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S03126 Summary:

BILL NOS03126C
 
SAME ASSAME AS A03996-C
 
SPONSORPARKER
 
COSPNSRBIAGGI, BRISPORT, GOUNARDES, HINCHEY, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAMINSKY, MAY, RAMOS, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §66-t, Pub Serv L; add §1885, Pub Auth L
 
Establishes energy efficiency measures by the public service commission and NYSERDA including requiring utilities to hire and train employees who are from priority populations or living in areas designated as environmental justice communities.
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S03126 Memo:

Memo not available
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S03126 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         3126--C
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                    January 27, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by Sens. PARKER, BIAGGI, BRISPORT, GOUNARDES, HINCHEY, HOYL-
          MAN, JACKSON, KAMINSKY, MAY, RAMOS, SALAZAR -- read twice and  ordered
          printed,  and  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy
          and Telecommunications --  reported  favorably  from  said  committee,
          ordered  to  first  and  second  report,  ordered  to a third reading,
          amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place  in  the  order  of
          third  reading  --  passed  by  Senate  and delivered to the Assembly,
          recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third  reading,  amended  and
          ordered  reprinted,  retaining its place in the order of third reading
          -- recommitted to the Committee on Energy  and  Telecommunications  in
          accordance  with  Senate  Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
          amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said  commit-
          tee
 
        AN  ACT  to amend the public service law and the public authorities law,
          in relation to establishing energy efficiency measures by  the  public
          service  commission  and  the New York energy research and development
          authority
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
     2  66-t to read as follows:
     3    § 66-t. Energy efficiency program. 1. As used  in  this  section,  the
     4  following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a)  "energy  efficiency"  means  the reduction in overall energy use,
     6  expressed as a percentage against a prior baseline of historical use, or
     7  in British thermal units (BTUs). Energy efficiency shall  include  envi-
     8  ronmentally beneficial electrification;
     9    (b)  "energy  efficiency  measure" means a particular good or practice
    10  that provides an energy efficiency benefit;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05989-13-2

        S. 3126--C                          2
 
     1    (c) "environmentally beneficial electrification" means  a  replacement
     2  of  direct  fossil  fuel  use with electricity such that the replacement
     3  reduces overall emissions;
     4    (d)  "disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as subdi-
     5  vision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation law;
     6    (e) "residential building" means a building having primary  use  as  a
     7  domicile;
     8    (f)  "small  commercial building" means a building operated by a busi-
     9  ness or not-for-profit organization with one hundred employees or fewer;
    10  provided they (i) own their building or (ii) lease or manage all or part
    11  of the building and have a release from the building owner to apply  for
    12  financing through the program; and
    13    (g)  "priority  populations" means groups that include veterans, indi-
    14  viduals with  disabilities,  low-income  individuals,  unemployed  power
    15  plant  workers,  previously incarcerated individuals, persons aged eigh-
    16  teen through twenty-four participating  in  work  preparedness  training
    17  programs, or residents of disadvantaged communities.
    18    2.  In  order to stimulate the growth and adoption of a more efficient
    19  use of energy in disadvantaged communities and to promote the hiring and
    20  training of employees from disadvantaged communities and priority  popu-
    21  lations,  the  commission shall develop, oversee and issue guidelines to
    22  be used as part of any energy efficiency proceeding or utility  program,
    23  which shall include the following elements:
    24    (a)  any  job  training  funding  administered by utilities for energy
    25  efficiency implementation shall serve individuals  from  priority  popu-
    26  lations  or  trainees  living in disadvantaged communities, at a minimum
    27  proportional to these areas' percentage share of the  total  residential
    28  housing and small commercial building stock within the state;
    29    (b)  beginning three years after the effective date of this paragraph,
    30  installers, technicians, crew leaders, construction workers and  appren-
    31  tices  hired  for  implementation  of utility energy efficiency programs
    32  shall be from priority populations or disadvantaged  communities,  at  a
    33  minimum proportional to these areas' percentage share of the total resi-
    34  dential housing and small commercial building stock within the state, or
    35  from other priority populations and disadvantaged communities within one
    36  hundred miles of target work sites; and
    37    (c)  beginning three years after the effective date of this paragraph,
    38  require that any residential and/or  small  business  energy  efficiency
    39  program  funding  used  directly for energy efficiency measures adminis-
    40  tered by utilities shall  be  allocated  to  disadvantaged  communities,
    41  proportional  to  these areas' percentage share of the total residential
    42  housing and small commercial building stock within the state.
    43    3. (a) In any calendar year that a utility is unable to meet  the  job
    44  training  or  hiring  requirements  pursuant  to subdivision two of this
    45  section, such utility shall file with the public  service  commission  a
    46  detailed    report   describing   the   activities   and efforts made to
    47  comply with such requirements, including but not limited to  information
    48  about outreach conducted in disadvantaged communities and among  priori-
    49  ty  populations  and areas where the utility publicized job and training
    50  opportunities. The utility shall also include a draft  plan for  how  it
    51  will work with community partners and stakeholders to build up the qual-
    52  ified applicant pool to comply with such requirements  during  the  next
    53  calendar    year.   The   plan   will   be subject to a sixty-day public
    54  comment period after which a final plan  that  incorporates  the  public
    55  comments will be filed with the commission.

