SOLAR FOR MORE — POLITICO's Marie J. French: Low-income households receiving assistance with their utility bills who live in state-designated areas historically impacted by pollution will next year automatically get additional credits on their bill from solar and storage projects. The state Public Service Commission on Thursday approved a “Statewide Solar for All” program that allows utilities to procure community solar projects and pass the credits for energy generated on to certain low-income customers. Currently, the program requires most residents to have to proactively sign up for the type of credit, but the new program would require no action unless eligible customers opt out. HOCHUL TALKS NY IN ROME: It was as if Gov. Kathy Hochul brought all of New York State with her to the Vatican's climate summit. She talked about the disappearing shorelines on Long Island, the flooded streams and rivers upstate and the terrifying medley of freak storms that took hold during her first years as governor — storms that drowned immigrants in basements in Queens and left Buffalo residents stranded to die around high piles of snow. “I'm only on the job two years,” Hochul said to a crowd of dignitaries and international leaders. “Think about the scale of those cataclysmic events of what it has done to our communities.” The Irish Catholic governor is in the midst of a multi-leg journey that plays to the core of who she is — and the significance of this voyage is not lost on her. Hochul got up close to Pope Francis, shaking hands with the Holy Father and looking directly into his eyes. After her visit at the Vatican, she’s jetting off to the land of her grandparents, Ireland, for an economic summit. The holy handshake was just one piece of a conference marked by climate discussions and meetings with global leaders. Hochul sat side-by-side with California and Massachusetts governors Gavin Newsom and Maura Healey. She met one-on-one with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and she spoke with governors from different parts of Italy about the common crisis of housing affordability. “Conversations were serious, and primarily focused on climate action and clean energy — though multiple conference attendees went up to the governor to tell her their kids (or other loved ones) live in Brooklyn and love it,” Hochul’s press secretary, Avi Small, wrote in an email. The governor and other leaders also heard the Pope give his thoughts on the warming planet: “Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death?” his Holiness said. Hochul’s speech also included the announcement of an expected $300 million in available water and climate adaptation funding. “Look no further than the words of Pope Francis,” Hochul said during her address. “He laid out — who we need to be looking for, what God expects us to do during our time on this planet, and [how] all of us, working together, will make a better place for our children and future generations to come.” — Jason Beeferman HOCHUL’S TURN ON TREES: The New York Senate passed a bill Thursday that would require businesses selling goods to the Empire State to prove that they don’t contribute to tropical deforestation, teeing the legislation up for a possible second veto from Gov. Kathy Hochul, your host reports. A spokesperson for Hochul said the governor is reviewing the bill. Hochul vetoed last year’s version of the bill, worried it would be too burdensome on small businesses. She also found issue with removing exemptions tied to procuring certain tropical hardwoods. State Sen. Liz Krueger, the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, and others reintroduced the legislation this year with several changes. “We have addressed the governor's concerns as they were expressed to us,” Krueger, a Democrat representing parts of New York City, said in a statement Thursday, calling Hochul’s prior veto “a step in the wrong direction.” She added: “I hope that the governor…will see this bill for what it is: an achievable, affordable, and necessary piece of critical climate legislation." But Hochul's spokesperson didn't say whether these changes did in fact assuage the governor's concerns. One of the revisions to this year’s bill is allowing state agencies to be exempt from complying if they make a solicitation for covered products and don’t get any offers. The bill also now exempts the MTA and Staten Island Ferry from complying with the tropical hardwood ban for five years and allows that exemption to be extended. — Allison Prang TURN DOWN THE HEAT: The New York State United Teachers union brought in saunas to the state Capitol today to show lawmakers what it feels like for a student sitting in a hot classroom trying to learn. The demonstration is part of their push to pass legislation that would cap classroom temperatures at 88 degrees. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. James Skoufis and Assemblymember Chris Eackus, would require schools to create a plan to lower the heat in classrooms that reach 82 degrees and evacuate the space if it exceeds 88 degrees. Skoufis said the demonstration today was helpful in getting constituents to understand the need for a cap on temperature, and several signed on to co-sponsor the legislation. Skoufis said some of the pushback he's received is due to the added costs that cooling buildings could incur — but he said districts should be able to foot the bill with the large foundation aid increases in recent years. “This is not a nicety, this is not something where, ‘If we find the money, it would be great if we can do this,'” Skoufis told Playbook. “This is something they should have had all along; this is a safety issue, and this is certainly an education issue.” Skoufis and Eackus are both prioritizing the legislation, hoping to find a way to pass it before the session ends on June 6. Skoufis noted that Senate leadership has been receptive to his calls to streamline the process and move the bill to the floor. — Katelyn Cordero LAWMAKER PITCHES HUDSON VALLEY POWER AUTHORITY: Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha is planning a proposal to turn Central Hudson into a publicly owned utility. It’s a logical next step for Shrestha, who was also a backer of the campaign to allow NYPA to build renewables. Shrestha, the sole Democratic socialist in New York’s Legislature from outside of New York City, represents the Kingston area that is part of Central Hudson’s service territory. The proposal, according to a document obtained by