STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6771--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 16, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- 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, in relation to the state's elec-
tric system energy efficiency framework
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "New York Electric Efficiency Jobs Act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds and
4 determines:
5 1. New York has long held a leadership role among the states in
6 achieving efficiency savings in its electricity sector. Yet, its current
7 electric energy efficiency achievements are inadequate to generate the
8 amount of savings necessary to achieve the state's clean energy and
9 climate goals in as cost-effective a manner as possible, to reduce the
10 cost of energy for the state's energy customers. New York's most recent
11 state energy plan calls for the achievement of several goals by 2030,
12 including a twenty-three percent decrease in energy consumption from
13 buildings, fifty percent renewable energy supply, and forty percent
14 reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels. If New York does
15 not significantly increase the amount of savings it achieves through
16 electric energy efficiency, reaching these goals will be significantly
17 more difficult, if not impossible. As the Public Service Commission has
18 recognized, energy efficiency "is the cheapest and most effective manner
19 to reduce carbon emissions in the energy sector." It also reduces over-
20 all capacity charges and helps avoid the need for costly utility infras-
21 tructure upgrades. In other words, New York's current underinvestment in
22 energy efficiency results in higher utility bills for New Yorkers than
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13149-03-8
S. 6771--A 2
1 is necessary. Public utilities and other market participants have not
2 been given the market signals necessary to aggressively reduce energy
3 usage.
4 2. Energy efficiency investment creates clean energy jobs, as
5 evidenced by the 2017 United States Energy and Employment Report
6 published by the United States Department of Energy, which shows that
7 New York's energy efficiency market has generated 110,582 energy effi-
8 ciency jobs across the state. The number represents 5.1 percent of all
9 energy efficiency jobs nationwide. Most energy efficiency jobs in New
10 York state are found in energy star and efficient lighting firms,
11 followed by high efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
12 services.
13 3. Demonstrating leadership with respect to energy efficiency will
14 drive even greater clean energy job growth in the state, helping to
15 reverse recent trends of workforce reductions seen in many of New York's
16 communities, and increase the competitiveness of the state, by not only
17 increasing job opportunities for electricians, engineers and contrac-
18 tors, but also reducing the overall energy costs in the state, bringing
19 down the cost of living and the cost of doing business and generating
20 economic activity across the state. The United States economy has grown
21 significantly since 2007, even while electricity consumption has been
22 flat, in large part attributable to energy efficiency gains. According
23 to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, "the key policy story of the past
24 decade has been the uptake of EERS (Energy Efficiency Resource Stand-
25 ards) in the U.S. state targets," leading to increased investment in
26 efficiency and job growth.
27 4. Cost-effective energy efficiency investment directly results in
28 lower electricity use and lower electricity bills, and also reduces
29 total statewide energy demand, peak demand, and distribution system
30 investment needs. Thus, a well-deployed energy efficiency program will
31 provide worthwhile benefits to both the individual bill payers partic-
32 ipating in it and collectively to all bill payers.
33 5. Under the current system, New York is achieving significantly lower
34 amounts of annual incremental savings through energy efficiency than the
35 amounts being achieved in other states. The American Council for an
36 Energy-Efficient Economy estimates that New York achieved only approxi-
37 mately 1.05 percent annual incremental savings in 2015, as compared to
38 annual incremental savings of 2.91 percent in Rhode Island, 2.74 percent
39 in Massachusetts, 2.01 percent in Vermont, and 1.95 percent in Califor-
40 nia (which recently set a goal of four percent annual incremental
41 savings). The Clean Energy Standard Order issued by the Public Service
42 Commission on August 1, 2016, estimated the amount of new incremental
43 renewable energy required to meet its fifty percent renewable energy
44 supply target by assuming 1.4 percent annual incremental savings through
45 energy efficiency. Should the state continue on its current trajectory
46 and thus fail to achieve the Clean Energy Standard's assumed level of
47 savings, far more renewable energy will be required to meet the state's
48 2030 goal than the amount currently being planned for. In other words,
49 the state is falling behind the trajectory of combined energy efficiency
50 and renewable energy needed to achieve the 50 by '30 target, which may
51 become difficult or impossible to achieve, or significantly more costly,
52 if the state's energy efficiency framework is not adjusted soon. New
53 York has the ability to achieve its laudable State Energy Plan goals,
54 but only if the current energy efficient framework is redesigned to
55 capture more of the state's energy efficiency potential.
