On the evening of December 21, 2020, Congress provided a last-minute boost for clean energy projects and technology by passing a $1.4 trillion federal spending bill together with a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. According to Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, “[the bill] represents the first modernization of our nation’s energy policies in well over a decade.” In particular, the bill’s clean energy provisions include:…

The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (“Accelerator Act”) was enacted to speed up the siting and construction of major renewable energy projects in New York State. One of the key components of the Accelerator Act was the creation of the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) within the New York State Department of State to address, in large part, many of the shortcomings of New York State’s existing Article 10 siting…

On August 20, 2020, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department issued a decision in Cornell University v. Board of Assessment Review (“Cornell University”), finding that a solar photovoltaic system is taxable real property. See No. CA 19-00339, slip op. 04636, 2020 WL 4876486 (4th Dep’t Aug. 20, 2020). This decision settled, at least in the Fourth Department, a real property tax question long considered—and feared—by solar developers. Although this decision has…

On May 14, 2020, the New York State Public Service Commission (“Commission”) issued an order that will mark a turning point in the State’s electric grid modernization efforts (“Transmission Planning Order”). The Transmission Planning Order was issued in response to the recently enacted Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (“Accelerate Act”), which was signed into law on April 3, 2020, as previously reported in Phillips Lytle’s Energy Client Alert. The Accelerate Act…

The New York State Public Service Commission (“Commission”) leveraged an unprecedented interpretation of its “just and reasonable” regulatory authority to impose drastic changes to the retail energy marketplace, which will have ripple effects on Renewable Energy Credit (REC) markets, retail energy contracts, Distributed Energy Resource (DER) providers and other clean technology stakeholders. The Commission’s Order Adopting Changes to the Retail Access Energy Market (“Order”) establishes enhanced eligibility criteria for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), mandates price caps…

Since the New York State Public Service Commission (“Commission”) first authorized the Community Distributed Generation (CDG) program in 2015, CDG Sponsors—the entities that organize, own and/or operate CDG projects—have faced an uphill battle in explaining the program, marketing it to customers and streamlining the energy billing process. The confusion arises first and foremost because CDG customers currently receive only bill credits, not renewable electricity or the environmental attributes of that electricity. This is further complicated…

Public Service Commission Resets Retail Energy Marketplace: All ESCOs Required to Re-Register Under New Rules and Completely Revise Product Offerings On December 12, 2019, the New York State Public Service Commission (“Commission”) voted to reset the retail energy marketplace by requiring all Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to re-register for eligibility to serve customers. While the final order remains to be issued, the Department of Public Service (DPS) explained that as part of the re-registration process,…