POLITICO, would create a new Hudson Valley Power Authority that is “authorized to acquire Central Hudson and run it as a publicly-owned and democratically governed energy utility whose primary goal is to be in the service of its ratepayers by providing low rates, reliable service, correct and easy to understand bills, clean energy, community benefits, and environmental justice.” The proposal touts the benefits of a community-controlled utility, including holding down rates and prioritizing clean energy. Central Hudson has come under heavy criticism from lawmakers and local elected officials for a billing disaster, and is currently seeking a rate hike. The utility is owned by Fortis, a Canadian company. New York lawmakers have authorized a utility takeover before, when the Long Island Power Authority paid $2.5 billion to acquire the Long Island Lighting Company’s electric system in the late 1990s. Shrestha has obtained an estimate of the cost of acquiring Central Hudson’s assets from the Center for Public Enterprise, a Brooklyn think tank. The group put the valuation, including the utility’s debts which would likely have to be refinanced, at about $1.2 billion. The bill authorizes the authority to either buy the utility or use eminent domain, as long as the acquisition reduces costs for ratepayers. It would include strong labor protections, set up a board of trustees including representatives from a community organization, allow NYPA to supply HVPA with renewable energy, set up increasing rates for consumers that use more energy, set price caps for utility bills of 6 percent of income, offer opt-out of smart meters, and direct the authority to comply with the state’s climate law, and more. Unsurprisingly, the utility opposes this concept. "As New York undergoes a transformative period in its energy landscape, we strongly believe that the current business model is the most effective solution,” said Central Hudson spokesperson Joseph Jenkins. “We remain committed to engaging in meaningful discussions about how to achieve the goals outlined in the CLCPA, while maintaining accessibility and affordability for all New Yorkers.” Central Hudson serves 300,000 electric and 80,000 gas customers in several counties along the Hudson River. Such a complicated proposal is unlikely to go anywhere this session. But it could provide a springboard for Shrestha’s re-election campaign as she faces a primary challenge from her right, and supercharge progressive organizing and campaign efforts in the region. — Marie J. French PSC CHAIR IN THE HOT SEAT: Public Service Commission Chair Rory Christian defended the state’s efforts to increase renewable energy on the grid, accommodate growing electrification and ensure reliability during a Senate Energy Committee hearing on Wednesday. Republican Senators pressed Christian about the costs of the transition and concerns about reliability, including raising former Public Service Commission Chair John Howard’s recent op-ed in the Times Union. “I don’t think it’s realistic, I don’t think it’s rational, I don’t think the cost is warranted,” said Sen. Tom O’Mara, a Republican from Elmira. Christian argued that the investments New York is making in renewables, distributed resources, flexibility in demand and the grid will put the state in a competitive position in the future. He also said fluctuations in fossil fuel prices are a bigger risk to affordability to consumers and businesses. “This is far more than saving the planet. This is ensuring the economic vitality of our states for generations to come. This is a down payment in our ability to remain competitive and to provide benefits to our residents and businesses in ways that other states simply are not,” Christian said. In response to a concern about the potential costs for small, municipal electric utilities to upgrade their system, Christian relayed a story about a rural electric co-op where an individual had bought an electric truck. The resident plugged in the truck but couldn’t charge it without taking out a transformer. By the time the co-op realized what had happened, Christian said, the consumer had returned the electric vehicle for a gas car. “We have to be prepared for individuals who are going to take those actions, the products are available, people are doing what they want and how they want it and we cannot be laggards to make investments in our system to accommodate those needs and desires,” Christian said. He said he welcomes the input and questions from lawmakers. “Their interest helps guide us in how we can better prioritize our efforts,” he said. The chair also touched on the ongoing effort to integrate the Office of Renewable Energy Siting with the department. Christian said right now logistics such as office space, email addresses and budgets are still being worked on. There were a few questions about battery storage from lawmakers. The state’s climate law sets a target of 3 gigawatts of storage by 2030, and Hochul boosted that to 6 gigawatts in her 2022 State of the State. As of March 2024, the state only had 65 percent of an earlier 1,500 megawatt by 2025 target under contract or awarded, whereas in October 2022 the figure was 87 percent. The Public Service Commission hasn’t yet rolled out a new round of incentives and is still reviewing comments on subsidies for storage after revising cost estimates. “It’s safe to say that the same social, political and economic headwinds that are affecting renewable energy are affecting the economy as a whole and the battery storage sector is no exception,” Christian told POLITICO. “We do have a plan in place, we have targets and we have procurement mechanisms.” — Marie J. French PACKAGING PUSH MEETS COST CONCERNS — POLITICO’s Marie J. French: Democratic lawmakers are still fine-tuning a sweeping measure aimed at reducing the amount of plastic and packaging trash headed to the state’s crammed landfills. The rebranded extended producer responsibility bill seeks to reduce the amount of packaging being used, increase recyclability and charge producers of consumer goods for the costs of disposing of packaging that mostly ends up in landfills. But tweaks are still expected to the current version, and some lawmakers have concerns about the costs for consumers with the legislative session set to end June 6. ADVOCATES FIGHT PIPELINE EXPANSION: Environmental advocates opposed to increased gas coming into New York protested public meetings held by a pipeline developer on Monday and Tuesday. Local opponents, with