2024 Legislative Priorities

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2024 Goals for the Alliance for Clean Energy New York

For New York to achieve its ambitious climate and clean energy goals, the renewable energy industry needs accelerated investment and construction in all clean energy market segments, including grid-connected renewables, energy storage, building efficiency, distributed renewables, and transportation electrification. Each has unique challenges but offers significant opportunities to create jobs and provide clean energy.

ACE NY PRIORITIES FOR LARGE-SCALE, GRID-CONNECTED RENEWABLES:

• On-time NYSERDA competitive procurements, with the expedited procurements launched in late 2023 resulting in awards in the first quarter of 2024 for Tier 1 and offshore wind; a new Tier 1 solicitation in April 2024; and a NY-5 offshore wind solicitation in 2024. Plus, a pipeline of contracted capacity to replace cancelled contracts, greater than 70% of 2030 demand.

• A Clean Energy Standard biennial review launched and completed in 2024 that improves procurement methods while maintaining a pace that will achieve 70% renewable electricity by 2030, with a fair and transparent evaluation process for bids and reasonable contract requirements.

• Solid progress on transmission, including transmission needs identified through the Coordinated Grid Planning Process; Public Service Commission (PSC) designation of a public policy transmission need (PPTN) upstate; significant progress on the NYC PPTN; and decision-making around other transmission development to enable offshore wind development.

• An improved, efficient interconnection process at the NYISO, including the filing of a tariff at FERC in Q1 that redesigns the interconnection process such that the process is shorter and simplified, and completion of the 2023 Class Year.

• Efficient permitting, as evidenced by steady progress by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting. Our goal is to allow responsible developers to move steadily and predictably through the process in a timely manner, so that there is a healthy pipeline of diverse projects. Also, improvements to the species impact mitigation process.

• The continued ability of solar developers to lease land from farmers to host the solar projects NY needs to achieve its clean energy and climate goals, plus advancement of co-located solar and agriculture to demonstrate emerging approaches to both.

• NYISO rules that are fair and favorable for renewables, e.g., capacity market rules that don’t disadvantage renewable energy or storage.

• A significant cohort of wind and solar projects successfully reaching the construction phase during 2023 and becoming operational.

• For offshore wind planning, the establishment of a goal of 15 GW of offshore wind by 2040 and 20 GW by 2050, plus the issuance of an Offshore Wind Power Master Plan 2.0 that includes a roadmap for offshore wind power development in the deep ocean.

• Standardized and fair property taxation of wind and solar projects, and elimination of unfair renewable energy bans and moratoria at the local level.

• Support for renewable resources built before 2015, plus rules that enable and encourage renewables repowering.

• Reasonable requirements for decommissioning projects and avoidance of end-of-life disposal requirements that vary from town-to-town. Support for the development of solar panel recycling facilities in New York.

• New York state pursuit of an economy-wide carbon cap-and-invest policy that includes the electricity sector.

For energy storage, ACE NY will advocate for the timely implementation of a new Index Storage Credit procurement program for bulk storage, as well as continued funding for a commercial and residential storage program at NYSERDA, towards the achievement of New York’s 6 GW by 2030 goal. We will support rules that facilitate energy storage growth at the NYISO, especially paired with renewables, and work towards a storage sales tax exemption at the Legislature.

For building energy efficiency, ACE NY will advocate for passage of a new benchmarking bill and participate in the New Efficiency New York implementation to advocate for utility spending plans that create robust and sustainable markets for building energy efficiency providers. We will push for new, aggressive building codes, transparency and improvements in the PSC cost effectiveness tests, and a better data access framework.

For distributed renewables, ACE NY will work in coalition to support and weigh in on improvements to the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) policy and will support the expansion of VDER to small hydro and technology-neutrality.

For transportation electrification, ACE NY will advocate for effective implementation of the PSC’s make-ready order and tariff revisions to support fast charging networks, will watchdog implementation of EV related rules at the Department of Conservation, and will support passage of legislation that supports transportation electrification, such as the Direct Sales Bill, the Clean Fuel Standard, and the EV Sales Tax Exemption Bill.

At the Legislature, ACE NY will have a full agenda for 2024 and will track all bills that would affect our member companies’ operations and investment in New York.

Finally, implementation of the Climate Scoping Plan is a priority for ACE NY in 2024. We will continue to monitor progress and advocate for measures included in the Final Scoping Plan, particularly progress on the economy-wide cap-and-invest policy with an eye towards equity, reinvestment in disadvantaged communities, and inclusion of the electricity sector.