S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  3805--A
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             January 28, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  CUSICK,  COLTON, WILLIAMS, CARROLL, GRIFFIN,
   STERN, GOTTFRIED, STECK, REYES, PAULIN, PERRY, FAHY, WALLACE,  ABINAN-
   TI, D. ROSENTHAL, BARRON, JONES, CRUZ, SOLAGES, PHEFFER AMATO, ZEBROW-
   SKI,  SIMON,  L. ROSENTHAL,  QUART, DAVILA, HEVESI, M. MILLER, SAYEGH,
   GLICK, RODRIGUEZ, MAGNARELLI, EPSTEIN, O'DONNELL, ROZIC, SANTABARBARA,
   GUNTHER, WOERNER, FRONTUS, WEPRIN, BARNWELL, HUNTER, J. RIVERA,  OTIS,
   SCHMITT,  STIRPE,  FERNANDEZ,  VANEL,  GALEF, COOK, DINOWITZ, BARRETT,
   SEAWRIGHT, NIOU, ASHBY, HYNDMAN --  read  once  and  referred  to  the
   Committee  on  Energy  --  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  transfer  of
   bill  credits  associated  with  the electricity produced by community
   distributed generation facilities
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Community
 Solar for Disadvantaged Communities Act".
   § 2. The Legislature hereby finds that as  a  result  of  the  Climate
 Leadership  and  Community  Protection Act, New York State has two goals
 that are wholly compatible: the leading-edge goal to build six gigawatts
 of distributed solar generation by 2025,  and  to  provide  benefits  to
 disadvantaged  communities  through  the provision of low-cost renewable
 power; that recent estimates indicate New York State needs to accelerate
 the build out of solar deployment by at least six hundred  thirty  mega-
 watts  per year by 2025 to achieve the first goal; that New York City is
 the home to the four most underserved counties for solar  power  in  the
 state,  with seven percent of the solar generation yet forty-one percent
 of the population; that New York City is the home to the largest  number
 of  low and moderate income rate payers, including fifty-five percent of
 the state's low income residents; that New York city has a laudable goal
 of two hundred fifty megawatts of community solar to address  a  portion
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD06837-03-1

 A. 3805--A                          2
 
 of  the need; so New York State must pair together these two vital goals
 to ensure that the economic  and  environmental  benefits  of  renewable
 solar  power  are  available  to all residents, especially disadvantaged
 communities,  through  a  process  of  removing  regulatory barriers and
 unlocking consumer savings, while avoiding the need  for  costly  short-
 term transmission upgrades.
   § 3. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-q to
 read as follows:
   § 66-Q. COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FACILITY BILL CREDITS.  1. AS
 USED IN THIS SECTION, THE TERM "COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FACILI-
 TY"  SHALL  MEAN A PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM WITH A RATED CAPACITY OF NOT MORE
 THAN FIVE MEGAWATTS OF ALTERNATING CURRENT THAT IS CONNECTED TO AN ELEC-
 TRIC SYSTEM AND OPERATED IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN  ELECTRIC  CORPORATION'S
 TRANSMISSION   AND  DISTRIBUTION  FACILITIES.    PARTICIPATING  ELECTRIC
 CUSTOMERS RECEIVE A BILL CREDIT FOR THE ELECTRICITY GENERATED IN PROPOR-
 TION TO THE SIZE OF THEIR INTEREST IN THE FACILITY, WITH AT LEAST  SIXTY
 PERCENT  OF THE FACILITY'S PRODUCTION ALLOCATED TO PARTICIPATING CUSTOM-
 ERS IN INCREMENTS OF TWENTY-FIVE KILOWATTS OR LESS.
   2. WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF THE  EFFECTIVE  DATE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  THE
 COMMISSION  SHALL  DIRECT  ELECTRIC  CORPORATIONS TO FILE A MODEL TARIFF
 PROVIDING FOR THE TRANSFER OF BILL CREDITS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ELECTRIC-
 ITY PRODUCED BY COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FACILITIES IN ONE ELEC-
 TRIC CORPORATION TERRITORY TO THE ACCOUNTS OF SUBSCRIBERS IN OTHER ELEC-
 TRIC CORPORATION TERRITORIES,  AND  ANY  OTHER  SETTLEMENT  SYSTEMS  AND
 PROCESSES  NECESSARY  TO  EFFECTUATE  SUCH TRANSFERS IN A COST-EFFECTIVE
 MANNER. FOLLOWING PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE MODEL TARIFF, THE PUBLIC SERVICE
 COMMISSION SHALL, WITHIN TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE  DATE
 OF THIS SECTION, APPROVE TARIFFS TO ENABLE SUCH TRANSFERS.
   3.  NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION TWO, NOTHING IN THIS
 SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO IMPEDE  COMMUNITY  DISTRIBUTED  GENERATION
 DEVELOPMENT  WITHIN A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE. THE
 COMMISSION MAY, AT ITS DISCRETION, REVIEW  THE  COMPENSATION  MECHANISMS
 FOR  COMMUNITY  DISTRIBUTED  GENERATION SITED WITHIN SUCH CITY TO ENSURE
 THE MARKET IS ACHIEVING ITS POTENTIAL, GIVEN THE LIMITED  REAL  PROPERTY
 FOR SOLAR DEVELOPMENT.
   4. THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION THREE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE-D OF THE GENERAL
 BUSINESS  LAW  SHALL  ALSO  BENEFIT  CUSTOMERS  OF COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED
 GENERATION FACILITIES DESIGNATED UNDER THIS SECTION.
   § 4. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-r to
 read as follows:
   § 66-R. COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED GENERATION  FACILITY  BILL  CREDITS  FOR
 DISADVANTAGED  COMMUNITIES. ALL COMMUNITY DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FACILI-
 TIES THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNATED  FOR  PARTICIPATION  IN  THE  BILL
 CREDIT  SYSTEM  ESTABLISHED  UNDER  SECTION  SIXTY-SIX-Q OF THIS ARTICLE
 SHALL PROVIDE AT LEAST THIRTY-FIVE  PERCENT  OF  THE  CREDITS  FROM  THE
 AGGREGATE  GENERATION RESULTING FROM THE DESIGNATED PROJECTS UNDER THEIR
 OWNERSHIP TO DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES AS DEFINED UNDER SUBDIVISION FIVE
 OF SECTION 75-0101 OF  THE  ENVIRONMENTAL  CONSERVATION  LAW,  INCLUDING
 WITHIN  LOW  AND  MODERATE  INCOME  COMMUNITIES AS DEFINED IN THE LOW TO
 MODERATE INCOME CENSUS POPULATION ANALYSIS TOOL OF THE  NEW  YORK  STATE
 ENERGY  AND  RESEARCH  DEVELOPMENT  AUTHORITY  PURSUANT TO MATTER NUMBER
 16-00681 OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.