This bill changes how New York property taxes are calculated for solar and wind energy systems. It requires tax assessors to use a new discounted cash flow method that accounts for regional costs and includes specific expenses like community benefit payments, decommissioning costs, and subscriber management fees. Federal tax credits and renewable energy credits (like clean energy certificates) are no longer counted as income when valuing these systems. The law directly affects property owners with solar/wind systems, local assessors, and communities receiving benefit payments. It aims to create fairer tax assessments by reflecting actual system costs and revenue streams.
This bill increases tax credits for individuals installing geothermal energy systems. It allows a 25% credit on qualified expenses, raising the annual cap to $5,000 for systems installed before June 30, 2025, and $10,000 for systems installed on or after July 1, 2025. Additionally, it makes excess credits refundable for low-to-moderate income taxpayers or those in designated disadvantaged communities starting in 2026, treating unused credits as tax overpayments. The credit can also be carried forward for up to five years if it exceeds annual tax liability.
Requires the establishment of carbon capture projects in order to achieve the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals of the climate leadership and community protection act.
Prohibits electric corporations and gas corporations from passing along costs or increasing charges to ratepayers as a result of increased costs incurred due to the building or operation of a data center except to those ratepayers involved with or associated with the building or operation of such data center or semiconductor fabrication plant.
Requires piping supplies expenses to be included as an acceptable expense for purposes of calculating a financial benefit, tax credit or other incentive to an owner of real property to improve energy efficiency to a building or structure pursuant to any energy efficiency program overseen by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
This bill requires New York school districts to purchase or lease only zero-emission school buses (electric or hydrogen-powered with no tailpipe emissions) when buying new vehicles by July 2027. It also mandates that all components and final assembly of these buses and their charging infrastructure must be made in the U.S. unless a waiver is granted for cost or feasibility reasons. Districts facing financial hardship may receive up to two years to comply after a cost-benefit analysis, and the law includes protections preventing workforce displacement for transportation employees during the transition. The full transition to zero-emission school buses must be completed by July 2047, or when all state vehicle fleets meet this standard, whichever comes later.
Enacts the accelerate solar for affordable power (ASAP) act to set a new target for distributed solar energy capacity and direct the public service commission to advance reforms to the utility interconnection process to ensure timely and cost-effective integration of new distributed energy resources.
This bill establishes a 9-member Climate Action Cost Council to review climate-related regulations. State agencies must get the council’s 2/3 approval before adopting new rules to meet climate goals, and can issue no more than five such rules annually. The council must consider costs to businesses and ratepayers, grid reliability, and emissions reductions before approving proposals. Agencies must notify the council 60 days in advance of proposed rules, and the council will report annual costs and emissions data to the governor and legislature.
Requires signage on state highways designating where there is a zero-emission charging and refueling station that is open and available to the public within three miles of an exit or off-ramp.
Prohibits publicly owned treatment works from accepting wastewater associated with the exploration, delineation, development, or production of natural gas from high-volume hydraulic fracturing; provides exceptions.
