Requires battery energy storage system owners and operators to demonstrate compliance with workforce reliability standards as a condition of state financial…

Official titleShow

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action May 13, 2026

New York State Senate

Same as A10917, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Requires battery energy storage system owners and operators to demonstrate compliance with workforce reliability standards as a condition of state financial assistance; extends prevailing wage requirements and whistleblower protections to operations and maintenance employees at covered battery energy storage systems; directs the public service commission to promulgate implementing regulations; and requires a periodic review of implementation.

Summary from NY Open Legislation. How we handle summaries

Amends the Public Service Law.

Not chosen yet

Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

Committee

Energy · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Energy And Telecommunications · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

To ensure that the labor protections governing the construction of battery energy storage systems extend through the full operational life of each facility by establishing workforce reliability standards for operations and maintenance employees, conditioning the receipt of state financial assistance upon compliance with those standards, and extending prevailing wage requirements and whistleblower protections to the O&M workforce at covered facilities. SUMMARY: Section one sets forth legislative findings and declarations. Section two amends section 66-r of the public service law to add defi- nitions of "battery energy storage system," "qualified labor organiza- tion," "substantially equivalent," and "operations and maintenance"; establishes a workforce reliability standard conditioning state finan- cial assistance upon compliance through one of four safe harbor path- ways; sets minimum terms for a jurisdictional memorandum of understand- ing including prevailing wage, apprenticeship utilization, joint safety committees, and binding arbitration; provides enforcement authority; establishes training and certification standards including OSHA 30-hour and NFPA 855 requirements with a recognition pathway for utility-admin- istered training programs; requires workforce retention and successor employer obligations upon ownership transfer; directs minimum staffing standards through rulemaking; and directs the Commissioner of Labor to establish a BESS O&M apprenticeship classification within one hundred eighty days. Section three amends section 224-d of the labor law to extend prevailing wage requirements to O&M employees at covered battery energy storage systems, establishes classification methodology anchoring new O&M wage rates to existing electrician and utility classifications with a jour- neyman electrician wage floor, provides contractor and subcontractor joint and several liability, protects collectively bargained rates above the prevailing wage floor, and establishes whistleblower protections with a private right of action. Section four directs the Public Service Commission to complete a rule- making within three hundred sixty-five days covering standard form JMOU templates, service territory jurisdiction mapping, workforce compliance certification and enforcement, minimum staffing standards, the PSC-cer- tified alternative compliance pathway, coordination with the Commission- er of Labor on apprenticeship classifications and training program approvals, and NYSERDA program amendments. Sections five, six, and seven set forth the severability clause, effec- tive date, and a joint five-year review and report by the Public Service Commission and the Commissioner of Labor.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Committee vote · Energy And Telecommunications
Senate Energy And TelecommunicationsMay 13, 2026Result: passed
(8) (1) (0) (0)

The sponsor's argument

Why Kevin S. Parker says this is needed

New York State has committed to six gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Battery energy storage systems will form the majority of that buildout. These are not temporary installations; they are long-term critical grid infrastructure with operational lives of twenty years or more, requiring continuous skilled operations and maintenance work throughout their service life. Existing law imposes comprehensive labor protections during the construction phase of such projects. No equivalent mandate governs the workforce that operates and maintains these facilities once construction is complete. The result is a two-tier system in which workers who build the infrastructure are protected but workers who maintain it for decades are not. This gap creates direct risks to grid reliability. BESS facilities involve high-voltage systems, thermal management and fire risks, cybersecurity-critical battery management systems, and real-time grid dispatch functions. Safe and reliable operation over a twenty-year facility life depends on a skilled, stable, and adequately compensated workforce. As a grantor of substantial public financial assistance to BESS projects through NYSERDA, the Clean Energy Fund, and property tax abatements, the state may condition that assistance upon compliance with workforce reli- ability standards consistent with the market participant doctrine estab- lished in Building and Construction Trades Council v. Associated Build- ers and Contractors of Massachusetts/Rhode Island, Inc., 507 U.S. 218 (1993), without acting as a regulator of the labor-management relation- ship under the National Labor Relations Act. RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: TBD GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT: TBD

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.

Full history

May 13, 2026
Reported out of committee
REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO LABOR
NY Senate
Apr 14, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
NY Senate
Apr 8, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ENERGY
NY Assembly

From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 21, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

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