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NEW YORK

New York has one of the most ambitious renewable energy visions of any state. Several years after the establishment of New York’s first CCA, Westchester Power, is doing well and continuing to grow. As of January, 2023,  hundreds municipalities have launched or are pursuing CCAs to achieve local energy goals.

Since its launch in May, 2016, Westchester Power has grown to 29 communities accounting for 145,000 Westchester electric customers, representing 40% of the county residents.

Joule Community Power's first program launched in 2019 and now serves 56 communities/800,000 customers with $18 million in electricity cost savings in 2022. New initiatives include an Energy Storage for Social Equity project in Rochester and a Community Solar project in Southampton.

Municipal Electric & Gas Alliance (MEGA) presently serves more than 30 county governments and more than 250 municipalities, including many school districts.

HISTORY

In 2014 New York State began a series of reforms that are referred to as Reforming the Energy Vision (REV).  These programs are designed to benefit both the environment and the state’s economy by creating many small, local, clean power plants throughout New York and increasing the benefits of retail price competition for residential and business customers.  The Order Instituting Proceeding and Soliciting Comments about CCAs was issued on December 15, 2014.

In February, 2015 the New York Public Service Commission approved the plans for creating the state’s first CCA, Westchester Power, to serve communities in Westchester County, a well-to-do region north of New York City.  Westchester Power provides electricity to residents of participating communities at a price that is slightly below the prices offered by ConEd (the IOU for the southern part of the county) and NYSEG (the IOU for the northern part).  Westchester Power offers its customers a choice of “basic supply” electricity or electricity that has been made 100% renewable through the purchase of Green-e certified RECs at a slightly higher price.

One unique feature of the New York electricity market is that IOUs are not allowed to offer stable electricity prices.  Generation charges fluctuate monthly, and can range from as low as 3 cents/kWh to 15 cents/kWh.  CCAs, on the other hand, can offer stable prices and can guarantee those rates for one or more years, depending on the duration of the supply contract they enter into.

Westchester Power serves twenty-one participating municipalities (see map).  The 100,000 customer accounts in those communities represent 40% of the county’s population. The creation of Westchester Power was the culmination of years of work by the non-profit community group Sustainable Westchester, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose members are 41 of the 44 municipalities in the county.  Westchester Power is structured as a program of Sustainable Westchester, and is regulated by the New York PSC.

CURRENT AND EMERGING ISSUES

In July, 2022, Hudson Valley Community Power customers were returned to Central Hudson electricity service due to a default by the program’s energy supplier Columbia Utilities Power, LLC. The move followed Columbia Utilities being declared in default one week earlier when the company failed to comply with the requirements of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which is responsible for operating the state’s bulk electricity grid.  A report released in March 2023 announced the program is anticipated to re-launch in June 2023.

The Public Service Commission laid down the ground rules for all future CCAs in New York on April 21, 2016 when it issued an “Order Authorizing Framework for Community Choice Aggregation Opt-Out Program.”  The order encourages formation of CCAs by individual cities, towns and villages or by groups of those municipalities.  However, it forbids Counties from forming CCAs.  In New York, a concept called “home rule” gives cities, towns and villages a kind of sovereignty that does not allow counties to make decisions that bind municipalities.

New York’s regulations make CCAs “opt out” for residences and small businesses, but “opt in” for large businesses and industrial accounts.  They emphasize local renewables and distributed energy resources (DER), which are cornerstones of the Renewable Energy Vision.

On Oct. 13, 2016 the PSC took steps to make it easier for communities to form CCAs by modifying its April 21, 2016 decision in Case 14-M-0224.  This press release provides details, but in a nutshell the order requires greater sharing of customer information between incumbent utilities and CCAs and allows gradual roll-out of CCAs in large cities, such as New York, rather than requiring all residents and small businesses to be enrolled at the same time.

The provision for gradual roll-out in New York City was a huge win for CCAs in the state.  Several NYC Community Boards, which are advisory groups but which have real power on local issues, are currently investigating forming community-scale CCAs within New York City.

