Bill Text: NY A02655 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-03 - referred to energy [A02655 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A02655-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2655 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 26, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER, LUPARDO, CLARK, BURDICK, MITAYNES, MAMDA- NI, KELLES, PHEFFER AMATO, FAHY, CARROLL, ANDERSON, FORREST, RIVERA, REYES, GLICK, EPSTEIN, L. ROSENTHAL, SIMON, HEVESI, JACOBSON, BURGOS, WALKER, DICKENS, COLTON, GUNTHER, GONZALEZ-ROJAS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy 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-u to read as follows: 3 § 66-u. 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; 11 (c) "environmentally beneficial electrification" means a replacement 12 of direct fossil fuel use with electricity such that the replacement 13 reduces overall emissions; 14 (d) "disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as subdi- 15 vision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation law; 16 (e) "residential building" means a building having primary use as a 17 domicile; 18 (f) "small commercial building" means a building operated by a busi- 19 ness or not-for-profit organization with one hundred employees or fewer; 20 provided they (i) own their building or (ii) lease or manage all or part EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06250-01-3A. 2655 2 1 of the building and have a release from the building owner to apply for 2 financing through the program; and 3 (g) "priority populations" means groups that include veterans, indi- 4 viduals with disabilities, low-income individuals, unemployed power 5 plant workers, previously incarcerated individuals, persons aged eigh- 6 teen through twenty-four participating in work preparedness training 7 programs, or residents of disadvantaged communities. 8 2. In order to stimulate the growth and adoption of a more efficient 9 use of energy in disadvantaged communities and to promote the hiring and 10 training of employees from disadvantaged communities and priority popu- 11 lations, the commission shall develop, oversee and issue guidelines to 12 be used as part of any energy efficiency proceeding or utility program, 13 which shall include the following elements: 14 (a) any job training funding administered by utilities for energy 15 efficiency implementation shall serve individuals from priority popu- 16 lations or trainees living in disadvantaged communities, at a minimum 17 proportional to these areas' percentage share of the total residential 18 housing and small commercial building stock within the state; 19 (b) beginning three years after the effective date of this paragraph, 20 installers, technicians, crew leaders, construction workers and appren- 21 tices hired for implementation of utility energy efficiency programs 22 shall be from priority populations or disadvantaged communities, at a 23 minimum proportional to these areas' percentage share of the total resi- 24 dential housing and small commercial building stock within the state, or 25 from other priority populations and disadvantaged communities within one 26 hundred miles of target work sites; and 27 (c) beginning three years after the effective date of this paragraph, 28 require that any residential and/or small business energy efficiency 29 program funding used directly for energy efficiency measures adminis- 30 tered by utilities shall be allocated to disadvantaged communities, 31 proportional to these areas' percentage share of the total residential 32 housing and small commercial building stock within the state. 33 3. (a) In any calendar year that a utility is unable to meet the job 34 training or hiring requirements pursuant to subdivision two of this 35 section, such utility shall file with the public service commission a 36 detailed report describing the activities and efforts made to 37 comply with such requirements, including but not limited to information 38 about outreach conducted in disadvantaged communities and among priori- 39 ty populations and areas where the utility publicized job and training 40 opportunities. The utility shall also include a draft plan for how it 41 will work with community partners and stakeholders to build up the qual- 42 ified applicant pool to comply with such requirements during the next 43 calendar year. The plan will be subject to a sixty-day public 44 comment period after which a final plan that incorporates the public 45 comments will be filed with the commission. 46 (b) The commission shall conduct a periodic performance audit ensuring 47 that disadvantaged communities have access to the utility workforce 48 development training, jobs, and opportunities pursuant to this section. 49 The commission shall publish the results of each performance audit on 50 the commission's website. 51 (c) The commission shall have the authority to adjudicate complaints 52 and conduct investigations for violation of this section in the manner 53 provided by the provisions of this article and shall have the authority 54 to enforce the provisions of this section in accordance with section 55 twenty-six of this chapter.A. 2655 3 1 § 2. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 2 1885 to read as follows: 3 § 1885. Efficiency requirements. 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) "environmentally beneficial electrification" means a replacement 10 of direct fossil fuel use with electricity such that the replacement 11 reduces overall emissions; 12 (c) "disadvantaged communities" shall have the same meaning as subdi- 13 vision five of section 75-0101 of the environmental conservation law; 14 (d) "authority" means the New York state energy research and develop- 15 ment authority; 16 (e) "small commercial building" means a building operated by a busi- 17 ness or not-for-profit organization with one hundred employees or fewer, 18 provided such business or not-for-profit organization (i) own the build- 19 ing; or (ii) lease or manage all or part of the building and have a 20 release from the building owner to apply for financing through the 21 authority; 22 (f) "priority population" means groups that include veterans, Native 23 Americans, individuals with disabilities, low-income individuals, unem- 24 ployed power plant workers, previously incarcerated individuals, persons 25 aged eighteen through twenty-four participating in work preparedness 26 training programs, or residents of disadvantaged communities. 27 2. In order to stimulate the growth and adoption of a more efficient 28 use of energy in disadvantaged communities and to promote the equitable 29 distribution of energy efficiency benefits, the authority may allocate 30 funds to the non-energy related interventions in conjunction with energy 31 interventions, including but not limited to mold, lead, and asbestos 32 remediation pursuant to the recommendations of an integrated physical 33 needs assessment performed by the division of housing and community 34 renewal or other qualified agency; the authority shall further require 35 that: 36 (a) any program funding for the installation of end-use energy effi- 37 ciency measures administered by the authority with the goal of achieving 38 the one hundred eighty-five trillion BTUs of end-use energy below the 39 year two thousand twenty-five energy use forecast goal shall be allo- 40 cated to disadvantaged communities at a minimum proportional to such 41 areas' share of the state housing and small commercial building stock; 42 and 43 (b) any job training program funding administered by the authority 44 for energy efficiency implementation serve individuals from priority 45 populations or trainees living in disadvantaged communities proportional 46 to such areas' share of the state housing and small commercial building 47 stock; and 48 (c) employees hired for implementation of authority programs for ener- 49 gy efficiency implementation are from disadvantaged communities propor- 50 tional to these areas' share of the state housing and small commercial 51 building stock. 52 3. The authority shall include resource impacts, non-energy impacts, 53 distribution impacts and economic development impacts in any cost-bene- 54 fit analysis utilized in designing or implementing any energy efficiency 55 program initiated, updated, or revised subsequent to the effective date 56 of this section.A. 2655 4 1 4. The authority shall publish on its website data on non-energy bene- 2 fits (NEBs) of home and building-scale energy efficiency programming as 3 evaluated by the authority in cost-benefit analyses. 4 5. The authority shall perform a geographic analysis within disadvan- 5 taged communities to map and identify where workforce opportunities and 6 gaps exist in energy efficiency and shall work with the existing work- 7 force development programs, union apprenticeships, community organiza- 8 tions and regional hubs to fund pre-apprenticeship programs and communi- 9 ty training for energy efficiency jobs based on the findings of such 10 analysis. 11 6. The authority shall measure tenant displacement rates and rent 12 increases incurred as a result of any energy efficiency funding received 13 under this section. The authority shall publish any findings on its 14 website and shall recommend to the legislature any necessary actions to 15 avoid the displacement of tenants as a result of the energy efficiency 16 funding received pursuant to this section. 17 § 3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivi- 18 sion, section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of 19 competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, 20 impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in 21 its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section 22 or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judg- 23 ment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of 24 the legislature that this act would have been enacted even if such 25 invalid provisions had not been included herein. 26 § 4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 27 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any 28 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its 29 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such 30 effective date.
