Summary
This bill would:  

·        Re-establish the State Energy Office and would reauthorize Article

   6 of the Energy Law to create a statewide energy plan (Part A);

 

·        Require the Power Authority of the State of New York and the Long 

   Island Power Authority (PASNY) to submit annual reports detailing 

   the energy purchasing practices (Part B); 

·        Initiate certain reforms at the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) 

   (Part C); 

·        Establish shelters with stand-alone heat and electricity generation 

   in municipal and school facilities to provide refuges during natural 

   and man-made disasters and expand net metering opportunities to 

   all customer classes (Part D); 

·        Create programs at state authorities to fund energy efficiency 

   programs and establish "Green Building" energy efficient standards 

   for state buildings as well as provide financial assistance to dairy 

   farmers to install energy efficient measures (Part E);

·        Create advisory panels on the State Building Code and appliance 

   efficiency standards (Part F); require the Public Service Commission 

   to review multi-year electric utility rate plans on an annual basis 

   (Part G); 

·        Extend the Power for Jobs program for three years and require 

   participants to have energy audits (Part H); 

·        Create an interagency Climate Change Task Force within the 

   Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and dedicate any 

   of the revenues raise from the auction of emissions allowances for 

   investment in energy efficiency, clean energy generation, and other

   programs to advance the state’s air quality goals (Part I).

Explanation
This proposed energy legislation includes a raft of measures that would help protect the environment and public health. Rather than relying on tax credits to decrease energy costs for consumers and businesses — and therefore promote increased energy use — this bill encourages energy conservation, further investment in the development of clean, renewable technologies, and would provide for long-term comprehensive energy planning. Environmental Advocates of New York supports this bill for the following reasons:

·        Increased investment in energy efficiency either through the use of funds raised from auctioning emissions allowances or from PASNY or LIPA resources from will protect New Yorkers from the harmful effects of air pollution created by fossil fuel-fired power plants. These harmful effects include asthma attacks and premature deaths in seniors, increased levels of mercury contamination, destruction of our forest ecosystems by acid rain, as well as wide-ranging negative effects associated with global climate change;

·        Expanding the types of customers eligible to take advantage of net metering and expanding the size of systems that can be installed would also help protect New Yorkers from the harmful effects of air pollution and take pressure of the electricity transmission system, providing more clean distributed generation where it is needed most. While New Yorkers with small-scale residential systems can already net meter, commercial business cannot, even though the commercial and industrial sectors are responsible for two-thirds of the state’s electricity usage;

• Requiring all new state buildings and substantial renovations of existing buildings to meet the LEED Silver Ratings would result in decreased energy use, increased use of recycled materials, and potential reduction in the state’s operations and maintenance costs over a building’s lifetime;

• Requiring that any recipient of the Power for Jobs and Economic Development Power programs have an energy audit and implement an energy efficiency improvement plan as a result of the audit, would help some of New York’s largest consumers decrease their use and protect the public from air pollution as the result of electricity production; and

• Establishing an interagency task force to identify and evaluate potential climate change emissions reduction strategies would serve New York well as it moves forward to tackle one of the toughest environmental problems facing our generation.

Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports this bill.