Dive Brief:
- In addition to the groundbreaking REV order issued on Thursday, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the state's first community choice aggregation (CCA) program.
- The PSC granted approval for Sustainable Westchester to pilot a CCA program for Westchester County, which would allow the non-profit to procure power on behalf of customers, according to a release.
Dive Insight:
The Sustainable Westchester pilot is critical for New York regulators to determine the role of CCAs in the state's energy future. Recently, the CCA movement has taken root in California, where the state's progressive politics have led many communities to question whether they should have greater control over their energy supply. CCAs remove utilities from the role of resource procurement, but leave them responsible for delivering the electricity that CCAs procure.
The PSC also stayed its net metering decision from December, giving customers, solar providers and utilities "more time to transition away" from the old net metering rules, according to a release. The PSC also deferred rules requiring utilities to submit new tariffs that were intended to answer how rooftop solar customers are compensation.
