and government annual kWh usage for the past three years in a format by tier for each rate schedule, and for Time of Use (TOU) rates or other meterspecific rates, providing further separation by summer/winter peak, partial peak, and off peak periods and summer/winter period;
(o) annual proportional share of system benefit charge energy efficiency funds for a community choice aggregator's proposed territory;
(p) system benefit charge customer payment by city code;
(q) all electricity usage data at the most granular interval recorded by the distribution utility;
(r) all monthly unbundled rate components and charges for each customer;
(s) natural gas consumption and billing data for all customers located within the territorial boundaries of the community choice aggregator, similar in extent and specification to what is being requested on the electricity side (i.e. customer data, consumption data at the most granular interval available, monthly bills within unbundled charges, and all data necessary to calculate those charges);
(t) clarification and datasets used to associate gas meters with electric meters at the building level and customer level;
(u) all energy efficiency program data for all customers (by account number, service ID number, street address, etc), listing account contacts and all recorded activity and information, including but not limited to on-site or online audits, benchmarking, retro-commissioning, and energy use analyses and efficiency recommendations, and paperwork filed by customers or contractors, and financing information such as on bill financing amounts and repayment status, as available, as well as any associated data sets such as building information on tenant/owner occupancy, square footage and year built, as well as rebate code and measure tables, as available;
(v) demand response program participation and all relevant metrics recorded for these programs;
(w) the type of interconnect agreement and all relevant metrics associated with customers that have already interconnected distributed generation to the distribution utility's distribution grid;
(x) distribution grid data that could impact the siting of distributed generation or demand-side assets, in a GIS format including shape-files and any associated datasets;
(y) the number of customers, by class including indication of those that are currently provided electric and/or gas supply service from an ESCO, that are not served by a publicly-owned utility;
(z) the aggregate gas and electric usage of eligible customers, by class served, for the 12-month period preceding the request; the system peak hour or hours that determines capacity buying requirements, and to the degree that it is available the aggregated load factor by class served for the 12-month period preceding the request; and
(aa) to the degree that it is available, reasonable efforts to provide more detailed historic information relating to energy usage characteristics of customers, including but not limited to information by rate class on meter type, the number of smart meters deployed, kWh usage and peak demand information classification, meter reading cycle information, load profile designating information, the number of customers enrolled in budget billing plans, loss factor information, net-metering informa-
S. 3604 5
tion and any other information deemed useful by the community choice aggregation program administrator to successfully solicit bids for and implement the aggregation program.
§ 4. Selection of ESCO providers. 1. Upon receipt of utility bulk information required under section three of this act, the program administrator is authorized to advertise for the request of bids from ESCOs for the provision of services for a community choice aggregation program. Any request for bids shall specify that a contract for aggregation program services must:
(a) include price benchmarks, which shall provide for:
(i) monthly per kWh rates for electric supply services for each applicable class of customers that are before the 12-month average monthly price supply services provided by distribution utilities or lower than the distribution utility's rate at the time of a request for bids as provided for in this section, except insofar as customers voluntarily pay higher rates to pay for and receive ownership benefits from energy efficiency retrofits and/or renewable distributed generation;
(ii) monthly per Btu rates for gas supply services for each applicable class of customers that are below the 12-month average monthly price of supply services provided by distribution utilities or lower than the distribution utility's rate at the time of a request for bids as provided for in this section, except insofar as customers voluntarily pay higher rates to pay for and receive ownership benefits from energy efficiency retrofits and/or renewable distributed generation;
(b) provide that the ESCO will not levy any form of cancellation charge to participating customers who, after receiving electric and/or gas supply services from the ESCO, choose to receive such supply services from their respective distribution utility;
(c) provide that the community choice aggregator municipal board may levy a cancellation charge to participating customers only insofar as such charges cover obligations to repay investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency installations serving participating customers;
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act authorizing certain municipalities to partic- ipate in a community choice energy aggregation program by a single muni- cipality or through an inter-municipal agreement with two or more muni- cipalities in order to coordinate efforts to procure electric and/or gas supply services on behalf of participating residents, businesses and municipal customers within municipal jurisdictional boundaries
Purpose
To authorize municipalities to participate in a community choice aggre- gation program through an inter-municipal agreement with one or more municipalities to coordinate efforts to procure electric and/or gas supply services and to Install energy efficiency measures and develop local renewable energy facilities on behalf of participating residents, businesses and municipal customers within municipal jurisdictional boun- daries.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 provides definitions.
