BILL NUMBER: S7994

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public service law, in relation to modifying the
definition of renewable energy systems

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To allow for the continued operation of biomass facilities located on a
military installation and providing 100% of the military base's elec-
tricity.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Includes "biomass within a military installation" within the
definition of renewable energy systems.

Section 2: Sets forth the effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

Since the inception of New York's renewable energy policy, beginning
with the PSC Order approving the Renewable Portfolio Standard in 2004,
biomass has been considered a renewable technology and has been helping
New York advanced towards its renewable energy targets for nearly two
decades.

However, in 2019 the Legislature passed and the Governor signed the
Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), legislation
that excluded bioenergy from the definition of "renewable energy
systems". The CLCPA also, for the first time in New York's history,
included statutorily defined renewable energy and emissions reduction
targets while creating a 22-member Climate Action Council (CAC) respon-
sible for developing a Scoping Plan to achieve the state's bold clean
energy and climate agenda.

Over the course of the last year, the CAC and its numerous Advisory
Panels have held hundreds of public meetings, reviewed countless studies
and collected comments from across the state in an effort to draft the
Scoping Plan. While the work of the Climate Action Council continues and
the final Scoping Plan will not be complete until December 2022, the
role of bioenergy continues to be discussed by many of the Advisory
Panels and the Council itself.

While the CAC continues the debate over the role of bioenergy, the only
grid-scale biomass facility in New York may be forced to terminate oper-
ations when its current NYSERDA REC contract expires in May 2023 if
bioenergy is no longer supported under the State's renewable energy
programs. In addition to the environmental benefits that a carbon-neu-
tral biomass facility provides, the baseload 60-MW Black River biomass
facility has other critical benefits, including economic benefits to the
North Country economy and energy security and resiliency for Fort Drum
and the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division.

Located inside the fence at the Fort Drum U.S. Army installation, the
Black River facility provides 100% of Fort Drum's energy and sells its
excess to the grid. ReEnergy invested more than $50 million to retrofit
this former coal-burning facility to utilize biomass as its fuel and to
construct an interconnection system between the facility and Fort Drum's
two substations, allowing the installation to operate as a microgrid,
providing energy security and resiliency for Fort Drum. Unlike other
renewable energy systems, the Black River biomass facility operates 24-7
while supporting approximately 300 direct and indirect jobs with an
annual spend of more than $25 million.

As the Climate Action Council works to develop the state's plan on meet-
ing New York's climate goals, this legislation is critical to ensure the
Black River biomass facility continues operations and provides energy
security to Fort Drum, grid reliability while.  displacing fossil fuels
and supports the North Country's sustainable forest products industry.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.