S 5995: Establishes an integrated energy system plan that coordinates and optimizes the energy needs of combination corporation customers between electric supply, electric transmission, electric distribution, distributed energy, and demand-side resources and gas transmission and distribution to provide reliable, resilient, clean energy to combination corporation customers at the lowest reasonable cost and risk; defines terms; makes related provisions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5995 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE March 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- 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 service law, in relation to creating an inte- grated energy system planning The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative findings. 1. Energy market, resource, climate, 2 and technology trends, including the proliferation of distributed energy 3 resources, energy efficiency and load flexibility, transportation elec- 4 trification, heating electrification, and advanced transmission technol- 5 ogies are causing simultaneous impacts, and providing benefits, on both 6 the gas and electric systems across pipelines, generation, transmission, 7 and distribution. If planning processes do not evolve to accommodate 8 such interactions and the benefits of advanced energy technologies, New 9 York utilities may be at risk of overinvesting in infrastructure, and 10 ratepayers may be at risk of paying for unnecessary infrastructure. 11 2. Such integrated energy system planning shall include, but not be 12 limited to: 13 (a) maintaining affordability amid significant pressure to modernize 14 and replace aging infrastructure; enhancing reliability and resilience 15 to prepare for extreme weather; and achieving New York's clean energy 16 and climate-related goals. New York state needs to find new ways to 17 optimize its planning and investments, and identify the least-cost way 18 to serve customers when designing any given project; 19 (b) developing new process, forecasting, and modeling innovations in 20 utility planning to allow for optimization across gas resources, gas 21 transmission, gas distribution, electric generation, electric trans- 22 mission, electric distribution, and distributed energy resources; and 23 (c) capitalizing on such innovations and preventing unnecessary dupli- 24 cation of energy infrastructure. New York needs to consolidate its vari- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10558-01-5 
 S. 5995 2 1 ous siloed planning processes and align forecasts, assumptions, 2 programs, plans, and other initiatives across gas, generation, trans- 3 mission, distribution, and distributed resource plans. 4 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-x to 5 read as follows: 6 § 66-x. Integrated energy system planning. 1. For the purposes of 7 this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings: 8 (a) "Combination corporation" means an investor-owned public service 9 company that is both an electric corporation and a gas corporation that 10 serves more than one hundred thousand retail customers with either gas 11 or electric service, or both. 12 (b) "Grid flexibility" means the grid's ability to shift either demand 13 or supply to meet bulk power system and/or local distribution needs in 14 response to changing grid conditions and prices in order to integrate 15 increased renewable energy supply, improve reliability, lower energy 16 costs, and reduce environmental impacts by decreasing net system peak or 17 localized coincident or non-coincident distribution system peaks through 18 the use of grid flexible resources. 19 (c) "Grid flexible resources" means the distributed energy resources, 20 technologies, interventions, distribution system technologies, advanced 21 transmission technologies, or other technologies as determined by the 22 commission, that can be actively or passively leveraged to meet grid 23 flexibility goals, measured in megawatts that contribute to decreasing 24 net system peak or a localized coincident or non-coincident distribution 25 system peak. 26 (d) "Integrated energy system plan" means a plan that coordinates and 27 optimizes the energy needs of combination corporation customers between 28 electric supply, electric transmission, electric distribution, distrib- 29 uted energy, and demand-side resources and gas transmission and distrib- 30 ution to provide reliable, resilient, clean energy to combination corpo- 31 ration customers at the lowest reasonable cost and risk. 32 (e) "Integrated energy system planning" means the process by which a 33 combination corporation develops, and the commission reviews for 34 approval, the integrated energy system plan. 35 (f) "Gas-only corporation" means a natural gas corporation that does 36 not provide electric service to any of its customers. 37 (g) "Distributed energy resources" means any geographically dispersed 38 energy resource located on an electric system that offsets electrical 39 demand, individually or in aggregate, including small generation facili- 40 ties, energy storage devices, energy efficiency devices and wholistic 41 interventions, demand response or load flexibility measures, and other 42 technologies as determined by the commission. 