RPS New York
(Last updated October 5th, 2004)

RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARDS—STATE SUMMARY

I. POLICY
II. ADMINISTRATION
III. FINANCING
IV. CRITICAL ELEMENTS
V. POLICY/PROGRAM ASSESSMENT
VI. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION


I. POLICY

Date Enacted
September 24, 2004

Effective Date
January 1, 2006

Time Period
2006-2013

Extensions to Time Period
Extensions have not been addressed at this time.

Applicable Laws, Orders, and Regulations
Public Service Commission: Order Regarding Retail Renewable Portfolio Standard
http://www3.dps.state.ny.us/pscweb/WebFileRoom.nsf/Web/85D8CCC6A42DB86F85256F1900533518/$File/301.03e0188.RPS.pdf?OpenElement

Description
New York's Public Service Commission recently passed an order establishing a Renewable Portfolio Standard for the State of New York. The order from the PSC calls for a target of 25% renewable generation in 2013, an increase of 5.7% from New York's existing renewable generation of 19.3% Under New York's program, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) acts as the central procurement authority. It receives all funds collected by the utilities to support the RPS program, and then adminsters incentives to providers to reach the incremental targets for a given year. The central procurement system makes New York's RPS significantly different than those in place in other states.


Program Name
Retail Renewable Portfolio Standard

Standard

Year	Additional Generation Target (MWh)	Additional Percentage Requirement	Total % Renewables
2006	1,360,424	0.96%	19.93%
2007	2,821,830	1.95%	20.65%
2008	4,306,437	2.94%	21.38%
2009	5,787,968	3.90%	22.10%
2010	7,301,693	4.86%	22.83%
2011	8,867,181	5.83%	23.55%
2012	10,403,939	6.76%	24.28%
2013	11,988,888	7.71%	25.00%

Eligibility Date
Facilities must have commenced generation on or after January 1, 2003. A limited vintage exception shall be provided for certain hydroelectric, wind and biomass resources ("maintenance resources") that demonstrate the need to receive RPS financial support to continue operations.

Generation Limit
In general, there are no generation limits on the various eligible renewable sources. However, there are two exceptions: hydroelectric facilities are limited to less than 30 MW capacity to qualify for the RPS, and wind facilities less than 300 kW capacity qualify for the Customer-Sited Tier.

Incremental Capacity
Incremental hydropower capacity may not impound any additional storage.

Fuels/Technologies

Main Tier:

• Wind


• Solar photovoltaics


• Ocean thermal, tides, or waves.
• Hydroelectric less than 30 MW capacity
• Biogas
• Liquid Biofuel
• Eligible Biomass:
• Agricultural Residue
• Harvested Wood
• Mill Residue Wood
• Pallet Waste
• Refuse Derived Fuel
• Site Conversion Waste Wood
• Silvicultural Waste Wood
• Sustainable Yield Wood (woody or herbaceous)
• Urban Wood Waste
• Fuel cells using the renewable sources defined above

• Fuel cells
• Solar photovoltaics
• Wind facilities with less than 300 kW capacity.

Note: Waste-to-energy combustion is explicity excluded.

II. ADMINISTRATION

Administering Entities
New York Public Service Commission
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

Type of Entity
State

Administrative Contacts

New York Public Service Commission
William M. Flynn, Chairman
Three Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12223
Phone:(518) 474-7080
Website: http://www.dps.state.ny.us

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
NYSERDA
17 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-6399
Phone: 1-866-NYSERDA
Website: http://www.nyserda.org


III. FINANCING

Funding Level
No funding is explicitly specified, although the order does give an estimated cumulative cost of the program of $582 million to $762 million.

Funding Source
The New York RPS adopts a central procurement system, administered by NYSERDA. In this system, payments are collected from all regulated electric utility customers to fund the RPS. Revenue is collected through a non-bypassable volumetric charge on utility bills, and passed on to NYSERDA, which then administers these funds to provide incentives supporting the RPS program. The order currently states that further details of the central procurement system are to be worked out.

Cost Cap
No cost cap is specified.

Charge
Costs to be recovered through a non-bypassable volumetric ($/kWh) charge on customer utility bills.

IV. CRITICAL ELEMENTS

Trading
Under the RPS' central procurement system, NYSERDA collects all funds from customers, and administers contracts to supply the required renewable generation. Under this system, credit trading does not make sense, as all contracts are managed by the central authority, NYSERDA, rather than individual compliance. A review is scheduled for 2009, at which time the PSC may consider moving to a market-based system, including credit trading.

Green Pricing
The mandatory target for the RPS is actually 24% in 2013 - the PSC is expecting voluntary green pricing programs already in place to provide the additional one percent to reach 25% renewable generation by 2013. Generation counting towards the green pricing programs may not also count towards the 24% mandatory renewable generation.

Certification
NYSERDA manages all contracts to meet the renewable targets, rendering certification programs unnecessary.

Out-of-State
Generation resources are eligible only if consumed in the New York Control Area. Out of state imports are eligible only if a calendar-month matching requirement between import and delivery is met.

Self-generation
Customer-sited and off-grid generators count towards the RPS target, but are considered as a seperate tier, the "Customer-Sited Tier," as opposed to the "Main Tier."

Flexibility

Compliance flexibility (such as banking credits) is not addressed due to the adoption of the central procurement system.

Contracts
Contracts are established between electricity providers and the central authority, NYSERDA, to provide incentives to meet specific renewable generation targets. These contracts can be established either on a centralized "Request-for-Bid" market system, or by the State agency issuing a request for eligible renewable attributes, and choosing the winners. The PSC's order discusses contracts of 5, 10, or more years in length, however the length of contracts is not explicitly addressed at this time.

V. POLICY/PROGRAM ASSESSMENT

Reporting Requirement
A review is scheduled for 2009, to assess the success of the program and to consider moving towards a more market-based system. The central procurement system renders unnecessary compliance reporting as is found in other RPSs.

Sanctions
Sanctions for noncompliance are not addressed.

Assessing Entity
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

Report Date
To be determined.

Report Name
Not yet available.

Status
The PSC issued the order establishing the RPS on September 24th. The order awaits implementation.

Cost Information
As the order has yet to be implemented, cost information is still unavailable.

Assessment Contact
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
NYSERDA
17 Columbia Circle
Albany, NY 12203-6399
Phone: 1-866-NYSERDA
Website: http://www.nyserda.org/

VI. PUBLIC OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

Outreach/Customer Education
New York State Ask PSC
http://www.askpsc.com/

Press Releases
PSC Votes to Adopt Aggressive Renewable Energy Policy for New York State
http://www3.dps.state.ny.us/pscweb/WebFileRoom.nsf/Web/87532649A774800785256F170061A644/$File/pr04068.pdf?OpenElement