Read the full memo (914 words)
Section 2 provides that a municipality may, by resolution, participate in a community choice energy aggregation program through an inter-muni- cipal agreement with one or more municipalities to coordinate efforts to procure electric and/or gas supply services and to install energy effi- ciency measures and develop local renewable energy facilities on behalf of customers. It also sets forth the required contents of the inter-mun- icipal agreement.
Section 3 requires the program administrator to provide a copy of the agreement to the distribution utilities and submit a formal request for customer usage and billing information, and customer data pertaining to energy efficiency program participation and renewable energy use. It also requires the utilities to supply required information to the admin- istrator within 120 days.
Section 4 authorizes the community choice aggregator to advertise for the request for bids from Energy Service Companies ("ESCOs") for the provision of services for the program. The solicitation must include price benchmarks, provide that ESCOs will not levy any cancellation charges, and provide for a website for participating customers to view the monthly rates charged, and to view any related services and products being offered by the community choice aggregation program administrator. Community choice aggregators are authorized to select the ESCO that will offer the best service, or can elect to reject all bids and re-adver- tise. This section also authorizes the community choice aggregator to enter into a contract with the chosen ESCO or ESCOs and outlines the requirements of such contract.
Section 5 requires the community choice aggregator to obtain from the distribution utility a list of customers affected by the contract with the ESCO, and the community choice aggregator must provide notice to those customers. The notice must include instructions for how to opt-out within the sixty-day opt-out period. Provision is also made for custom- ers already served by an ESCO to opt-in to a community choice aggre- gation program. After the sixty-day period, the utility must provide a list to the community choice aggregator of the number of customers that elected to opt-out and opt-in, and those customers' information. The administrator must then submit that information to the ESCO(s) with which it contract(s).
Section 6 provides for a Public Service Commission (PSC) audit, within 365 days of commencement of the contract, to ensure that cost benchmarks have been reached. If the PSC determines they have not been reached, the contract shall be subject to termination by resolution of the community choice aggregator's governing board.
Section 7 requires the PSC to submit, within 30 months of establishment of a contract, a report to the Executive, Senate and Assembly detailing the performance of the aggregation contract.
Section 8 states that the Energy Services Company Bill of Rights is applicable to participating customers.
Section 9 provides the effective date.
Justification
Citizens for Local Power is an Ulster County-based organization that works with municipalities, elected officials, labor, and citizens to foster engagement in energy issues and regulatory proceedings that affect them, as well as to promote energy demand reduction and expanded renewable energy use at the community level. CLP is facilitating the formation of a Municipal Energy Consortium (based initially in Ulster County) to reduce energy costs for residents, businesses, and munici- palities, to enhance community resiliency, and to foster the transition to a clean energy economy in the mid-Hudson region.
The creation of the community choice aggregation (CCA) program arose out of CLP's efforts to further these important goals, including the desire to save residents and businesses money. CCA programs allow a large number of residents to pool together and shop around at different ESCOs and obtain the best price. Pooling together will increase purchasing power, potentially resulting in a better price, similar to the idea of buying in bulk. CCA is an effective tool for empowering communities to choose their energy supplier, and also enables communities to choose clean energy suppliers, realize greenhouse gas reduction benefits, and finance local generation assets to boost economic development in the region. CCA programs are already authorized in six states: California, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Illinois, and New Jersey.
This bill is designed such that all municipalities in New York may bene- fit from this invaluable tool to provide lower cost energy, and to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy use consistent with State and Regional objectives. Local Power Inc., which founded Community Choice Aggregation two decades ago and initiated CCA enabling legis- lation for the States of Massachusetts and California, drafted this bill at the request of Citizens for Local Power.
Fiscal implications
None
History
2017/18 S3094 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications 2015-16: S.1408 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications 2013-14: S.7087 - Referred to Energy and Telecommunications
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.