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, lowcost
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 moderateincome
families who don’t have access
to electricity generated from renewable
resources.
Officials said during the first phase of
Shared Renewables–Oct. 195 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 emnew
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.