New York advances work on clean energy standard

New York State utility regulators will move forward with work on a 50pc clean energy standard (CES), rejecting a request from senior Republican lawmakers to hold off until the state's budget is finalized.

The state Public Service Commission (PSC) today approved the launch of a $5.3bn Clean Energy Fund, which will support a new mandate for load-serving entities to meet 50pc of their retail sales with clean energy sources by 2030.

The commission's decision could lead to new fights over control of the state's budget for encouraging low-carbon generation and the use of funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The PSC made the decision after state Senate majority leader John Flanagan (R), deputy majority leader John DeFrancisco (R) and Senate Energy Committee chairman Joseph Griffo (R) today urged it to delay work on regulations.

The senators specifically called on PSC to pause its consideration of how to use the Clean Energy Fund. The fund, energy standard, "and proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative should be discussed during budget negotiations," the senators wrote in a letter to the commission. No decisions should be made by the agency until the 2015-16 budget is finished, the senators said.

But commission members, including chair Audrey Zibelman and Patricia Acampora, said it makes sense to move forward given related public outreach and economic analysis already done for the state's Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative, another effort to increase use of renewable energy.

"There has been more than enough opportunity, and through the years, the legislature at times has been annoyed that our process took so long," Acampora said.

Senator Patty Ritchie (R) this week introduced S-6476, which calls for creating a Zero Carbon Investment Program that would award subsidies to nuclear and other generation sources that avoid CO2 emissions. The subsidies would be based on the price of RGGI allowances, which are assessed at $8.45/short ton for December delivery. The bill, and its companion in the Assembly, would give the state comptroller and commissioner of taxation and finance control of the program, rather than PSC.

Crediting for nuclear facilities is also a priority for the Department of Public Service (DPS), which is responsible for regulating electric utilities. The agency expects to release a white paper next week that will outline how the CES will be folded into an existing proceeding for large-scale renewables.

The paper could outline how new zero-emission credits (ZECs) would be used to support the state's nuclear generation fleet, DPS deputy of markets and innovation Scott Weiner said. Utilities would need to buy the ZECs for compliance with the 50pc clean energy standard.

"The emission free value of power produced by plants is equal to price of a ZECs, or the amount necessary to eliminate financial loss at the plant," Weiner said.