This bill would exempt certain low-income seniors from paying use tax on heating fuels purchased during the winter months. It directly affects residents aged 65 or older who do not qualify for the existing low-income home energy assistance program but earn no more than $500 above that program's income threshold. The key provision adds a new exemption to the tax law for heating fuel sales in December, January, and February for eligible seniors using the fuel at home. This change would immediately reduce the cost of heating for qualifying households during the coldest months.
Requires certain investor-owned gas or electric corporations to refund ratepayers when their achieved return on equity exceeds authorized rates of return by fifty percent.
Authorizes gas or electrical corporations to submit proposals to the public service commission establishing a voluntary rate or rates for energy supplied to residential customers utilizing heat pumps as the primary heating source.
Prohibits gas and electric corporations from recovering labor-related legal costs or workers' compensation loss adjustment expenses from ratepayers through rates, charges, surcharges, adjustment mechanisms, riders, or reconciliation mechanisms; defines labor-related legal activity.
Authorizes certain municipalities to participate in a community-wide energy aggregation program where they can request bids, select an energy service provider, install energy efficiency measures and develop local renewable energy facilities to provide electric and/or gas supply services, including gas efficiency and renewable heating technologies to participating customers.
Protects residential customers from utility service shutoffs due to non-payment during summer and winter periods of extreme heat or cold; allows such utility services to be discontinued for non-payment outside such periods; requires an annual report to be submitted to the governor and legislature and posted publicly online.
Directs the department of economic development, in conjunction with the empire state development corporation, to review all contracts entered into or overseen or enforced by the department of economic development and/or the empire state development corporation relating to the leasing of state-owned premises to private parties for the production, manufacture and/or development of solar shingle products, electric vehicle charging networks, advanced driver-assistance systems, and/or supercomputer hardware and to identify and eliminate fraud, abuse or waste by private parties.
This bill removes state-level bans on hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and creates a new permitting system for oil and gas wells that use this technique. It directs the state environmental department to develop rules within one year covering environmental protections, water management standards, and other necessary regulations for fracking operations. The legislation also clarifies that state fracking rules override local laws and ordinances, while preserving local control over roads and real property taxes. Directly affected parties include oil and gas companies seeking to conduct fracking operations and local governments whose regulations on the practice would be preempted by state standards.
Provides that on and after January 1, 2028, no person shall sell, offer for sale or manufacture in this state any photovoltaic modules containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances as intentionally added chemicals.
Enacts the "utility penalty and customer bill relief act"; requires every gas corporation, electric corporation, combination gas and electric corporation, water-works corporation and the Long Island power authority which fails to achieve annual customer service performance targets in a particular year, which are subject to financial penalties or negative revenue adjustments to return such penalties or adjustments to rate payers as a direct bill credit.
