Governor Cuomo signs bills to allow procurement 'piggybacking', encourage micro hydro-electric generation

     Two bills sponsored by Senator Betty Little were signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, August 1.

     The first (S.5525c, Chapter 308) allows municipalities and school districts in New York to jointly contract for goods and services with any other federal, state or local government agency.

     Cooperative purchasing, also known as piggybacking, allows municipalities and schools to secure cheaper costs for a particular product or service by using the same contract for a vendor that was used by any other government agency.

      “This saves money and time, and its timing is obviously critical given the financial pressure local governments and schools are under,” said Little.

      The New York State Educational Conference Board,  New York Association of Towns, New York Conference of Mayors, New York State Association of Municipal Purchasing Officers and New York Association of Counties advocated for the measure.

      The second law (S6670, Chapter 318) expands remote net metering benefits to include micro-hydroelectric generation.  New York's net metering law had only allowed micro-hydroelectric generating equipment connected to a single meter to receive credit at that single meter.

      The new law will allow farm operations, customers with land in agricultural production, or non-residential customers to apply credit received for power delivered to the grid to any of the customer's meters rather than only to a single, directly connected meter as long as the meters are located on the customers property within the same utility territory.

      “This new law provides parity for micro-hydro generators, encouraging investment in this technology which is good for business and the environment,” said Little.

      The New York Farm Bureau and Alliance for Clean Energy New York supported the measure.

      Both laws are effective immediately.

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