ALBANY -- Flanked by business leaders and environmental advocates, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an omnibus energy bill Thursday designed to smooth the siting of new power plants while boosting the alternative energy industry in New York.
Cuomo called new law "a complicated transaction, but we got it done."
The law will:
Establish a "one-stop" board to make siting decisions for power plants generating more than 25 megawatts;
Require companies submitting applications to provide "intervenor funding" that could be used by affected communities to hire lawyers and researchers to explore potential impacts;
Demand that power plants avoid or minimize impacts on air quality;
Direct the state Department of Environmental Conservation to craft emission standards for carbon dioxide, a known greenhouse gas.
The law also establishes a program to allow homeowners to take out low-interest loans from the state Energy Research and Development Authority to pay for energy efficiency work, to be paid back through their utility bills. NYSERDA has also been charged with exploring other policy changes to boost solar energy development around the state.
Howard Fromer of PSEG Power, speaking on behalf of the Independent Power Producers of New York, praised the streamlined siting process, and noted that the nearby Bethlehem Energy Center was one of the last power plants to be approved under the old version of the siting law. He said the company's application was approved within a mere seven months.
The previous siting law expired in 2003.
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