New York regulators propose definitions for key aspects of state’s sweeping climate law

New York State regulators have proposed definitions to clarify what is meant by the term “statewide electrical demand system” and offered broad criteria to help the state comply with legislation requiring a “zero emissions” power system by 2040, according to a Nov 5 filing.

The Department of Public Service Staff, the staff arm of the New York State Public Service Commission, suggests interpretations of “key terms” in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which directs the commission to establish a renewable energy program and design it to reach specific targets, according to the proposal filed with the NYSPSC.

At issue is language contained in Public Service Law §66-p(2)(b), directing the commission to establish a program through which, by the year 2040, the “statewide electrical demand system will be zero emissions,” however, neither of the terms “statewide electrical demand system” nor “zero emissions” are expressly defined in the CLCPA legislation or in the public service law, the proposal said.

The lack of a statutory definition requires the commission to interpret the terms “to ensure proper regulatory implementation,” DPS staff said.

“In addition to proposing definitions – and in light of the proposed definitions’ implications – Staff also recommends that the Commission direct Staff to develop a review process consistent with the provisions of PSL §66-p that tracks progress toward the power sector energy transition targets,” according to the proposal.

The CLCPA established “hard limits” on greenhouse gas emissions, including a 40% reduction from a 1990 baseline by 2030, and an 85% reduction by 2050, along with targets to “guide the commission as it steers the power sector away from reliance on fossil fuels,” including 70% of the electricity supply being renewable by 2030 and the “statewide electrical demand system” being “zero emissions” by 2040, DPS staff said.

The climate act’s main objective is to reduce climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions by developing “clean” power generation resources as well as electrifying greenhouse gas emitting resources in other sectors.

Imports, behind-the-meter resources

“Staff recommends that the scope of application the Commission adopts for the 2040 target should incorporate imports of electricity, because this interpretation would be consistent with the Climate Act,” the proposal said.

However, DPS staff said that including power imports is not “straightforward” and made more “complex by limits on the Commission’s jurisdiction under the federal Constitution, the Commission’s various obligations under State law, and the administrative features of sound and policy-consistent energy and emissions accounting across multiple regions.”

New York’s power system is “fundamentally inextricable” from the broader regional power system consisting of the Eastern Interconnection and the Quebec Interconnection, and physical as well as legal limitations prevent the state from “making its piece of that broader electricity system an island, cut off along political boundaries,” the proposal said.

As a result, DPS staff recommended the state measure its annual imports, subject to some adjustments, and compare them to annual power exports, and if compliant power equals or exceeds imports, then the electricity demand system can be said to be “zero emissions.”

Some behind-the-meter resources are tied to the power grid, sending excess generation out onto the grid. Such arrangements require an interconnection agreement with the local distribution utility, making that resource known to the utility and its operations “visible” so the utility can monitor and maintain a balance of supply and demand.

This means that any resource that is subject to an interconnection agreement and potentially participates directly in grid operations is covered under NYPSC jurisdiction, which also has “at least some measure of authority” over power generation resources that are compensated through a commission-authorized program, like net energy metering, the Value of Distributed Energy Resources program, or utility-operated demand response programs, DPS staff said.

However, backup generation that is not interconnected and not directly involved in metered transactions is beyond the commission’s jurisdiction.

“Staff therefore recommends that the scope of application for the 2040 target with respect to BTM resources be coterminous with the Commission’s jurisdictional reach,” the proposal said.

The commission will use the staff recommendations and stakeholder feedback to decide on the final definitions.