[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Warwick 2-5-2024 by L.L. No. 1-2024. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Under § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12) of the New York Municipal
Home Rule Law and determinations of the New York State Public Service
Commission municipalities, including the Village of Warwick, are empowered
to establish Community Choice Aggregation Programs ("CCA"). The purpose
of a CCA is to benefit residents of the municipality by reducing energy
costs, providing energy cost certainty, and promoting deeper penetration
of energy efficiency and renewable energy resources. This chapter
establishes a CCA program that will allow the Village, in partnership
with other municipalities, to put out for bid the total amount of
natural gas and/or electricity being purchased by eligible consumers
within the Village. Eligible consumers will have the opportunity to
lower their overall energy costs, to spur clean energy innovation
and investment, to improve customer choice and value, and to help
protect the environment.
For purposes of this chapter, and unless otherwise expressly
stated or unless the context otherwise requires, the terms in this
chapter shall have the meanings employed in the State of New York
Public Service Commission's Uniform Business Practices or, if
not so defined there, as indicated below:
Aggregated data shall mean aggregated and anonymized information
including the number of consumers by service class, the aggregated
peak demand (kW) (for electricity) by month for the past 12 months,
by service class to the extent possible, and the aggregated energy
(kWh) for electricity or volumetric consumption for gas by month for
the past 12 months by service class.
CCA Administrator shall mean the Village of Warwick or its
duly authorized CCA Administrator authorized to request aggregated
and customer-specific data to competitively solicit suppliers for
the aggregated demand for electricity and/or natural gas on behalf
of default consumers, and to offer participating consumers additional
opportunities to participate or enroll in programs or projects related
to distributed energy resources. The CCA Administrator is responsible
for program organization, administration, procurement, communications,
and for meeting all requirements for program implementation specified
in the Public Service Commission Community Choice Aggregation Order
(PSC CCA Order), unless otherwise specified.
Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) shall mean a Village-sponsored
program, either alone or in concert with other municipalities, under
which the aggregate buying power of individual energy customers within
a defined jurisdiction is used in order to secure alternative energy
supply contracts on a community-wide basis, while allowing consumers
not wishing to participate in the program to opt out.
Customer-Specific Data shall mean customer specific information,
personal data and utility data for all consumers in the Village eligible
for opt-out treatment based on the terms of PSC CCA Order and the
CCA program design including the customer of record's name, mailing
address, telephone number, account number, and primary language, if
available, and any customer-specific alternate billing name, address,
and phone number.
Shall mean an agreement between the distribution utility
and the Village that obligates each party to meet, collectively, i)
all national, state and local laws, regulations or other government
standards relating to the protection of information that identifies
or can be used to identify an individual eligible consumer with respect
to the CCA Administrator or its representative's processing of
confidential utility information; ii) the distribution utility's
internal requirements and procedures relating to the protection of
information that identifies or can be used to identify individual
eligible consumer with respect to the CCA Administrator or its representative's
processing of confidential utility information; and iii) the PSC CCA
Order and PSC rules, regulations and guidelines relating to confidential
data.
Default Consumers shall mean customers of electricity and/or
natural gas within opt-out-eligible service classes (as delineated
in the PSC CCA Order) who receive supply service from the distribution
utility as of the date the supply contract goes into effect.
Default service shall mean supply service provided by the
distribution utility to consumers who are not currently receiving
service from an energy service company (ESCO). Eligible consumers
within the Village that receive default service, and have not opted
out, will be enrolled in the program as of the effective date.
Distributed energy resources (DER) shall mean local renewable
energy projects, community-distributed generation (e.g., shared solar),
peak demand management, energy efficiency, demand response, energy
storage, community resilience microgrid projects, and other innovative
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiatives that further engage
and/or reduce cost of service for participating consumers, optimize
system benefits, and/or address infrastructure and demand challenges
within the geography of the CCA Program.
Distribution utility shall mean the owner or controller of
the means of distribution of the natural gas or electricity in the
Village. The distribution utility also serves as the default supplier
of electricity and natural gas preceding the establishment of a CCA
Program.
Eligible consumers shall mean eligible customers of electricity
and/or natural gas who receive default service from the distribution
utility as of the effective date, or new consumers that subsequently
become eligible to participate in the Program, at one or more locations
within the geographic boundaries of the Village, except those consumers
who receive default service and have requested not to have their account
information shared by the distribution utility. For the avoidance
of doubt, all eligible consumers must reside or be otherwise located
at one or more locations within the geographic boundaries of the Village,
as such boundaries exist on the effective date of the ESA.
Energy services company (ESCO) shall mean an entity duly
authorized to conduct business in the State of New York as an ESCO.
New consumers shall mean consumers of electricity that become
eligible consumers after the effective date of the ESA, including
those that opt in or move into the Village.
Participating consumers shall mean default consumers who
have not opted out, and nondefault consumers of any service class
that have voluntarily enrolled in the program.
Program organizer shall mean the group responsible for initiating
and organizing the CCA. This group will typically secure buy-in from
local governments and engage in preliminary outreach and education
around CCA. The program organizer may be a nonprofit organization,
local government, or other third party. The program organizer and
the CCA Administrator may be the same.
PSC CCA Order shall mean the PSC's Order Authorizing
Framework for Community Choice Aggregation Opt-Out Program, issued
on April 21, 2016, in Case 14-M-0224, "Proceeding on Motion of the
Commission to Enable Community Choice Aggregation Programs."
