What's happening
This bill establishes and funds programs to encourage clean and resilient behind-the-meter energy systems and microgrids in New York.
Why it matters
Targets “community continuity assets”. such as hospitals, supermarkets, telecommunications, and other critical infrastructure, ensuring that essential services can keep operating during prolonged power outages, which directly impacts public health, safety, and economic stability.
Defines and prioritizes “clean and resilient” energy. projects must minimize greenhouse gases or local pollutants, or greatly improve efficiency and reduce emissions compared to the grid, pushing the state’s energy ecosystem toward sustainability and lower environmental impact.
Commits long-term funding. (minimum 5% of the Clean Energy Fund and $15 million annually from certain authorities through 2025) to distributed energy resources and microgrids, creating a more reliable and disaster-resilient power system and signaling market opportunities for clean energy businesses.
Mandates state-level coordination, annual reporting, and program evaluation,. increasing transparency, accountability, and adaptability as New York invests in distributed clean energy, which can lead to more effective programs and better public outcomes.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Fund Clean Backup Energy
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Print number 6587a
- Amend and recommit to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
- Referred to rules
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.
Fund Clean Backup Power
In Assembly Committee · Energy · Sponsor Latrice Walker
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6587--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 17, 2019
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules -- recommitted to the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law and the public authorities law, in relation to establishing a clean and resilient energy program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-q to read as follows:
§ 66-q. Clean and resilient energy program. 1. As used in this section:
(a) "Clean and resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource project" means an electricity generating system located behind a customer meter in the state that is configured to provide uninterrupted electric service to a customer throughout an extended outage of the electricity distribution system, and which:
(i) (1) generates electricity without producing greenhouse gases or local combustion related pollutants; or
(2) generates electricity or electricity and thermal energy via a non-combustion process at an annual average efficiency of no less than fifty-five percent measured on a lower heating value basis; or
(3) generates electricity and thermal energy at an annual average efficiency of no less than seventy percent measured on a lower heating value basis and reduces the local combustion related air pollutant oxides of nitrogen by at least fifty percent in comparison to the most recent annual average marginal emission factors, accounting for line losses, for the New York independent system operator zone in which the project is located at the time of interconnection; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11992-03-0
S. 6587--A 2
(ii) is located at a community continuity asset or within the boundaries of an existing or planned microgrid.
(b) "Community continuity asset" means a public or private entity that provides critical services to the public during an outage of the electric distribution system. Community continuity assets shall include, but are not limited to: telecommunications providers, large retail stores, supermarkets, government agencies, data centers, transportation systems, financial institutions, gas stations, educational institutions, health care providers, large multi-family residential housing, community centers, and other customers deemed by the commission to provide a critical service to the public that would promote or enhance health and safety during an outage of the electric distribution system.
(c) "Extended outage" means an outage of the electric distribution system that continues for a period of twenty-four hours or longer.
(d) "Uninterrupted" means that the output of the system is delivered to the end-use customer throughout an extended electric distribution system outage, with the exception of momentary interruptions associated with transitions to and from grid parallel and grid islanded operations.
(e) "Microgrid" means a load or group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. A microgrid can connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or island-mode.
2. Within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this section, the commission shall modify the clean energy fund investment plan to allocate no less than five percent of annual clean energy fund expenditures to encourage the development of clean and resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource projects. The program modifications shall require:
(a) administration by the New York state energy research and development authority;
(b) planned annual expenditures that amount to no less than five percent of overall annual clean energy fund expenditures commencing in calendar year two thousand twenty-one and sustained each year through calendar year two thousand twenty-five;
(c) incentive structures that maximize cost-effectiveness and practicality through competitive procurements, standing-offers, or production incentives;
(d) annual reports on the achievements and effectiveness of the program; and
(e) any other requirements deemed appropriate by the commission to effectuate the purposes of this section.
§ 2. Section 1020-ll of the public authorities law, as renumbered by chapter 520 of the laws of 2018, is renumbered section 1020-zz.
§ 3. Sections 1020-jj, 1020-kk and 1020-ll of the public authorities law, sections 1020-jj and 1020-kk as renumbered by chapter 520 of the laws of 2018 and section 1020-ll as renumbered by chapter 415 of the laws of 2017, are renumbered sections 1020-ww, 1020-xx, and 1020-yy and a new section 1020-jj is added to read as follows:
§ 1020-jj. Clean and resilient energy initiative. 1. As used in this section:
(a) "Clean and resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource project" means an electricity generating system located behind a customer meter that is configured to provide uninterrupted electric service to a customer throughout an extended outage of the electric distribution system, and which:
S. 6587--A 3
(i) (1) generates electricity without producing greenhouse gases or local combustion related pollutants; or
(2) generates electricity or electricity and thermal energy via a non-combustion process at an annual average efficiency of no less than fifty-five percent measured on a lower heating value basis; or
(3) generates electricity and thermal energy at an annual average efficiency of no less than seventy percent measured on a lower heating value basis and reduces the local combustion related air pollutant oxides of nitrogen by at least fifty percent in comparison to the most recent annual average marginal emission factors, accounting for line losses, for the New York independent system operator zone in which the project is located at the time of interconnection; and
(ii) is located at a community continuity asset or within the boundaries of an existing or planned microgrid.
(b) "Community continuity asset" means a public or private entity that provides critical services to the public during an outage of the electric distribution system. Community continuity assets shall include, but are not limited to: telecommunications providers, large retail stores, supermarkets, government agencies, data centers, transportation systems, financial institutions, gas stations, educational institutions, health care providers, large multi-family residential housing, community centers, and other customers deemed by the authority to provide a critical service to the public that would promote or enhance health and safety during an outage of the electric distribution system.
