New York’s community solar program (formally called Community Distributed Generation, or “CDG”) is attracting billions in private investment and creating jobs and economic development in communities across the state. Although customers who sign up for community solar projects can save on their electric bills while supporting clean, resilient, local energy infrastructure, millions of New Yorkers are currently restricted from doing so.

Cross-utility crediting can unlock immense residential and commercial customer demand for community solar in New York City and the surrounding suburbs, which today have very limited site-development potential for solar. Cross-utility crediting can also bring economic development benefits to vast areas of the state currently suffering from energy demand growth inadequate to sustain vibrant CDG growth. Unfortunately, current rules prevent these outcomes.

The Public Service Commission can solve this problem. Authorizing the transfer of community solar bill credits across utilities will help connect the immense consumer demand from the New York City area with the land resources, workforce, and affordable development costs upstate. The Commission can create a winning solution for all of New York’s consumers, workers, economy, and environment.

Moreover, cross-utility crediting is exactly the kind of transformative policy foreseen under the Reforming the Energy Vision (“REV”) initiative. To quote from its founding principles, “REV is putting customers first by designing new initiatives to impact real people and provide individuals and communities with the opportunity to take an active role” in achieving New York’s energy goals. Cross-utility crediting is a game-changer that will dramatically expand clean energy access, create new jobs across the state, accelerate the state’s ability to meet emissions goals and transform outmoded business models to the public’s benefit.

For all these reasons, NYSEIA supports A.7286 and urges its prompt passage.

For information about this memorandum of support, please contact Shyam Mehta, Executive Director, NYSEIA, at shyam@nyseia.org.