STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1535
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to enacting
the take charge New York power program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 188-a of the economic development law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision (i) to read as follows:
3 (i) Any applicant currently receiving proceeds under this section
4 shall also be permitted to apply for benefits under section one hundred
5 eighty-eight-b of this article.
6 § 2. The economic development law is amended by adding a new section
7 188-b to read as follows:
8 § 188-b. Take charge New York power program. (a) Definitions. For the
9 purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following
10 meanings:
11 (1) "Applicable criteria" shall mean the criteria specified in subdi-
12 vision (c) of this section.
13 (2) "Authority" shall mean the power authority of the state of New
14 York.
15 (3) "Eligible applicant" shall mean an eligible business, eligible
16 small business, eligible industrial development agency or eligible not-
17 for-profit corporation as defined in this section, provided however,
18 that an eligible applicant shall not include retail businesses as
19 defined by the board, including, without limitation, sports venues,
20 gaming or entertainment-related establishments or places of overnight
21 accommodation.
22 (4) "Eligible business" shall mean a business other than a not-for-
23 profit corporation which normally utilizes a minimum peak electric
24 demand in excess of four hundred kilowatts.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00325-02-9
S. 1535 2
1 (5) "Eligible not-for-profit corporation" shall mean a corporation
2 defined in subparagraph five of paragraph (a) of section one hundred two
3 of the not-for-profit corporation law.
4 (6) "Eligible small business" shall mean a business other than a not-
5 for-profit corporation which normally utilizes a minimum peak electric
6 demand equal to or less than four hundred kilowatts.
7 (7) "Microgrid" shall mean a group of interconnected loads and
8 distributed energy resources within clearly defined electrical bounda-
9 ries that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid
10 and that disconnects from such grid to enable it to operate in both
11 grid-connected or island mode. Any entity providing microgrid technology
12 shall be structured as a special purpose entity.
13 (8) "Infrastructure" shall mean the components necessary for trans-
14 mission and distribution of energy on the microgrid.
15 (9) "Takecharge New York power" shall mean a subsidy provided by the
16 authority, subject to an equity assurance to be matched by the appli-
17 cant, to cover the development and infrastructure needed to install and
18 maintain a microgrid at each applicant's place of business, as it
19 relates to a microgrid the allocation would be the value of the monetary
20 equivalent of the power allocation that would have been granted under
21 section one hundred eighty-eight-a of this article.
22 (b) Applications for takecharge New York power. (1) The board may
23 solicit applications for takecharge New York power under the program
24 created by this section by public notice beginning no later than Septem-
25 ber first, two thousand twenty. Such notice may include newspaper adver-
26 tisements, press releases, website postings, paper or electronic mail-
27 ing, and/or such other form of notice as the board finds appropriate in
28 consultation with the authority. The board shall also work with local
29 industrial development agencies and economic development agencies
30 located throughout the state to identify and solicit applications from
31 businesses and corporate parks that meet the criteria set forth in
32 subdivision (c) of this section.
33 (2) Applications for takecharge New York power allocations shall be in
34 the form and contain such information, exhibits and supporting data as
35 the board prescribes in consultation with the authority. A copy of each
36 application received shall be made available for review by each board
37 member, and a copy shall be provided to the authority.
38 (3) Subject to confidentiality requirements, upon receipt of each
39 application from the board, the authority shall promptly notify by elec-
40 tronic means, including website postings and such other methods the
41 board deems appropriate in consultation with the authority, the gover-
42 nor, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the assembly,
43 the temporary president of the senate, the minority leader of the
44 senate, and each member of the state legislature in whose district any
45 portion of the facility for which an allocation is requested is located.
46 Such notice shall provide the name and a description of the applicant,
47 and the address of the facility for which the allocation is requested.
48 The authority shall also develop a listing which contains the name and a
49 description of each applicant, the takecharge New York power benefit
50 sought by each applicant, and the address of the facility for which the
51 applicant requests the benefit, and shall make the listing available for
52 public review on the authority's website.
53 (4) Applications may be made by multiple eligible applicants, subject
54 to acceptance by the board, if each eligible applicant is located in a
55 geographic proximity to each other. The board shall set the requirements
56 of what constitutes geographic proximity. The board shall treat such
S. 1535 3
1 combined applications as a single application, and use the cumulative
2 totals when evaluating the applicable criteria set forth in subdivision
3 (c) of this section.
4 (5) Applications may be made by an industrial development agency,
5 subject to acceptance by the board, if the board determines the indus-
6 trial development agency's application is feasible with microgrid tech-
7 nology.
