HOCHUL SIGNS SUFFOLK COUNTY WATER MEASURE: Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a measure to enable the Suffolk County Legislature to put a sales tax hike in front of voters in November to fund sewage infrastructure and septic systems. Hochul signed the bill (S8473/A8993) on Thursday, setting the stage for local action. The effort fell short last year after passage of a state measure, with Suffolk County officials failing to reach a deal. That led to a local campaign issue as environmental groups worked to oust some county legislators over the water quality measure. Failing septic systems in Suffolk County threaten drinking water and local ecosystems due to nitrogen discharges. The 0.125 percent increase to the sales tax would raise about $6 billion through 2060, if approved by voters. “Access to clean water is a basic need, and residents of Suffolk County deserve safe and reliable water infrastructure,” Hochul said in a statement. “I am committed to protecting the health of all New Yorkers, and this bill is a promise to future generations that we will do everything in our power to protect your well-being.” Hochul’s swift action on the bill reflects the timeline needed to have the county approve the measure as well to ensure it makes the November ballot. — Marie J. French COMMISSION REJECTS CON ED COST OVERRUN ASK: Con Edison spent millions more than planned on developing and testing a new customer billing and service system that went live in October last year. Some of the added costs came amid intense scrutiny of Central Hudson’s botched rollout of a new customer billing system, which led to the ouster of the utility’s CEO. Con Ed exceeded the $455 million price cap set in its 2020 rate case for the project by $88 million. As utilities are wont to do, the company went to the Public Service Commission and asked to “capitalize” those costs, with an expectation that the utility would eventually seek to pass on the additional expense to ratepayers. But in a decision that passed without discussion at the commission’s meeting last week, the PSC rebuffed the request, holding the line on customer costs. In short, the PSC told Con Ed that customers should get the system they were promised at the agreed-on price. “By imposing a cap on expenditures based on the utility’s own forecast, it encourages a utility to conduct thorough planning to develop an estimate it can achieve,” the order states. “This ensures that when a utility proposes a complex program, the Commission and other stakeholders can have confidence that the utility is presenting an estimate of costs and benefits the utility can deliver.” Utilities are typically allowed to recoup costs for prudent expenses from their customers. But in this case, the commission stood by the cap set in the 2020 rate case. The order repeatedly scolds Con Ed for failing to raise the issue of higher costs in the pending rate case filed in 2022 and providing less detail than required as part of that process. “Con Edison failed to provide information with the level of detail traditionally provided in a rate case,” the order states. The order also notes the cap included a contingency of $35 million, which was fully utilized. The utility attributed the added costs to more project complexity, implementation of “risk mitigation measure,” and resolving billing issues predating the new system. The commission order states that the company should have limited additional project features and included costs of testing to ensure a smooth rollout in initial estimates. “A primary goal of the PSC is to protect ratepayers from bearing unlimited risk of poor cost estimation or project implementation by a utility. In this case, imposing a cap on expenditures based on Con Edison’s own forecast encourages a utility to conduct thorough planning to develop an estimate it can achieve,” said Department of Public Service spokesperson Jim Denn. The utility could seek a rehearing of the order, or take other steps. “Con Edison is proud of the award-winning deployment of our upgraded customer service system, which is already providing significant new benefits to our customers and operations,” said spokesperson Jamie McShane. “We are reviewing the Commission’s order, along with our options related to the costs incurred to deliver this project.” — Marie J. French ICYMI: POSITIVE POLLING FOR PLASTICS BILL: Raising bottle deposits from 5 cents to 10 cents was opposed 46 percent to 43 percent, a Siena College Research Institute poll released Wednesday found. Only 36 percent said they favored “state actions aimed at reducing fossil fuel use if those actions require you as a consumer to pay more for energy,” while 45 percent were opposed. But the “Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act” to reduce plastic waste was supported 67 percent to 22 percent. — Bill Mahoney NYPA QUALIFIES RENEWABLE PARTNERS: The New York Power Authority has qualified 79 companies as part of its effort to build new renewable energy projects, in response to last year’s budget deal. The list of companies will be presented to the board of trustees at its Tuesday meeting. The qualified partners include companies pitching pumped hydropower storage and green hydrogen, well-known land-based renewable developers, offshore wind and energy storage companies, investment firms and more. Companies can continue to apply to be qualified, and some may be eligible for other related requests for proposals in the future, according to NYPA. The authority still has to develop a strategic plan, due at the beginning of 2025, before building any renewables. That plan should be released before public hearings this summer, NYPA president and CEO Justin Driscoll told POLITICO. He said there’s also ongoing engagement with stakeholders. “There won’t be shovels in the ground in 2024,” Driscoll said. “We're doing everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to be able to move quickly in 2025 and 2026.” But having this list of partners will give NYPA the ability to act quickly once that process is complete. ”We don't want to have to go out and do a new solicitation for every project opportunity,” Driscoll said. “By having a pre-approved stable of vendors, we can then do mini-RFPs within that approved list, and we can go forward much quicker than we ordinarily would.” He said the authority expects to initially focus on “in flight” onshore solar and wind projects. “We’re going to focus on where we think we can move the needle quickest,” Driscoll said. Vennela Yadhati, NYPA’s vice president of renewable project development who was brought on to head up this new line of business, said the authority would also build a pipeline of “greenfield” projects. But those wouldn’t be expected to come online until at least 2029, given the challenges of permitting and interconnecting projects. The land-based renewables market in New York is currently facing massive uncertainty, as most of NYSERDA’s previously-awarded projects have canceled their contracts. Only 24 projects got tentative awards announced at the end of April, compared to 79 that have been canceled or withdrawn by developers since October 2023. NYSERDA has declined to disclose the tentative awardees or cost details, which it historically has released at this point in the process. Several of the NYPA qualified companies have had NYSERDA contracts, with some operational projects. Well-known, established developers which previously had most of the onshore projects under contract on the list include EDF Renewables, NextEra, Repsol (which acquired ConnectGen’s portfolio), Boralex, Invenergy and Hecate. Driscoll said NYPA would likely seek NYSERDA contracts for qualified new renewables, although he did not rule out other arrangements to support projects. The authority also pre-qualified some investors in renewables, including D.E. Shaw and a pension fund, as potential partners. The legislation authorizing NYPA to build and own renewables requires the authority to retain a 51 percent stake in projects. “The idea is how do we amplify NYPA’s time, resources and capital to maximize the impact,” Yadhati said. “That can be either co-development or co-investment if that's going to significantly multiply what we're putting in. That's what we're aiming for: to bring more capacity and more megawatts online.” Companies with offshore wind interests, including Orsted, RWE and EDP Renewables also qualified. Driscoll said NYPA hasn’t ruled out anything related to offshore wind. Several energy storage developers including Key Capture Energy were also listed. Yadhati said early opportunities would be for co-located, hybrid energy storage and renewables, but that NYPA could also play a role in responding to future NYSERDA solicitations for storage. — Marie J. French | 