backing from Food and Water Watch, are opposing the Iroquois Enhancement by Compression, or “ExC” project. The project to bring more gas to New York City, which the state Department of Public Service says is needed to ensure reliable gas service downstate on the coldest winter days, involves additional horsepower for compressor stations in Athens and Dover. That requires air permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation, which is still reviewing the projects. DEC closed a public comment period on the reliability needs analysis April 29. The department received more than 3,000 comments that it is currently reviewing. “DEC subjects every application to a rigorous review of all applicable federal and state standards to ensure the agency’s decision is protective of public health and the environment, upholds environmental justice and fairness, and meets applicable standards, including those related to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” DEC spokesperson Maureen Wren said in a statement. Lawmakers and advocates also rallied in Albany last week to oppose the project. “We passed our clear climate intentions in 2019, but it really feels like it was just for show, because what are we doing? We have not made a serious commitment to this green transition,” said Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, a Democrat from Ulster County at the event last week. The department also required Iroquoisto hold public hearings about the potential impact of the project on disadvantaged communities, which the company initially objected to. Advocates protested outside those hearings this week, calling for Hochul to reject the permits. These hearings were required as part of public engagement on the impact on disadvantaged communities, not the reliability issue that had an earlier public comment deadline. As part of its effort to get approval, the company has agreed to install emissions reduction equipment at the Athens and Dover compressor stations as part of the project, which they said would lower emissions by about 90 percent compared to uncontrolled historic levels. The company also offered to limit the maximum annual fuel use at the stations and study the feasibility of installing the same equipment at other compressor stations in the state as an additional mitigation strategy. Iroquois also discussed proposed community benefits for potentially impacted disadvantaged communities at the meetings — and a virtual one scheduled for Thursday. That includes a grant program for the local governments with a total of $400,000 for Athens and Dover; the donation of public EV chargers; and $400,000 for local heat pump programs. — Marie J. French BOTTLERS TARGET FRAUD: The new coalition backed by the state’s bottlers of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products is raising the prospect of fraud as they seek to block an expansion of the bottle deposit system. New Yorkers for Better Recycling wants lawmakers to hold off until the Department of Environmental Conservation releases “findings” from a stepped-up effort to combat fraud in the deposit system announced in October 2023. At the time, Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick had convened a hearing on expanding the bottle bill — and concerns about fraud were being raised, as they’ve often been when efforts to expand the system are proposed. The DEC announcement said, “It is hoped ... this process will reveal areas where laws, regulations, policies and/or procedure can be modified to strengthen the State's ability to prevent fraud.” A spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Conservation said multiple agencies continue to regularly coordinate and investigate bottle fraud. The work has helped agency representatives understand their roles in stopping fraud. “The team works collaboratively to accomplish fraud reduction goals by reviewing previous enforcement efforts to better understand how to build successful cases, improve investigations, and support fraud prosecutions,” DEC spokesperson Cecilia Walsh said in a statement. “The agencies are also using this data and information to evaluate what can be done in the future to address fraud.” “Let's see the results of the investigation and then work to develop common-sense reform of New York’s redemption system that reduces costs, combats fraud, and eases consumer inconvenience,” said Amanda Henning Santiago, a spokesperson for the New Yorkers for Better Recycling coalition, who works at The Parkside Group. Proponents of the bill have pointed to efforts to pass a bottle deposit law in New Jersey as one way potential fraud could be reduced. They've also touted the high rates of recycling for bottles covered under the law as labor and industry have opposed the bill. "It’s very difficult to move that without their support," said Sen. Jeremy Cooney about the opposition from the New York State AFL-CIO. "There are also questions over how to accommodate the infrastructure needed for the bottle bill’s expansion,” he said. ADAMS ASK: Mayor Eric Adams has another ask for Albany. Officials with the mayor’s administration were at the Capitol to push for changes to procurement law to speed up the construction of infrastructure and other projects. “These tools, my colleagues in the rest of the country already have them,” said Tom Foley, commissioner at the New York City Department of Design and Construction, which is responsible for public building projects. “We need these tools … to build better, faster and cheaper.” The delegation also included Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations, and Michael Garner, chief business diversity officer. Lawmakers supporting the mayor’s agenda indicated they’re willing to give Adams more latitude than previous officials. State Sen. Jim Sanders also said it might seem late in session for a push, but that Adams was successful last year in a late effort for changes related to minority and women-owned businesses. The session ends the first week of June. “There’s no waiting for another year, there’s getting it done now,” Sanders said. But some of the measures Adams’ officials were pushing haven’t even been introduced, including making the Department of Design and Construction into an authority and expanding design-build contracting ability. Two have been introduced: changes to the public hearing requirements (A8864/S7833) which has passed the Senate and changes to the New York State Insurance Fund (A7317/S7975). — Marie J. French | 