S. 6771--A 3
1 6. The Public Service Commission has expressed conviction regarding
2 the vital importance of energy efficiency in its "Reforming the Energy
3 Vision" (REV) proceeding and has taken steps to advance energy efficien-
4 cy through the work of the Clean Energy Advisory Council. However, more
5 is needed. REV does not yet have any mechanism to fund energy efficiency
6 procurement or catalyze the private sector to invest significant capital
7 in energy saving measures. Effective and appropriate economic signals
8 have not been provided consistently to all the utilities or to other
9 parties to pursue all cost-effective efficiency measures.
10 7. It is imperative that New York provide leadership to the nation on
11 energy efficiency, not only to protect New Yorkers and lower electricity
12 bills, but to respond to the serious threatened rollback of bedrock
13 energy efficiency programs at the federal level, including the Home
14 Energy Assistance Program, the Weatherization Assistance Program, and
15 energy star. This leadership will provide critical assistance to low-in-
16 come customers and providers of affordable housing while also enabling
17 energy management solutions for all types of customers and providing a
18 broad range of benefits to all income levels.
19 8. Accordingly, the overlying intent of this act is to provide a clear
20 regulatory framework for energy efficiency to better serve the constitu-
21 ency of New York state and as a model for other states. This legislation
22 will help invigorate the market for energy investments foreseen by REV,
23 incent significantly greater amounts of private capital to be invested
24 in energy efficiency, thereby supporting job growth, increasing electric
25 grid efficiency, reducing emissions, and lowering customers' bills.
26 § 3. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-p to
27 read as follows:
28 § 66-p. New York energy efficiency development program. 1. For
29 purposes of this section "cost-effective" shall mean generating benefits
30 that outweigh cost, including, but not limited to, generating more in
31 electricity cost savings and other benefits than costs over a specified
32 period of time, as determined by the commission.
33 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, includ-
34 ing, but not limited to, any order, rule or regulation promulgated
35 pursuant to this chapter, the public authorities law, and/or the state
36 administrative procedure act, the commission, in consultation with the
37 New York state energy research and development authority, shall adopt a
38 program within one hundred twenty days of the effective date of this
39 section. The program shall:
40 (a) Establish a robust annual incremental minimum savings mandate for
41 each utility for the years two thousand nineteen to two thousand twen-
42 ty-two that provides for annual incremental increases in energy savings
43 of at least 0.4 percent of total electricity load served by that utility
44 until at least two percent minimum annual savings is achieved;
45 (b) Study, identify, and establish appropriate long-term annual, bien-
46 nial, or triennial incremental targets that achieve all cost-effective
47 electric energy efficiency savings levels for each utility for the years
48 two thousand twenty-three to two thousand thirty, which shall be updated
49 every three years to allow for necessary adjustments in such targets;
50 and
51 (c) Provide a clear and consistent funding framework for electric
52 energy efficiency that applies to all the state's utilities and allows
53 them to: make investments in electric energy efficiency as a system
54 resource; earn incentives for significant savings achievements, as
55 prescribed in the commission's order adopting a ratemaking and utility
56 revenue model policy framework dated May nineteenth, two thousand
S. 6771--A 4
1 sixteen; and, catalyze private market investment in electric energy
2 efficiency. The funding framework must allow utilities to recover the
3 costs of meeting the minimum mandates set forth in paragraph (a) of this
4 subdivision.
5 § 4. Severability clause. If any provision of this act is, for any
6 reason, declared unconstitutional or invalid, in whole or in part, by
7 any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed sever-
8 able, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the
9 validity of the remaining provisions of this act, which remaining
10 provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
11 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