        S. 3126--C                          3
 
     1    (b) The commission shall conduct a periodic performance audit ensuring
     2  that disadvantaged communities have  access  to  the  utility  workforce
     3  development  training, jobs, and opportunities pursuant to this section.
     4  The commission shall publish the results of each  performance  audit  on
     5  the commission's website.
     6    (c)  The  commission shall have the authority to adjudicate complaints
     7  and conduct investigations for violation of this section in  the  manner
     8  provided  by the provisions of this article and shall have the authority
     9  to enforce the provisions of this section  in  accordance  with  section
    10  twenty-six of this chapter.
    11    §  2.  The  public  authorities law is amended by adding a new section
    12  1885 to read as follows:
    13    § 1885. Efficiency requirements. 1.  As  used  in  this  section,  the
    14  following terms shall have the following meanings:
    15    (a)  "energy  efficiency"  means  the reduction in overall energy use,
    16  expressed as a percentage against a prior baseline of historical use, or
    17  in British Thermal Units (BTUs). Energy efficiency shall  include  envi-
    18  ronmentally beneficial electrification;
    19    (b)  "environmentally  beneficial electrification" means a replacement
    20  of direct fossil fuel use with electricity  such  that  the  replacement
    21  reduces overall emissions;
    22    (c)  "disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as subdi-
    23  vision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation law;
    24    (d) "authority" means the New York state energy research and  develop-
    25  ment authority;
    26    (e)  "small  commercial building" means a building operated by a busi-
    27  ness or not-for-profit organization with one hundred employees or fewer,
    28  provided such business or not-for-profit organization (i) own the build-
    29  ing; or (ii) lease or manage all or part of  the  building  and  have  a
    30  release  from  the  building  owner  to  apply for financing through the
    31  authority;
    32    (f) "priority population" means groups that include  veterans,  Native
    33  Americans,  individuals with disabilities, low-income individuals, unem-
    34  ployed power plant workers, previously incarcerated individuals, persons
    35  aged eighteen through twenty-four  participating  in  work  preparedness
    36  training programs, or residents of disadvantaged communities.
    37    2.  In  order to stimulate the growth and adoption of a more efficient
    38  use of energy in disadvantaged communities and to promote the  equitable
    39  distribution  of  energy efficiency benefits, the authority may allocate
    40  funds to the non-energy related interventions in conjunction with energy
    41  interventions, including but not limited to  mold,  lead,  and  asbestos
    42  remediation  pursuant  to  the recommendations of an integrated physical
    43  needs assessment performed by the  division  of  housing  and  community
    44  renewal  or  other qualified agency; the authority shall further require
    45  that:
    46    (a) any program funding for the installation of end-use  energy  effi-
    47  ciency measures administered by the authority with the goal of achieving
    48  the  one  hundred  eighty-five trillion BTUs of end-use energy below the
    49  year two thousand twenty-five energy use forecast goal  shall  be  allo-
    50  cated  to  disadvantaged  communities  at a minimum proportional to such
    51  areas' share of the state housing and small commercial  building  stock;
    52  and
    53    (b)    any  job training program funding administered by the authority
    54  for energy efficiency implementation  serve  individuals  from  priority
    55  populations or trainees living in disadvantaged communities proportional

        S. 3126--C                          4
 
     1  to  such areas' share of the state housing and small commercial building
     2  stock; and
     3    (c) employees hired for implementation of authority programs for ener-
     4  gy  efficiency implementation are from disadvantaged communities propor-
     5  tional to these areas' share of the state housing and  small  commercial
     6  building stock.
     7    3.  The  authority shall include resource impacts, non-energy impacts,
     8  distribution impacts and economic development impacts in any  cost-bene-
     9  fit analysis utilized in designing or implementing any energy efficiency
    10  program  initiated, updated, or revised subsequent to the effective date
    11  of this section.
    12    4. The authority shall publish on its website data on non-energy bene-
    13  fits (NEBs) of home and building-scale energy efficiency programming  as
    14  evaluated by the authority in cost-benefit analyses.
    15    5.  The authority shall perform a geographic analysis within disadvan-
    16  taged communities to map and identify where workforce opportunities  and
    17  gaps  exist  in energy efficiency and shall work with the existing work-
    18  force development programs, union apprenticeships,  community  organiza-
    19  tions and regional hubs to fund pre-apprenticeship programs and communi-
    20  ty  training  for  energy  efficiency jobs based on the findings of such
    21  analysis.
    22    6. The authority shall measure  tenant  displacement  rates  and  rent
    23  increases incurred as a result of any energy efficiency funding received
    24  under  this  section.  The  authority  shall publish any findings on its
    25  website and shall recommend to the legislature any necessary actions  to
    26  avoid  the  displacement of tenants as a result of the energy efficiency
    27  funding received pursuant to this section.
    28    § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi-
    29  sion, section or part of this act shall be  adjudged  by  any  court  of
    30  competent  jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
    31  impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall  be  confined  in
    32  its  operation  to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section
    33  or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg-
    34  ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of
    35  the legislature that this act would  have  been  enacted  even  if  such
    36  invalid provisions had not been included herein.
    37    §  4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
    38  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    39  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
    40  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    41  effective date.
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