June 14, 2004

Honorable Jaclyn Brilling, Secretary
NYS Public Service Commisssion

Three Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12223

Re: Case 03-E-0188 - Retail Renewable Portfolio Standards

Dear Honorable Jaclyn Brilling:

Action for Tomorrow’s Environment ( AFTE) is a new organization created to foster sustainability with a focus on the environment. It works to assure that we behave today in a way that preserves our natural resources for future generations and promotes local sustainability initiatives by governmental bodies, individuals, and businesses. The initial focus of our work is in Westchester County. Because the development of renewable energy resources is critical to a sustainable future, we are submitting these comments with respect to the Recommended Decision Regarding a Retail Renewable Portfolio Standard issued on June 3, 2004 ( the ‘Recommended Decision”) .

We recognize the enormous effort that has been invested in developing the recommendations and commend all who have contributed to this very productive effort to date. We further commend Judge Eleanor Stein on the Recommended Decision which addresses the myriad issues intelligently and thoroughly and establishes a solid framework for the implementation of the Renewable Energy Portfolio (“RPS”). We comment here only on the areas we believe can be strengthened to achieve the goals stated.

The Public Service Commission must move forward expeditiously to issue its decision, adopt procedures for the implementation of the RPS and enforce its requirements. Public health concerns, climate change issues and environmental impacts all require that we move towards renewable energy resources. The current global political situation too compels a move away from reliance on fossil fuels towards a more diverse supply of energy so as to increase our energy security. The old cry that it is too expensive to switch has been put to rest by the analysis provided in the Recommended Decision.

Timetable and Specifics of Implementation

A year and a half has already passed since Governor Pataki announced his far reaching standard for renewables. All steps necessary to achieve the goal set of 25% green energy by 2013 must be established pursuant to a strictly enforced timetable, with specific tasks assigned which will lead to the promulgation of specific implementation requirements and regulations. Certainty and specificity are necessary to enable the market, including utilities, businesses, and financiers, to make the requisite investments. In order to foster such investment, the review date should be pushed back to 2010. There is simply too little time before the suggested review in 2008 for the market to develop to the point that a meaningful review is possible. It would also be helpful to describe with greater particularity exactly what the scope and purpose of the interim review will be. The final decision must also make it clear that the implementation program established will not sunset with any interim review, whenever conducted, or in 2013 but rather that investments already made will be supported and will be the basis for an ongoing commitment by the State of New York to renewable energy.

Eligible technologies

We commend Judge Stein for her decision to exclude nuclear energy and waste to energy from the list of Eligible Electric Generation Sources. Nuclear energy is not renewable and presents not only horrendous risks for current generations but also presents an insurmountable waste disposal problem which will persist for thousands of years. We in Westchester are particularly sensitive to these risks living as we do in the shadow of Indian Point. Current technologies for waste to energy generation fail to meet one of the central goals of the RPS to improve air quality as they produce more mercury and NOx emissions than coal-fired plants.

To the extent the Recommended Decision includes biomass as an eligible source and leaves the door open for a reexamination of eligible sources and the addition of new technologies, the decision must specify now the air quality standards that have to be met for an energy source to be an Eligible Electric Generation Source. Air quality concerns are of paramount importance. Westchester County and much of New York State has just been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as being non-attainment areas for ozone. While designations from EPA for non-attainment for fine particulate matter are not due until the end of this year, in the past month several air quality advisories were issued for both New York City and Westchester County due to high levels of particulate matter. Ozone, of course, is formed when NOx combines with volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. Particulate matter is formed by NOx and SOx in the atmosphere. The NOx and SOx emitted by coal-fired power plants are responsible for the lion’s share of that air pollution. The health consequences of ground level ozone smog and particulate matter are severe. As the New York Times recently reported, prolonged exposure to ozone is equivalent to sunburn to the lungs. Respiratory problems, asthma and heart attacks resulting from exposure to ozone and particulate matter have been irrefutably documented. The incidence of asthma in children has skyrocketed in this country with consequent rising days of school absenteeism.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the RPS shows that implementation of the RPS will reduce NOx by 5.22%, SOx by 6.04% and CO2 ( the cause of global warming) by 7.43%. Care must be taken to ensure that these projections are not undercut by permitting polluting technologies to become eligible.

New York Power Authority

The New York Power Authority (“NYPA”) should be included in the RPS. NYPA provides 25% of the energy generated in New York. Its customers include many counties, municipalities, school districts and businesses. While due to NYPA’s existing hydropower generation facilities, many of its customers are already the recipients of energy generated by a renewable resource, many are not. Westchester County does not receive any of the hydropower generation. If it is to participate in the move to renewable energy it looks to NYPA to provide it. Westchester County passed a resolution last year setting a goal of purchasing 25% green power by 2010. If NYPA does not participate in the RPS and provide customers like Westchester with renewable power, it will be difficult for the county to meet its goal. Local governments too are interested in purchasing energy from renewable resources but many feel they cannot legally do so due to state law requiring them to purchase products for public use for the lowest bid. While legislation has been introduced in Albany this year to allow premium price payments for such renewable energy purchases (A.10421), it is not clear when such legislation will be enacted. The municipalities should be enabled by the RPS to contribute to the expansion of renewable energy purchasing through their purchases from NYPA.

NYPA with its purchasing power and broad customer base would be a significant factor in increasing the state’s overall renewable energy portfolio and should be encouraged to do so. The fact that NYPA already has significant renewable hydropower generation, which was built many decades ago and is very low in cost, should not exclude it from the RPS requirements. The Recommended Decision suggests that the Public Service Commission does not have jurisdiction over NYPA. Avenues should be explored to bring NYPA into the fold and have it too participate in this critical renewable energy initiative.

New Technologies Tier

We commend Judge Stein for including a tier for new technologies for solar, small wind and fuel cells, generally sited by customers “behind the meter”. Such distributed generation should prove in time to be a significant contributor to our renewable energy future and provides a greater level of security than large central power plants and, in many cases, offers more reliability. Encouraging such technologies by recognizing them in the RPS is a very positive step.

Cost analysis

The cost estimates developed for implementation of the RPS show that for residential customers the cumulative impact may even result in a net saving as the predictions are that the impact bill will range from a reduction of 1.2 percent to an increase of 1.8 per cent. Similar ranges were predicted for commercial and industrial customers. It is significant to note that these estimates do not include the billions of dollars that will be saved in health related costs and in the costs that will be incurred due to climate change, all of which are largely the result of the air pollution emanating from existing power plants. Moreover, the benefits of reducing dependence on fluctuating and ever increasing costs of natural gas were undercounted. If those costs and benefits were to be included in the analysis, the savings that would be achieved by the substitution of clean renewable energy sources would be enormous. It would be helpful to have to those additional very significant cost benefits explored and quantified more fully in the final decision.

Renewable Energy Credits

The institution of a program for Renewable Energy Credits is an integral factor in increasing the market for renewable energy and attracting investment. We commend the recommendation for the development of such a system by December of 2004 and urge that this timetable be adhered to with the development of a final program for implementation.

We appreciate this opportunity to comment on this very constructive decision and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Respectfully submitted,

Edna Sussman,
President

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