New legislation could give New York Power Authority, utilities an advantage in solar development

The Alliance for Clean Energy NY (ACE NY) opposes a bill passed June 1 by the New York Senate, S.6453-C/A.1466-D, which grants the New York Power Authority (NYPA) unlimited ability to purchase, construct and operate renewable energy projects, without any competitive cost controls. The bill also requires that all power generation owned by NYPA be renewable by 2030; that State buildings receive power from NYPA by 2030; and that all electricity used by municipal buildings be provided by NYPA if electricity costs are below utility rates.

ACE NY says this would give NYPA an unfair advantage in renewable energy development.

“The renewable energy industry is sorely disappointed that this bill passed the NY Senate. There are barriers to wind and solar projects getting built in New York, but this bill doesn’t solve them. NYPA should be focused on the needed upgrades to the transmission grid to enable the interconnection and delivery of clean energy — that is the right role for NYPA. NYPA has the authority already to buy clean energy from new wind and solar energy projects and provide that to its customers, and that would be another helpful role for NYPA. Setting NYPA and private clean energy developers on an unfair playing field is just simply not going to help us reach our clean energy goals,” said Anne Reynolds, executive director of ACE NY.

ACE NY also opposes S.9426 / A.10484, which would give regulated utilities in New York State the right to own and operate large-scale renewable electricity generation projects, which they are currently not allowed to do. Time and again New York has decided that it protects ratepayers to have separate companies owning the power plants and owning the wires. But S.9426/A.10484 would allow utilities to operate renewable energy, upending New York’s plans for meeting its climate goals. ACE says this bill will not overcome barriers to renewable development and instead will create an uneven playing field for renewable energy companies in New York state.

News item from ACE NY

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Original Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/06/new-legislation-new-york-power-authority-utility-solar-advantage/