§ 1896. Green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. 1. (a) There is
hereby created a green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. The
revolving loan fund shall consist of:

(i) all moneys made available for the purpose of the revolving loan
fund pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a of this title;

(ii) payments of principal and interest, including any late payment
charges, made pursuant to loan or financing agreements entered into with
the authority or its designee pursuant to this section; and

(iii) any interest earned by the investment of moneys in the revolving
loan fund.

(b) The revolving loan fund shall consist of two accounts:

(i) one account which shall be maintained for monies to be made
available to provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified
energy efficiency services for residential structures and multi-family
structures, and

(ii) one account which shall be maintained for monies made available
to provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified energy
efficiency services for non-residential structures. The initial balance
of the residential account established in subparagraph (i) of this
paragraph shall represent at least fifty percent of the total balance of
the two accounts. The authority shall not commingle the monies of the
revolving loan fund with any other monies of the authority or held by
the authority, nor shall the authority commingle the monies between
accounts. Payments of principal, interest and fees shall be deposited
into the account created and maintained for the appropriate type of
eligible project.

(c) In administering such program, the authority is authorized and
directed to:

(i) use monies made available for the revolving loan fund to achieve
the purposes of this section by section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a
of this title, including but not limited to making loans available for
eligible projects;

(ii) enter into contracts with one or more program implementers to
perform such functions as the authority deems appropriate;

(iii) establish an on-bill recovery mechanism for repayment of loans
for the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for eligible
projects provided that such on-bill recovery mechanism shall provide for
the utilization of any on-bill recovery programs established pursuant to
section sixty-six-m of the public service law and section one thousand
twenty-hh of this chapter;

(iv) establish standards for customer participation in such on-bill
recovery mechanism, including standards for reliable utility bill
payment, current good standing on any mortgage obligations, and such
additional standards as the authority deems necessary; provided that in
order to provide broad access to on-bill recovery, the authority shall,
to the fullest extent practicable, consider alternative measures of
creditworthiness that are prudent in order to include participation by
customers who are less likely to have access to traditional sources of
financing;

(v) to the extent feasible, make available on a pro rata basis, based
on the number of electric customers within the utility service
territory, to combination electric and gas corporations that offer
on-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of the public service
law and the Long Island power authority, up to five hundred thousand
dollars to defray costs directly associated with changing or upgrading
billing systems to accommodate on-bill recovery charges;

(vi) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a fee
of one hundred dollars per loan to the combination electric and gas
corporation in whose service territory such customer is located or to
the Long Island power authority if such customer is located in the
service territory of that authority to help defray the costs that are
directly associated with implementing the program;

(vii) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a
servicing fee of one percent of the loan amount to the combination
electric and gas corporation in whose service territory such customer is
located or to the Long Island power authority if such customer is
located in the service territory of that authority to help defray the
costs that are directly associated with the program; and

(viii) exercise such other powers as are necessary for the proper
administration of the program, including at the discretion of the
authority, entering into agreements with applicants and with such state
or federal agencies as necessary to directly receive rebates and grants
available for eligible projects and apply such funds to repayment of
applicant loan obligations.

2. (a) The authority shall provide financial assistance in the form of
loans for the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for
eligible projects on terms and conditions established by the authority.

(b) Loans made by the authority pursuant to this section shall be
subject to the following limitations:

(i) eligible projects shall meet cost effectiveness standards
developed by the authority;

(ii) loans shall not exceed thirteen thousand dollars per applicant
for approved qualified energy efficiency services for residential
structures, and twenty-six thousand dollars per applicant for approved
qualified energy efficiency services for non-residential structures,
provided, however, that the authority may permit a loan in excess of
such amounts if the total cost of energy efficiency measures financed by
such loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen years or less, but in
no event shall any such loan exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per
applicant for residential structures and fifty thousand dollars per
applicant for non-residential structures; and for multi-family
structures loans shall be in amounts determined by the authority,
provided, however, that the authority shall assure that a significant
number of residential structures are included in the program;

(iii) no fees or penalties shall be charged or collected for
prepayment of any such loan; and

(iv) loans shall be at interest rates determined by the authority to
be no higher than necessary to make the provision of the qualified
energy efficiency services feasible.

In determining whether to make a loan, and the amount of any loan that
is made, the authority is authorized to consider whether the applicant
or borrower has received, or is eligible to receive, financial
assistance and other incentives from any other source for the qualified
energy efficiency services which would be the subject of the loan. In
determining whether a loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen
years or less pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the
authority may consider the amount of the loan to be reduced by the
amount of any rebates for qualified energy efficiency services received
by the applicant or by the authority on behalf of an applicant.

(c) Applications for financial assistance pursuant to this section
shall be reviewed and evaluated by the authority or its designee
pursuant to eligibility and qualification requirements and criteria
established by the authority. The authority shall establish standards
for (i) qualified energy efficiency services, and (ii) measurement and
verification of energy savings. Such standards shall meet or exceed the
standards used by the authority for similar programs in existence on the
effective date of this section.