(c) "Extended outage" means an outage of the electric distribution system that continues for a period of twenty-four hours or longer.
(d) "Uninterrupted" means that the output of the system is delivered to the end-use customer throughout an electric distribution system outage, with the exception of momentary interruptions associated with transitions to and from grid parallel and grid islanded operations.
(e) "Microgrid" means a load or group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical boundaries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. A microgrid can connect and disconnect from the grid to enable it to operate in both grid-connected or island-mode.
2. Within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this section, the authority shall modify its existing programs that encourage the development of clean and resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource projects. The authority shall consult with the New York state public service commission and the New York state energy research and development authority in the design and implementation of such program. The projects shall require:
(a) planned annual expenditures that amount to no less than fifteen million dollars commencing in calendar year two thousand twenty-one and sustained each year through calendar year two thousand twenty-five;
(b) incentive structures that maximize cost-effectiveness and practicality through competitive procurements, standing-offers, or production incentives;
(c) annual reports on the achievements and effectiveness of the program; and
(d) any other requirements deemed appropriate by the authority to effectuate the purposes of this section.
§ 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 public service law and the public authorities law, in relation to establishing a clean and resilient energy program
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this bill is to establish, within the Clean Energy Fund, a program to encourage the development of resilient, behind the meter, distributed energy resource projects that will ensure uninterrupted electric power at facilities that provide services to the public in the event of an extended outage of one or more of the electric distribution systems in the state.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Adds a new Section 66-q to the Public Service Law which: defines "Clean and Resilient Behind the Meter Distributed Energy Resource Project" that must meet strict emission and reliability crite- ria; defines "Community Continuity Asset" customers that provide vital services to the public in the event of a long term electric system outage; defines "uninterrupted" with respect to qualified systems; requires the Public Service Commission, in consultation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), to adopt modifications to its existing programs so as to encourage the develop- ment of such Clean and Resilient Systems and their deployment by Commu- nity Continuity Asset Customers. This Section also requires: NYSERDA to administer the program; planned expenditures on the program to total no less than 5% of annual program expenditures from 2020 to 2025; the use of incentive structures that maximize cost-effectiveness and practical- ity through competitive procurements, standing-offers or production incentives; and the publication of annual reports on the program.
Read the full memo (985 words)
Section 2: Requires the Long Island Power Authority to adopt the same program. This Section requires LIPA to spend no less than $15 million annually from 2020 to 2025
Section 3: Provides that the act would take effect immediately.
Justification
The bill is intended to ensure community continuity during long term outages of the electric grid. New York has experienced increasingly severe weather in recent years. Scientists predict that our changing climate can be expected to increase the frequency, intensity, and dura- tion of extreme weather events that result in outages of the electric grid. In addition, the state's energy infrastructure is the target of a growing threat from cyber criminals and other bad actors including hostile foreign governments. Our dependence upon an uninterrupted supply of electricity has never been greater and that dependence increases with each passing year. We rely on uninterrupted access to electricity for our communications, social networks, financial transactions, transporta- tion, and public and personal security. As the State increases its reli- ance on resources that are located far from the state's major urban load centers and simultaneously increases its reliance on the electricity system for transportation and heating, the societal and economic conse- quences of a long term outage become more severe. In fact, the present trend in New York energy policy is to promote reliance on more remote sources of power. In the April 2016 Order Adopting a Clean Energy Stand- ard (CES) the Commission determined that behind the meter distributed resources would be ineligible for the CES and could not generate Renewa- ble Energy Credits (RECs), instead focusing singularly on grid-connected resources. Further, the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) proceeding has yet to extend to any locational, temporal, environmental, capacity, avoided distribution, avoided transmission, or other system and/or societal benefits to behind the meter distributed energy resources, again focusing singularly on grid-connected resources. While grid-connected resources are worthy of state support, an April 2019 report, from the national energy experts at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) highlighted the critical impor- tance of incentivizing the development of additional resilient distrib- uted energy resources to address the increased risk of electric grid- connected resource failures.
In advance of future weather events or terrorist attacks, this bill will work toward the goal of ensuring that there is no such thing as a "wide- spread blackout" of key community services in the future. Instead citi- zens will know that certain types of facilities that provide important public services during outages of the electric grid will have electric- ity and will be available to serve the public. This bill is purposefully not limited to "shelters" and similar public facilities but instead intentionally includes the types of organizations and private businesses that serve a public need during outages of the electric grid. For instance, private telecommunications providers serve both citizens and emergency service workers during public emergencies. Insulating multi- family residential buildings from outages could enable more low-income communities to be pre-positioned for successfully riding through storms.
An open grocery store can be a critical community resource during an outage of the electric grid, especially a long term outage. Large retail stores can serve as pre-positioned supplies, of food, clothes, water, building supplies, and equipment necessary for storm preparation and recovery efforts. The bill is intended to encourage behind the meter systems that are at the intersection of clean energy and resilient ener- gy. New Yorkers, especially those residing and working in urban areas, are chronically exposed to unhealthy combustion-related air pollutants, including oxides of nitrogen (Nox) and Particulate Matter (PM) that traditional forms of back-up and/or resilient on-site power generation (i.e. Diesel, Fuel Oil, etc.) increase. The environmental standards adopted in the bill a exclude these traditional resources by setting very high standards and that require both the virtual absence of local forms of air pollution as well as technologies that will produce signif- icant avoided CO2 emissions. The resiliency standard of 24 hours of uninterrupted electricity supplies to the qualifying end-use customer is intended to ensure that the subject projects are truly capable of "riding through" an outage of the electric grid that lasts for at least an entire day rather than for a few minutes or hours.
Prior legislative history
None
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.