Public Service Commission (PSC) shall mean the New York State
Public Service Commission.
Suppliers shall mean ESCOs that procure electric power and
natural gas for participating consumers in connection with this article
or, alternatively, generators of electricity and natural gas or other
entities who procure and resell electricity or natural gas.
A.
A CCA Program is hereby authorized by the Village, whereby the Village
may implement a CCA Program to the full extent permitted by the PSC
CCA Order, as set forth more fully herein.
B.
The Village may enter into contracts with one or more suppliers for
electric and/or natural gas supply and other services on behalf of
default consumers.
C.
The Village may enter into agreements and contracts with other municipalities,
nonprofits, consultants, and/or other third parties to:
(1)
Develop and implement the CCA Program;
(2)
Act as CCA Administrator; and/or
(3)
Develop offers of opt-in distributed energy resources (DER) products
and services to participating consumers, including opportunities to
participate in local renewable energy projects, shared solar, energy
efficiency, microgrids, storage, demand response, energy management,
and other innovative Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiatives
and objectives designed to optimize system benefits, target and address
load pockets/profile within the CCA zone, and reduce costs for CCA
customers.
D.
The operation and ownership of the utility service shall remain with
the distribution utility. The Village's participation in a CCA
Program constitutes neither the purchase of a public utility system,
nor the furnishing of utility service. The Village shall not take
over any part of the electric or gas transmission or distribution
system and will not furnish any type of utility service, but will
instead negotiate with suppliers on behalf of participating consumers.
A.
All consumers within the Village, including residential and nonresidential,
regardless of size, shall be eligible to participate in the CCA Program.
B.
All default consumers shall be enrolled on an opt-out basis. Default
consumers will have the right to opt out before the supply contract
goes into effect, or unenroll any time thereafter with no penalty.
Those that do not opt out before the supply contract goes into effect
will be enrolled automatically.
C.
All nondefault consumers within the Village, regardless of service
class, shall be eligible to participate in the CCA Program on an opt-in
basis.
D.
New consumers shall be enrolled on an opt-out basis.
A.
A program notification letter, printed on Village letterhead, shall
be mailed to default consumers at least 30 days prior to customer
enrollment. The letter shall include information on the CCA Program
and the contract signed with the selected supplier(s), including specific
details on rates, services, contract term, cancellation fee, and methods
for opting out of the CCA Program. The letter shall explain that consumers
that do not opt out will be enrolled in the program under the contract
terms and that information on those consumers, including energy usage
data, will be provided to the ESCO.
B.
After the thirty-day opt-out period, all consumers shall have the
option to unenroll from the CCA Program at any time without penalty.
A.
The Village, or CCA Administrator on its behalf, may request aggregated
data and customer-specific data from the distribution utility.
B.
Customer-specific data shall be protected in a manner compliant with,
collectively:
(1)
All national, state and local laws, regulations or other government
standards relating to the protection of information that identifies
or can be used to identify an individual that apply with respect to
the Village or its representative's processing of confidential
utility information;
(2)
The utility's internal requirements and procedures relating
to the protection of information that identifies or can be used to
identify an individual that apply with respect to the Village or its
representative's processing of confidential utility information;
and
(3)
The PSC CCA Order and PSC rules, regulations and guidelines relating
to confidential data.
C.
For the purpose of protecting customer data, the Village shall enter
into an agreement with the distribution utility that obligates each
party to meet, collectively:
(1)
All national, state and local laws, regulations or other government
standards relating to the protection of information that identifies
or can be used to identify an individual default consumer or participating
consumer with respect to the CCA Administrator or its representative's
processing of confidential utility information;
(2)
The distribution utility's internal requirements and procedures
relating to the protection of information that identifies or can be
used to identify individual default consumer or participating consumer
with respect to the CCA Administrator or its representative's
processing of confidential utility information; and
(3)
The PSC CCA Order and PSC rules, regulations and guidelines relating
to confidential data.
A.
A CCA Advisory Committee is hereby established.
B.
The CCA Advisory Committee shall develop and review CCA related proposals,
report to the Village Board on the same, monitor and report to the
Village Board on the Village's progress in establishing a CCA
program, and assist in preparation of all agreements related to establishment
of the CCA.
C.
The CCA Advisory Committee shall consist of members appointed by
resolution of the Village Board; the members shall serve at the pleasure
of the Village Board, without compensation; and the Committee and
the terms of office of its members shall continue until such time
as the Committee is dissolved by resolution of the Village Board.
D.
The CCA Advisory Committee shall meet at such times and on such dates
as it determines is appropriate, it shall establish its own rules
of procedure, and it shall determine its own Chairman from its membership
by majority vote.
The Village or CCA Administrator may collect, or cause to be
collected, funds from customer payments to pay for administrative
costs associated with running the CCA Program.
A.
Annual reports shall be filed with the Warwick Village Board by March
31 of each year and cover the previous calendar year.
B.
Annual reports shall include, at a minimum: number of consumers served;
number of consumers cancelling during the year; number of complaints
received; commodity prices paid; value-added services provided during
the year (e.g., installation of DER or other clean energy services);
and administrative costs collected. The first report shall also include
the number of consumers who opted out in response to the initial opt-out
letter or letters.
C.
If a CCA supply contract will expire less than one year following
the filing of the annual report, the report must identify current
plans for soliciting a new contract, negotiating an extension, or
ending the CCA Program.