FAST FACTS
  • The Public Service Commission laid down the ground rules for future CCAs in New York on April 21, 2016 when it issued an “Order Authorizing Framework for Community Choice Aggregation Opt-Out Program.”  The order encourages formation of CCAs by individual cities, towns and villages or by groups of those municipalities.  However, it forbids Counties from forming CCAs.  In New York, a concept called “home rule” gives cities, towns and villages a kind of sovereignty that does not allow counties to make decisions that bind municipalities.

  • New York’s regulations make CCAs “opt out” for residences and small businesses, but “opt in” for large businesses and industrial accounts.  They emphasize local renewables and distributed energy resources (DER), which are cornerstones of the Renewable Energy Vision.

  • On Oct. 13, 2016 the PSC took steps to make it easier for communities to form CCAs by modifying its April 21, 2016 decision in Case 14-M-0224. The order requires greater sharing of customer information between incumbent utilities and CCAs and allows gradual roll-out of CCAs in large cities rather than requiring all residents and small businesses to be enrolled at the same time.

  • The provision for gradual roll-out in New York was a huge win for CCAs in the state.  Several New York City Community Boards, which are advisory groups but which have real power on local issues, are currently investigating forming community-scale CCAs within New York City.

RENEWABLES ENERGY PORTFOLIO

Building on its 2010 renewable portfolio standard, New York adopted a clean energy standard in 2016, requiring 50% of the electricity consumed in the state to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. The clean energy standard is divided into three tiers. Tier 1 will incentivize new renewable development and Tier 2 is designed to provide sufficient revenue for existing renewable electricity supply. Additionally, Tier 3 is designed to properly value the emission-free power from at-risk nuclear power plants.

 

In 2019, New York passed SB 6599 which requires power companies to meet their customer needs with at least 70% renewable energy by 2030, and all demand with zero emissions by 2040. 

LEGISLATION (PARTIAL LIST)
  • PSC Case 14-M-0101 (2014) Reforming the Energy Vision (REV)

  • NY State Energy Plan (2015) Calls for 50% renewable energy by 2030

  • PSC Case 15-E-0302 (2015) The Clean Energy Standard (CES) is intended to provide an implementation roadmap for the 2015 State Energy Plan

  • PSC Case 14-M-0224 (April 21, 2016) The “Order Authorizing Framework for Community Choice Aggregation Opt-Out Program” set the ground rules for all future CCAs in New York and is considered “the CCA Bible” for the state. (Follow this link to the DPS document index, search for Case Number 14-M-0224 and scroll down to 4/21/2016 to find the link to the actual order.)

LATEST PRESS

Energy Collective to Relaunch, Without Beacon. The Highlands Current, March 17, 2023

Rochester to start electricity aggregation program. sippican.theweektoday.com, January 13, 2023

Kingston launches green energy pooling plan. dailyfreeman.com, October 26, 2022

A quest for cleaner energy: Community Choice Aggregation Program in Rochester. rochesterfirst.com, August 16, 2022

23,000 community choice aggregation customers sent back to Central Hudson. dailyfreeman.com, August 5, 2022

CCA program comes to a premature end…for now. hudsonvalleyone.com, August 1, 2022

Brighton renewable power program on pause after contractor defaults. rochestercitynewspaper.com, July 13, 2022

Henrietta and Rush are eyeing renewable power for residents and businesses. rochestercitynewspaper.com, May 24, 2022

Yonkers Announces 100% Renewable Energy Supply Program for Residents. Yonkers Times, January 9, 2022

Governor Clears the Way for More Energy Choice. The East Hampton Star, December 30, 2021

Regulatory proposals threaten community solar growth in New York. Solarbuildermag.com, October 19, 2021

Kingston moves closer to allowing community to pool energy demand to lower costs. Daily Freeman, September 23, 2021

Rochester Launches New York's Largest Community Choice Aggregation Program. PR Newswire, September 15, 2021