43 (h) "Advanced transmission technology" means a technology that 44 increases the capacity, efficiency, or reliability of an existing or new 45 transmission facility including, but not limited to advanced conductors, 46 grid enhancing technologies, dynamic line rating, topology optimization, 47 advanced power flow controls, and energy storage as a transmission 48 resource. 49 (i) "Net system peak" means gross peak load on the independent system 50 operator's system minus wind and solar resource generation levels to 51 provide the variance between total demand and the amount of other 52 resources required when renewable resources may no longer be generating. 53 (j) "Total systems benefit" means benefits inclusive of, in dollars on 54 an annual basis, the lifecycle energy, ancillary services, generation 55 capacity, transmission and distribution capacity, and greenhouse gas 56 reduction benefits, based on the department of environmental conserva- 
 S. 5995 3 1 tion's value of carbon guidance, of distributed energy resources or load 2 management activities or interventions that quantify the avoided costs 3 accrued to both the electric and gas systems relative to the existing 4 conditions or a found baseline. 5 (k) "Low-to-moderate income customers" shall mean households with 6 annual incomes at or below eighty percent of the state median income. 7 (l) "Disadvantaged communities" means communities that bear burdens of 8 negative public health effects, environmental pollution, impacts of 9 climate change, and possess certain socioeconomic criteria, or comprise 10 high-concentrations of low- and moderate- income households, as identi- 11 fied pursuant to section 75-0111 of the environmental conservation law. 12 2. By December first, two thousand twenty-five, the commission shall 13 initiate a rulemaking proceeding to implement integrated energy system 14 planning requirements for gas and electric services for combination 15 corporations, identifying which existing proceedings are to be consol- 16 idated within this new process. At a minimum, this must include the 17 long-term gas plans, distributed system implementation plans, and coor- 18 dinated grid plans. The commission shall allow combination corporations 19 that file integrated energy system plans to satisfy existing filing 20 requirements, eliminating the need for separate plans, where appropri- 21 ate, so long as all commission requirements applicable to the consol- 22 idated proceedings are all individually and jointly met in the inte- 23 grated energy system plan. Where a combination corporation's electric 24 and gas service territory does not overlap, the commission shall deter- 25 mine documentation necessary to demonstrate good faith attempts at mean- 26 ingful coordination with the other relevant gas or electric corporations 27 in its service territory. Combination corporations that are not required 28 to file integrated energy plans are not otherwise relieved of commis- 29 sion-imposed requirements. 30 3. Beginning no later than July first, two thousand twenty-eight and 31 every three years thereafter, the commission shall require combination 32 corporations to file an integrated energy system plan demonstrating how 33 the combination corporations' investment plans in the ten years follow- 34 ing the filing are consistent with the requirements of this chapter and 35 any rules and guidance adopted by the commission, and which, without 36 limitation: 37 (a) Achieve the obligations of the combination corporation of all 38 plans consolidated into the integrated energy system plan; 39 (b) Assess and optimize an investment, program, and action plan across 40 the energy system for cost, operational efficiency, and greenhouse gas 41 reductions all commercially available supply- and demand-side resources 42 across the electric and gas systems, including a comparison of the bene- 43 fits and risks of purchasing electricity or gas, acquiring or building 44 new capacity or delivery resources, adopting technologies to make more 45 efficient use of existing infrastructure, and implementing conservation, 46 efficiency, load management customer programs to: 47 (i) achieve the lowest reasonable cost to ratepayers across both 48 systems; 49 (ii) mitigate stranded asset, fuel price volatility, reliability, 50 resilience, overinvestment, and underinvestment risks to ratepayers; 51 (iii) mitigate overgeneration or curtailment events; and 52 (iv) implement the state's greenhouse gas emissions reduction limits 53 in chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand nineteen; 54 (c) Provide a range of twenty-year gas and electric forecasts and 55 scenarios, considering the interactions between the forecasts, of 56 projected customer demand that takes into account econometric data and 