8 (c) Review applicable criteria and recommendations. (1) The board
9 shall review applications submitted under the takecharge New York power
10 program. The board shall make an initial determination of whether the
11 applicant is an eligible applicant. In the case of multiple eligible
12 applicants or an industrial development agency making a single applica-
13 tion, the board shall treat the cumulative application as a single
14 application. In the case of an eligible applicant, the board may recom-
15 mend to the authority that an allocation of a microgrid be awarded to an
16 applicant for a facility located in the state of New York based on
17 consideration of the following criteria which shall be considered in the
18 aggregate and no one of which shall be presumptively determinative:
19 (i) the significance of the cost of overall energy usage to the appli-
20 cant's overall cost of doing business, and the impact that a takecharge
21 New York power allocation will have on the applicant's operating costs;
22 (ii) the extent to which a takecharge New York power benefit will
23 result in new capital investment in the state by the applicant;
24 (iii) the extent to which a takecharge New York power benefit is
25 consistent with any regional economic development council strategies and
26 priorities;
27 (iv) the type and cost of buildings, equipment and facilities to be
28 constructed, enlarged or installed if the applicant were to receive a
29 benefit;
30 (v) the applicant's payroll, salaries, benefits and number of jobs at
31 the facility for which a takecharge New York power benefit is requested;
32 (vi) the number of jobs that will be created or retained within the
33 state in relation to the requested takecharge New York power benefit,
34 and the extent to which the applicant will agree to commit to creating
35 or retaining such jobs as a condition to receiving a takecharge New York
36 power benefit;
37 (vii) whether the applicant, due to the cost of energy, is at risk of
38 closing or curtailing facilities or operations in the state, relocating
39 facilities or operations out of the state, or losing a significant
40 number of jobs in the state, in the absence of a takecharge New York
41 benefit;
42 (viii) the significance of the applicant's facility that would receive
43 the takecharge New York benefit to the economy of the area in which such
44 facility is located;
45 (ix) will agree to place an equity amount, to be determined by the
46 board, for the installation and maintenance of a microgrid and to be
47 released upon reimbursement of the subsidy amount provided by the
48 authority;
49 (x) in addition to the foregoing criteria, in the case of a not-for-
50 profit corporation, whether the applicant provides critical services or
51 substantial benefits to the local community in which the facility for
52 which the benefit is requested is located;
53 (xi) the minimum load requirements by the applicant; and
54 (xii) in addition to the foregoing criteria, the applicant must also
55 agree to pay back the subsidy provided by the authority for microgrid
56 development, under a timeline developed by the board.
S. 1535 4
1 (2) A recommendation by the board that the authority provide a takec-
2 harge New York power benefit in the form of a microgrid to an eligible
3 applicant shall include, but need not be limited to:
4 (i) an effective initial term of the contract between the eligible
5 applicant and the authority which shall not exceed the effective life of
6 the microgrid;
7 (ii) provisions for effective periodic audits of the recipient of a
8 benefit for the purpose of determining contract and program compliance,
9 and for the partial or complete withdrawal of a benefit if the recipient
10 fails to maintain mutually agreed upon commitments, relating to, among
11 other things, employment levels, capital investments, and/or energy
12 efficiency measures;
13 (iii) a requirement for an agreement by the recipient of a benefit to
14 (A) undertake at its own expense an energy audit of its facilities at
15 which it receives the benefit at least once during the term of the
16 contract but in any event not less than once every five years, provided,
17 however, that such requirement may be waived or modified by the authori-
18 ty on a showing of good cause by the recipient, and (B) provide the
19 authority with a copy of any such audit or, at the authority's option, a
20 report describing the results of such audit, and provide documentation
21 requested by the authority relating to the implementation of any effi-
22 ciency measures at the facilities;
23 (iv) a requirement for an agreement between the recipient of an allo-
24 cation and the authority for the installation of a microgrid and mainte-
25 nance of such equipment for a period of years; and
26 (v) a requirement for an agreement by the recipient of a benefit to
27 (A) make its facilities available at reasonable times and intervals for
28 energy audits and related assessments that the authority desires to
29 perform, if any, at the authority's own expense, and (B) provide infor-
30 mation requested by the authority or its designee in surveys, question-
31 naires and other information requests relating to energy efficiency and
32 energy-related projects, programs and services.
33 (3) The board may base its recommendation on which eligible applicants
34 it determines best meet the applicable criteria.
35 (4) The board shall issue a written statement of its findings and
36 conclusions with respect to every application and the reasons for its
37 recommendation to the authority.
38 (5) A recommendation for a takecharge New York power benefit shall
39 qualify an applicant to enter into a contract with the authority pursu-
40 ant to the terms and conditions of the recommendation by the board and
41 on such other terms as the authority determines to be appropriate.
42 (d) The authority shall, at a minimum, report quarterly to the board
43 on the success of the takecharge New York benefits.
44 (e) For the purposes of this section, the authority shall own and
45 maintain all microgrid infrastructure, and shall use its powers set
46 forth in section one thousand five of the public authorities law to
47 implement any microgrid infrastructure.
48 (f) (1) The board, in consultation with the authority, shall submit to
49 the governor, temporary president of the senate, speaker of the assem-
50 bly, minority leader of the senate and minority leader of the assembly
51 an evaluation of the effectiveness of the takecharge New York power
52 program. Such evaluation shall focus on how the program has aided recip-
53 ients of microgrid, and may include recommendations for how the program
54 can be made more effective. Such evaluation shall be submitted by Decem-
55 ber thirty-first, two thousand nineteen and by December thirty-first
56 every five years thereafter.
S. 1535 5
1 (2) The board, with assistance from the authority, shall maintain the
2 necessary records and data required to perform such evaluation and
3 respond to requests for information pursuant to article six of the
4 public officers law.
5 (g) The authority shall have the power to effectuate all necessary
6 regulations to carry out the intent and purpose of this chapter.
7 (h) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an applicant from also
8 receiving power allocations under section one hundred eighty-eight-a of
9 this article.
10 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
11 have become a law.