Opt-Out Community Choice Solar For Upstate New York. Clean Technica, September 4, 2021

Finger Lakes Community Choice launches first opt-out solar program in the nation. Solar Power World, September 1, 2021

Sustainability director explores clean electricity for Ithaca. Ithaca.com, August 25, 2021

What will Community Choice Aggregation mean for your energy bill? Democrat & Chronicle, August 9, 2021

City of Kingston considers bulk energy purchasing. Daily Freeman, July 25, 2021

Public Service Commission Confirms Joule Can Provide Municipalities Opt-Out Community Solar. PR Newswire, July 21, 2021

Coming this fall: Rochester Community Power renewable energy program. whec.com, July 6, 2021

Sustainable Westchester Celebrates The 5th Anniversary Of Its Westchester Power Program. patch.com, June 21, 2021

LIPA Energy Choice Bill Clears a Hurdle. The East Hampton Star, June 10, 2021

Nine Hudson Valley Communities Continue Clean Energy Program, Select Supplier. kpvi.com, May 26, 2021

GUEST APPEARANCE: A little savings, a little nod to the environment. Finger Lakes Times, May 22, 2021

Local municipalities teaming up to get cheapest renewable energy for residents. Rochesterfirst.com, April 23, 2021

Energy supplier donates $75,000 to sustainability projects in local communities. 13WHAM.com, April 22, 2021

Community choice aggregation could bring clean energy, stable rates to Ithaca. Ithaca.com, February 25, 2021

Yonkers to Join Sustainable Westchester's Clean Energy Program. Yonkerstimes.com, February 14, 2021.

Joule's Clean Energy Programs Enable 31 New York State Communities to Bring Cleaner and Cheaper Energy to Residents, Promote Local Economies, Help Meet State Climate Goals. PR Newswire, January 20, 2021

CCA LINKS

Finger Lakes Community Choice (Town of Geneva, Ontario County and a Community Choice program for both electricity supply and community solar in the Villages of Brockport, Lima, and Honeoye Falls)

Monroe Community Power (Towns of Brighton, Irondequoit, and Pittsford and the Village of Pittsford in Monroe County)

Gateway Community Power (Village of Victor and City of Canandaigua, Ontario County)

Hudson Valley Community Power (Cities of Beacon, Poughkeepsie, Towns of Marbletown, Philipstown, Clinton, New Paltz, Red Hood and the Villages of Cold Spring, New Paltz)

MEGA (Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance)

Rochester Community Power (City of Rochester)

Rockland Community Power

Westchester Power

Joule Community Power

OTHER HELPFUL LINKS

CCA-Enabling Legislation: Governor’s Press Release

US Energy Information Administration, New York State Energy Profile

Bedford 2020 (Non-profit environmental group)

NYSERDA resource page for CCAs

Citizens for Local Power  (NY-based non-profit that promotes CCA and related energy programs)

Roctricity (works in partnership with Joule Community Power to promote clean energy CCAs)

Joule Assets (CCA program administrator for 26 New York municipalities across six community choice programs as of April, 2020)

Constellation (Energy provider for Rochester)

NY DPS CCA Proceeding Page (List of filings related to CCA, with links to the documents themselves)

NY Public Service Commission (The regulatory body for utilities)

Reforming the Energy Vision (New York’s comprehensive energy strategy to help consumers make more informed energy choices, develop new energy products and services and protect the environment while creating new jobs throughout the State.)

Renewable Highlands (Non-profit CCA organizer)

Rochester People’s Climate Coalition (Non-profit CCA organizer)

Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable

Development (Non-profit CCA organizer)

Sustainable Tompkins (Non-profit advocacy group)

Renewable Energy Long Island (Non-profit advocacy group)

INVESTOR OWNED UTILITIES

Central Hudson

ConEd

Long Island Power Authority

National Grid/Niagara Mohawk

NYSEG

Orange and Rockland

Rochester Gas and Electric

Last updated 5.30.23

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