N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 1896: Green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund

§ 1896. Green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. 1. (a) There is

hereby created a green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. The

revolving loan fund shall consist of:

(i) all moneys made available for the purpose of the revolving loan

fund pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a of this title;

(ii) payments of principal and interest, including any late payment

charges, made pursuant to loan or financing agreements entered into with

the authority or its designee pursuant to this section; and

(iii) any interest earned by the investment of moneys in the revolving

loan fund.

(b) The revolving loan fund shall consist of two accounts:

(i) one account which shall be maintained for monies to be made

available to provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified

energy efficiency services for residential structures and multi-family

structures, and

(ii) one account which shall be maintained for monies made available

to provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified energy

efficiency services for non-residential structures. The initial balance

of the residential account established in subparagraph (i) of this

paragraph shall represent at least fifty percent of the total balance of

the two accounts. The authority shall not commingle the monies of the

revolving loan fund with any other monies of the authority or held by

the authority, nor shall the authority commingle the monies between

accounts. Payments of principal, interest and fees shall be deposited

into the account created and maintained for the appropriate type of

eligible project.

(c) In administering such program, the authority is authorized and

directed to:

(i) use monies made available for the revolving loan fund to achieve

the purposes of this section by section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a

of this title, including but not limited to making loans available for

eligible projects;

(ii) enter into contracts with one or more program implementers to

perform such functions as the authority deems appropriate;

(iii) establish an on-bill recovery mechanism for repayment of loans

for the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for eligible

projects provided that such on-bill recovery mechanism shall provide for

the utilization of any on-bill recovery programs established pursuant to

section sixty-six-m of the public service law and section one thousand

twenty-hh of this chapter;

(iv) establish standards for customer participation in such on-bill

recovery mechanism, including standards for reliable utility bill

payment, current good standing on any mortgage obligations, and such

additional standards as the authority deems necessary; provided that in

order to provide broad access to on-bill recovery, the authority shall,

to the fullest extent practicable, consider alternative measures of

creditworthiness that are prudent in order to include participation by

customers who are less likely to have access to traditional sources of

financing;

(v) to the extent feasible, make available on a pro rata basis, based

on the number of electric customers within the utility service

territory, to combination electric and gas corporations that offer

on-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of the public service

law and the Long Island power authority, up to five hundred thousand

dollars to defray costs directly associated with changing or upgrading

billing systems to accommodate on-bill recovery charges;

(vi) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a fee

of one hundred dollars per loan to the combination electric and gas

corporation in whose service territory such customer is located or to

the Long Island power authority if such customer is located in the

service territory of that authority to help defray the costs that are

directly associated with implementing the program;

(vii) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a

servicing fee of one percent of the loan amount to the combination

electric and gas corporation in whose service territory such customer is

located or to the Long Island power authority if such customer is

located in the service territory of that authority to help defray the

costs that are directly associated with the program; and

(viii) exercise such other powers as are necessary for the proper

administration of the program, including at the discretion of the

authority, entering into agreements with applicants and with such state

or federal agencies as necessary to directly receive rebates and grants

available for eligible projects and apply such funds to repayment of

applicant loan obligations.

2. (a) The authority shall provide financial assistance in the form of

loans for the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for

eligible projects on terms and conditions established by the authority.

(b) Loans made by the authority pursuant to this section shall be

subject to the following limitations:

(i) eligible projects shall meet cost effectiveness standards

developed by the authority;

(ii) loans shall not exceed thirteen thousand dollars per applicant

for approved qualified energy efficiency services for residential

structures, and twenty-six thousand dollars per applicant for approved

qualified energy efficiency services for non-residential structures,

provided, however, that the authority may permit a loan in excess of

such amounts if the total cost of energy efficiency measures financed by

such loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen years or less, but in

no event shall any such loan exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per

applicant for residential structures and fifty thousand dollars per

applicant for non-residential structures; and for multi-family

structures loans shall be in amounts determined by the authority,

provided, however, that the authority shall assure that a significant

number of residential structures are included in the program;

(iii) no fees or penalties shall be charged or collected for

prepayment of any such loan; and

(iv) loans shall be at interest rates determined by the authority to

be no higher than necessary to make the provision of the qualified

energy efficiency services feasible.