(d) The amount of a fee paid for an energy audit provided under
section eighteen hundred ninety-five of this title may be added to the
amount of a loan that is made under this section to finance the cost of
an eligible project conducted in response to such energy audit. In such
a case, the amount of the fee may be reimbursed from the fund to the
borrower.

(e) In establishing an on-bill recovery mechanism:

(i) the cost-effectiveness of an eligible project shall be evaluated
solely on the basis of the costs and projected savings to the applying
customer, using standard engineering assessments and prior billing data
and usage patterns; provided however that based upon the most recent
customer data available, on an annualized basis, the monthly on-bill
repayment amount for a package of measures shall not exceed one-twelfth
of the savings projected to result from the installation of the measures
provided further that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit or
prevent customers whose primary heating energy source is from
deliverable fuels from participating in the program;

(ii) the authority shall establish a process for receipt and
resolution of customer complaints concerning on-bill recovery charges
and for addressing delays and defaults in customer payments; and

(iii) the authority may limit the availability of lighting measures or
household appliances that are not permanently affixed to real property.

(f) Prior to or at the closing of each loan made pursuant to this
section, the authority shall cause a notice to be provided to each
customer receiving such loan stating, in clear and conspicuous terms:

(i) the financial and legal obligations and risks of accepting such
loan responsibilities, including the obligation to provide or consent to
the customer's utility providing the authority information on the
sources and quantities of energy used in the customer's premises and any
improvements or modifications to the premises, use of the premises or
energy consuming appliances or equipment of any type that may
significantly affect energy usage;

(ii) that the on-bill recovery charge will be billed by such customer
utility company and that failure to pay such on-bill recovery charge may
result in the customer having his or her electricity and/or gas
terminated for non-payment, provided that such utility company follows
the requirements of article two of the public service law with respect
to residential customers;

(iii) that incurring such loan to undertake energy-efficiency projects
may not result in lower monthly energy costs over time, based on
additional factors that contribute to monthly energy costs;

(iv) that the program is operated by the authority and it is the sole
responsibility of the authority to handle consumer inquiries and
complaints related to the operation and lending associated with the
program, provided further that the authority shall provide a mechanism
to receive such consumer inquiries and complaints.

(g) Any person entering into a loan agreement pursuant to this section
shall have the right to cancel any such loan agreement until midnight of
the fifth business day following the day on which such person signs such
agreement provided the loan proceeds have not yet been disbursed.

3. The authority shall evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the on-bill
recovery mechanism on an on-going basis. (a) In conducting such
evaluation, the authority shall request each customer to provide:

(i) information on energy usage and/or permission to collect
information on energy usage from utilities and other retail vendors,
including but not limited to information required to be furnished to
consumers under article seventeen of the energy law;

(ii) information on other sources of energy used in the customer's
premises; and

(iii) information on any improvements or modifications to the premises
that may significantly affect energy usage.

(b) At a minimum the authority shall collect and maintain information
for dates prior to the performance of qualified energy efficiency
services, to establish a baseline, and for dates covering a subsequent
time period to measure the effectiveness of such measures. Such data
shall be correlated with information from the energy audit and any other
relevant information, including information on local weather conditions,
and shall be used to evaluate the on-bill recovery program and to
improve the accuracy of projections of cost-effectiveness on an on-going
basis. An analysis of such data shall be included in the annual report
prepared pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine of this title.

(c) All information collected by the authority shall be confidential
and shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this subdivision.

4. Qualified energy efficiency services that have been paid for in
whole or in part with the proceeds of a loan under this title shall be
considered a special energy project pursuant to section eighteen hundred
fifty-one of this article.

5. (a) For each loan issued for qualified energy efficiency services
that is to be repaid through an on-bill recovery mechanism, the New York
state energy research and development authority shall record, pursuant
to article nine of the real property law, in the office of the
appropriate recording officer, a declaration with respect to the
property improved by such services of the existence of the loan and
stating the total amount of the loan, the term of the loan, and that the
loan is being repaid through a charge on an electric or gas meter
associated with the property. The declaration shall further state that
it is being filed pursuant to this section and, unless fully satisfied
prior to sale or transfer of the property, the loan repayment utility
meter charge shall survive changes in ownership, tenancy, or meter
account responsibility and, until fully satisfied, shall constitute the
obligation of the person responsible for the meter account. Such
declaration shall not constitute a mortgage and shall not create any
security interest or lien on the property. Upon satisfaction of the
loan, the authority shall file a declaration of repayment pursuant to
article nine of the real property law.

(b) The recording officer shall record such declarations in the same
book, provided under section three hundred fifteen of the real property
law, in which such recording officer records deeds.