Requires electric companies to provide alternative measures to ensure customers with documented need for essential electricity for medical needs have access to electricity during power outages; requires electric companies to provide generators or lodging for such individuals and transportation for medical devices.
Establishes a program to develop microgrids that are capable of providing an uninterrupted supply of power to one or more community outage assets through an extended electric distribution outage.
This bill requires electric and gas utility companies in New York to provide customers with a $100 credit for each 24-hour period their power is out for 24 hours or more. It directly affects residential and commercial customers who experience extended outages. The credit is automatically applied to the customer's future bills, reducing charges until the credit amount is fully used, without requiring customers to request it or pay upfront. The credit applies only to outages exceeding one full day and cannot be paid out as cash.
Relates to establishing the New York state grid modernization commission; provides the commission shall conduct a study of research, development and demonstrations of electric grid modernization and shall issue such report to the state energy planning board for consideration in the state energy plan.
Requires the New York state energy research and development authority conduct a study on independent neighborhoods and homes in municipalities constructing micro-grids to study the feasibility, efficiency, and energy saving costs if such micro-grids were constructed.
S 4429 requires gas and electric corporations in New York to dedicate 40% of their operating budget starting in 2026 to strengthen power systems against storms and outages. This includes hardening infrastructure, improving response times, and clearing trees near power lines to reduce outages. Corporations must submit quarterly reports to the Public Service Commission documenting compliance and include this evidence when requesting rate increases. The law aims to make power lines more resilient statewide, with the first reports due April 1, 2026.
Creates a revolving loan fund through the New York state energy research and development authority for the purpose of building renewable energy storage systems scaled to function as microgrids to power housing owned by the New York city housing authority.
Requires the New York state energy research and development authority conduct a study on independent neighborhoods and homes in cities constructing micro-grids to study the feasibility, efficiency, and energy saving costs if such micro-grids were constructed.
Establishes a clean and resilient energy program to encourage the development of clean and resilient behind the meter distributed energy resource projects.
This bill requires New York's energy research agency (NYSERDA) to develop recommendations for establishing microgrids at critical facilities like hospitals, fire stations, water plants, and schools. The agency must study priority locations (focusing on areas with past storm damage and disadvantaged communities) and identify funding options for these localized power networks. The resulting report, due within one year, will guide state decisions on improving energy resilience for essential services during outages. It directly affects communities relying on these critical facilities and state agencies managing infrastructure.
