New York state has approved a new community
initiative enabling millions of New Yorkers
to access clean and affordable energy for the
first time.
Shared Renewables provides opportunities
for businesses, homeowners, low-income residents,
renters and schools to join together to set
up shared renewable energy projects resulting in
healthier and stronger communities.
“The Shared Renewables initiative will help
people and communities across the state save
money on local clean energy projects,” Gov.
Andrew Cuomo said. “This program is about
protecting the environment and ensuring that
all New Yorkers, regardless of their zip code or
income, have the opportunity to access clean
and affordable power. Together, we will build a
cleaner and greener New York.”
State officials said renewable resources
are already providing massive economic and
environmental benefits across the state, with installed
solar capacity having grown 300 percent
between 2011 and 2014. Yet, many New Yorkers
are still unable to participate because they rent
their home, live in an apartment building, or own
properties unsuitable for installing solar panels
or other clean energy technologies.
Under the Shared Renewables initiative (also
referred to as community distributed generation),
customers can join together to share in
the benefits of local solar, wind, and other renewable
energy projects. Each individual member’s
production would appear as a credit on their
monthly utility bill.
The first phase of Shared Renewables will
focus on promoting low-income customer
participation and installations in areas of the
power grid that can benefit most from local
power production.
“Democratizing the production of power
allows individuals and communities to take
control of their energy future and realize the
economic, social, and environmental benefits of
solar and other renewable resources,” said Richard
Kauffman, chairman of energy and finance
for New York. “New York state is once again at
the forefront of progressive energy policy by
empowering millions of our residents, schools,
and businesses to choose renewable power for
the first time.”
The REV initiative takes a proactive approach
to meet the challenges facing today’s power
sector by building a regulatory framework to
modernize the utility industry to create greater
value for customers and support new investment
in clean energy.
Public Service Commission Chairwoman Audrey
Zibelman said Shared Renewables expands
consumer access to reliable, low-cost electricity
generated from renewable energy facilities. It
places customers who do not own homes on
an equal footing with traditional single-home
customers and creates opportunities for low and
moderate-income families who don’t have
access to electricity generated from renewable resources.
Officials said during the first phase of Shared
Renewables–Oct. 2015 through April 30,
2016–projects will be limited to those that
advance one of two specific REV goals: siting
distributed generation in areas where it can
provide the greatest benefits to the larger power
grid, or supporting economically distressed
communities by ensuring at least 20 percent of
the participants are low- and moderate-income
customers.
Beginning May 1, 2016, a second phase will
make shared renewable projects available
throughout entire utility service territories,
officials said.
In addition, other REV principles can be applied,
such as aligning utility incentives to fully
support Shared Renewables projects by allowing
shared savings or revenues from new business
models that facilitate projects at lower costs. In addition to these changes, the Public Service
Commission will immediately commence a
collaborative to determine how to continue the
encouragement of low-income customer participation
in community distributed generation
during the second phase.
State officials said customers interested in the
Shared Renewables initiative can participate in
a number of ways. For instance, the residents of
a condominium may want to join together for a
shared solar project. They would need to find a
“sponsor” who will be responsible for organizing
the project on behalf of the residents. A sponsor
could be a developer or even the residents of the
building banding together to form a legal entity
such as a limited liability corporation, or LLC.
To learn more about participating or to sign
up to receive assistance and resources to take
advantage of the program, visit www.ny-sun.ny.gov/Community-Solar.