A.
The Town of Ithaca has long demonstrated its commitment to sustainability and community-wide greenhouse gas reduction from energy use, transportation, land use and waste management. The primary goal of the Green New Deal resolution, passed unanimously by the Town Board in March of 2020, is to achieve an equitable transition to carbon neutrality Town-wide by 2030. The resolution calls for meeting the electricity needs of Town government operations with 100% regionally sourced renewable electricity and reducing emissions by 50% from the Town fleet of vehicles by 2025.
B.
To meet reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions, the Town will seek reductions for all addressable carbon emissions associated with the community, including electricity use in buildings, heating of buildings, energy for transportation, and solid and sewer waste exports.
C.
To achieve the Town's 2030 goal, it may choose to accelerate the deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as photovoltaic panels and energy storage systems, as well as to examine the retail energy markets and increase local participation in those markets.
D.
Community choice aggregation has the potential to enable greenhouse gas reductions from electricity use in existing buildings while at the same time guaranteeing affordability and minimizing risk associated with price volatility to eligible consumers.
E.
Among the foremost policies and models to increase access to affordable community-wide energy transition in the state of New York is Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), which allows local governments to determine the supplier(s) of electricity on behalf of eligible consumers, and provide a significant opportunity to diversify electricity supply based on larger local DERs that may be incorporated into CCA supply.
F.
The purpose of CCA is to allow participating local governments to procure electricity and gas supply service for eligible consumers, while maintaining transmission and distribution service from the existing distribution utility.
G.
This chapter establishes a Community Choice Aggregation program (CCA program) that will allow the Town of Ithaca, in conjunction with the City of Ithaca, as well as any other local governments in Tompkins County, which may elect to join the CCA program at a later date, to work together using a shared purchasing model to put out for bid the total amount of electricity and natural gas being purchased by eligible consumers within the jurisdictional boundaries of participating municipalities. The CCA program will offer service to every eligible consumer in its service territory, including Municipal Accounts, whether on an opt-in basis or an opt-out basis.
H.
The Town of Ithaca is authorized to implement its CCA program pursuant to § 10(1)(ii)(a)(12) of the New York Municipal Home Rule Law; and State of New York Public Service Commission Case No. 14-M-0224, Proceeding on Motion of the Commission to Enable Community Choice Aggregation Programs (issued April 21, 2016), as may be amended, including subsequent orders of the Public Service Commission (PSC) issued in connection with or related to Case No. 14-M-0224, to the extent that orders related to Case No. 14-M-0224 enable actions by the Town of Ithaca.