S 2462: Enacts the "public renewables transparency act"; relates to the New York power authority's conferral process; requires the conferral report be posted on the authority's website; provides that the authority shall provide an option for stakeholders to submit comments remotely as well, and incorporate feedback from such sessions and written comments into the final draft of the strategic plan; makes related provisions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2462 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 17, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GIANARIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni- cations AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to the New York power authority's conferral process The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "public renewables transparency act". 3 § 2. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 27-a of section 1005 of the public 4 authorities law, as amended by section 28 of part O of chapter 58 of the 5 laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 6 (d) No later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date of 7 this subdivision, and annually thereafter, the authority shall confer 8 with the New York state energy research and development authority, the 9 department of public service, climate and resiliency experts, labor 10 organizations, and environmental justice and community organizations 11 concerning the state's progress on meeting the renewable energy goals 12 established by the climate leadership and community protection act. At 13 each board of trustees' meeting, there shall be a public report deliv- 14 ered and published on the development and implementation of the authori- 15 ty's renewable energy generation strategic plan. When exercising the 16 authority provided for in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the infor- 17 mation developed through such conferral shall be used to identify 18 projects to help ensure that the state meets its goals under the climate 19 leadership and community protection act. Any conferral provided for in 20 this paragraph shall include consideration of the timing of projects in 21 the interconnection queue of the federally designated electric bulk 22 system operator for New York state, taking into account both capacity 23 factors or planned projects and the interconnection queue's historical 24 completion rate. A report on the information developed through such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00523-01-5 
 S. 2462 2 1 conferral shall be published and made accessible on the website of the 2 authority, including, but not limited to, the basis of the conferral 3 report. The published basis shall include notes from the conferral meet- 4 ings. 5 § 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 27-a of section 1005 of the public 6 authorities law, as added by section 1 of part QQ of chapter 56 of the 7 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows: 8 (d) No later than one hundred eighty days after the effective date of 9 this subdivision, and annually thereafter, the authority shall confer 10 with the New York state energy research and development authority, the 11 office of renewable energy siting, the department of public service, 12 climate and resiliency experts, labor organizations, and environmental 13 justice and community organizations concerning the state's progress on 14 meeting the renewable energy goals established by the climate leadership 15 and community protection act. At each board of trustees' meeting, there 16 shall be a public report delivered and published on the development and 17 implementation of the authority's renewable energy generation strategic 18 plan. When exercising the authority provided for in paragraph (a) of 19 this subdivision, the information developed through such conferral shall 20 be used to identify projects to help ensure that the state meets its 21 goals under the climate leadership and community protection act. Any 22 conferral provided for in this paragraph shall include consideration of 23 the timing of projects in the interconnection queue of the federally 24 designated electric bulk system operator for New York state, taking into 25 account both capacity factors or planned projects and the intercon- 26 nection queue's historical completion rate. A report on the information 27 developed through such conferral shall be published and made accessible 28 on the website of the authority, including, but not limited to, the 29 basis of the conferral report. The published basis shall include notes 30 from the conferral meetings. 31 § 4. Subparagraph (vii) of paragraph (e) of subdivision 27-a of 32 section 1005 of the public authorities law, as added by section 1 of 33 part QQ of chapter 56 of the laws of 2023, is amended to read as 34 follows: 35 (vii) The authority shall post a draft of the strategic plan on its 36 website for public comment for a period of at least sixty days starting 37 no later than October eleventh, and shall hold at least [three] six 38 public hearings on the draft strategic plan in regionally diverse parts 39 of the state. The authority shall provide an option for stakeholders to 40 submit comments remotely as well, and incorporate feedback from such 41 sessions and written comments into the final draft of the strategic 42 plan. 43 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the amend- 44 ments to paragraph (d) of subdivision 27-a of section 1005 of the public 45 authorities law made by section two of this act shall be subject to the 46 expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 34 of 47 part O of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, as amended, when upon such 48 date the provisions of section three of this act shall take effect.