 S. 5995 4 1 addresses changes in the number, type, and efficiency of usage, includ- 2 ing a bottom-up forecast of distributed energy resources and building 3 and transportation electrification technologies that may be installed, 4 with an assessment of their effect on load and operations; 5 (d) Incorporate programs designed to achieve all available electric 6 energy efficiency, building envelope and shell efficiency, and electric 7 and gas demand flexibility technologies or interventions that are cost- 8 effective on a total system benefits basis as further defined by the 9 commission at the portfolio level after accounting for all non-rate 10 recoverable incentive programs, including any federal incentives; 11 (e) Assess the achievable potential for electric and building shell 12 energy efficiency and demand flexibility technologies or interventions 13 for the subsequent ten-year period to optimize system benefits. Such 14 assessment should include barriers, challenges, and gaps to deploy ener- 15 gy efficiency and demand flexibility technologies or interventions with- 16 in the population at large and specifically within vulnerable popu- 17 lations, and make recommendations for how to address those barriers, 18 challenges and gaps strategically, including a systematic technical 19 analysis of current demographic and geographic energy consumption 20 patterns to identify areas and programs with high potential to provide 21 system benefits and cost savings; 22 (f) Assess and pursue non-pipeline and non-wires alternatives, and 23 advanced transmission technologies, as alternatives to replacing, 24 expanding, or upgrading aging gas or electric infrastructure or capacity 25 in all instances where the non-pipeline, non-wires alternative, or 26 advanced transmission technology is lower cost, lower risk, or both; 27 (g) Achieve grid flexibility goals with grid flexibility resources 28 equal to or greater than twenty percent of net system peak electric 29 demand in addition to the net system peak reductions from any energy 30 storage targets by two thousand forty, unless the commission finds that 31 a higher target is cost-effective, and commission-set distribution 32 system grid flexibility goals. The commission may accept a lower level 33 of achievement if it determined that this requirement is neither techni- 34 cally nor commercially feasible during the applicable emissions 35 reduction period; 36 (h) Include programs targeted at low-to-moderate income customers and 37 disadvantaged communities, designed after conducting community engage- 38 ment and consultation with relevant community-based organizations. 39 Programs may include, but are not limited to, electric appliance and 40 efficiency rebates and incentives, bill assistance, distributed energy 41 resource incentives, customer education, and electrification-readiness 42 incentives; and 43 (i) Anything else deemed necessary by the commission. 44 4. In determining whether to approve, approve with conditions, or 45 reject the integrated energy system plan, the commission shall evaluate 46 whether the plan is in the public interest, meets greenhouse gas emis- 47 sions reduction goals such that the requirements of section 75-0107 of 48 the environmental conservation law would be met in both the gas and 49 electric sectors; maintains energy system reliability, including for 50 critical facilities; mitigates long-term costs and risks, and results in 51 reasonable bill impacts to customers. 52 5. To maximize transparency, the commission shall require a combina- 53 tion corporation to make the data input files for its integrated energy 54 system planning process available to stakeholders in a format that is 55 compatible with existing department data platforms, aggregated as neces- 56 sary to protect customer confidentiality. 
 S. 5995 5 1 6. To the extent that a combination corporation's electric and gas 2 service territories do not entirely overlap, the commission shall direct 3 corporations to collaborate to the extent possible with the other rele- 4 vant electric and gas corporations, as determined by the public service 5 commission, within its jurisdiction to produce a plan that complies with 6 commission requirements and include a narrative describing its efforts 7 in this regard. 8 7. Combination corporations may consult with entities that engage in 9 planning beyond their service territory, such as the New York independ- 10 ent system operator and the North American electric reliability corpo- 11 ration, to inform their plans, but are not required to include planning 12 beyond state jurisdiction in their integrated energy system plans. If 13 they do consult with such entities, they shall detail the nature of that 14 consultation, and the results thereof, in their integrated energy system 15 plan filing. 16 8. In each long-term gas plan filed with the commission, the commis- 17 sion shall require a gas-only corporation to detail how it is or is not 18 coordinating with entities providing electricity services to customers 19 within its service territory to develop mutual awareness and improved 20 planning efforts related to gas and electric load forecasting, non-pipe- 21 line solutions that impact the electric system, thermal energy networks' 22 impact on the electric system, and overall infrastructure optimization 23 as utilities plan to achieve the climate justice and emission reduction 24 mandates in chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand nine- 25 teen. Such plan shall include modeling of the relevant electric corpo- 26 ration's assumptions about electrification onto gas load forecasts with- 27 in various decarbonization scenarios. Such plan shall also include a 28 description of protocols and unresolved challenges regarding secure data 29 sharing between electric and gas utilities that protect customers but 30 facilitate a meaningful exchange of usable information, a discussion of 31 the benefits and barriers to shared networks, and an identification of 32 gaps in granular, hourly data collection that is necessary to convert 33 gas usage into anticipated electric usage. 34 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.