Establishes an exemption from taxation for energy-related public utility real property related to attaining state climate goals

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Kevin S. Parker says this is needed

The New York Power Grid Study was undertaken in 2020-21 by the Depart- ment of Public Service, the New York State Energy Research and Develop- ment Authority (NYSERDA), the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), and New York's investor-owned utilities (Utilities) to determine necessary grid upgrades in order to meet CLCPA goals. That report highlighted the need for a multitude of future utility projects that will be necessary to meet our ambitious climate goals. One such project highlighted by the report was Con Edison's renewable energy interconnection hub in Brooklyn, NY. The Brooklyn Clean Energy Hub is an $810 million transmission substation that will rise where three gas combustion turbines once stood near the East River in the Vinegar Hill neighborhood. The Hub will serve as an interconnection point for offshore wind or other clean energy resources that can feed directly into the grid to provide clean energy to millions of homes and businesses. Further, this project will allow Con Edison to retire peaker plants that until this project would have been impossible due to reliability concerns. This project, necessary to meet our CLCPA goals, comes with a large price tag which is a necessary price we must pay to combat the realities of climate change. Unfortunately, this project will also come with a roughly $50 million per year property tax bill, which will be paid by Con Edison ratepayers in New York City and Westchester County. This is just one example of the many similar projects that will be necessary for utilities to undertake to meet these goals. This bill is necessary to keep utility bills affordable as we begin the process of building a new grid to meet the demands that will be placed on it in the future. The bill is not a blanket tax exemption for all utility property and will not create holes in local government budgets. Rather, this bill addresses specific projects, like the one highlighted above, that would not otherwise be needed or built unless necessary to meet the goals of the CLCPA. Each and every exemption granted would need to be approved by the DPS as necessary to meet our goals and the result- ing savings would be passed on to ratepayers.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.