In determining whether to make a loan, and the amount of any loan that

is made, the authority is authorized to consider whether the applicant

or borrower has received, or is eligible to receive, financial

assistance and other incentives from any other source for the qualified

energy efficiency services which would be the subject of the loan. In

determining whether a loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen

years or less pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the

authority may consider the amount of the loan to be reduced by the

amount of any rebates for qualified energy efficiency services received

by the applicant or by the authority on behalf of an applicant.

(c) Applications for financial assistance pursuant to this section

shall be reviewed and evaluated by the authority or its designee

pursuant to eligibility and qualification requirements and criteria

established by the authority. The authority shall establish standards

for (i) qualified energy efficiency services, and (ii) measurement and

verification of energy savings. Such standards shall meet or exceed the

standards used by the authority for similar programs in existence on the

effective date of this section.

(d) The amount of a fee paid for an energy audit provided under

section eighteen hundred ninety-five of this title may be added to the

amount of a loan that is made under this section to finance the cost of

an eligible project conducted in response to such energy audit. In such

a case, the amount of the fee may be reimbursed from the fund to the

borrower.

(e) In establishing an on-bill recovery mechanism:

(i) the cost-effectiveness of an eligible project shall be evaluated

solely on the basis of the costs and projected savings to the applying

customer, using standard engineering assessments and prior billing data

and usage patterns; provided however that based upon the most recent

customer data available, on an annualized basis, the monthly on-bill

repayment amount for a package of measures shall not exceed one-twelfth

of the savings projected to result from the installation of the measures

provided further that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit or

prevent customers whose primary heating energy source is from

deliverable fuels from participating in the program;

(ii) the authority shall establish a process for receipt and

resolution of customer complaints concerning on-bill recovery charges

and for addressing delays and defaults in customer payments; and

(iii) the authority may limit the availability of lighting measures or

household appliances that are not permanently affixed to real property.

(f) Prior to or at the closing of each loan made pursuant to this

section, the authority shall cause a notice to be provided to each

customer receiving such loan stating, in clear and conspicuous terms:

(i) the financial and legal obligations and risks of accepting such

loan responsibilities, including the obligation to provide or consent to

the customer's utility providing the authority information on the

sources and quantities of energy used in the customer's premises and any

improvements or modifications to the premises, use of the premises or

energy consuming appliances or equipment of any type that may

significantly affect energy usage;

(ii) that the on-bill recovery charge will be billed by such customer

utility company and that failure to pay such on-bill recovery charge may

result in the customer having his or her electricity and/or gas

terminated for non-payment, provided that such utility company follows

the requirements of article two of the public service law with respect

to residential customers;

(iii) that incurring such loan to undertake energy-efficiency projects

may not result in lower monthly energy costs over time, based on

additional factors that contribute to monthly energy costs;

(iv) that the program is operated by the authority and it is the sole

responsibility of the authority to handle consumer inquiries and

complaints related to the operation and lending associated with the

program, provided further that the authority shall provide a mechanism

to receive such consumer inquiries and complaints.

(g) Any person entering into a loan agreement pursuant to this section

shall have the right to cancel any such loan agreement until midnight of

the fifth business day following the day on which such person signs such

agreement provided the loan proceeds have not yet been disbursed.

3. The authority shall evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the on-bill

recovery mechanism on an on-going basis. (a) In conducting such

evaluation, the authority shall request each customer to provide:

(i) information on energy usage and/or permission to collect

information on energy usage from utilities and other retail vendors,

including but not limited to information required to be furnished to

consumers under article seventeen of the energy law;

(ii) information on other sources of energy used in the customer's

premises; and

(iii) information on any improvements or modifications to the premises

that may significantly affect energy usage.

(b) At a minimum the authority shall collect and maintain information

for dates prior to the performance of qualified energy efficiency

services, to establish a baseline, and for dates covering a subsequent

time period to measure the effectiveness of such measures. Such data

shall be correlated with information from the energy audit and any other

relevant information, including information on local weather conditions,

and shall be used to evaluate the on-bill recovery program and to

improve the accuracy of projections of cost-effectiveness on an on-going

basis. An analysis of such data shall be included in the annual report

prepared pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine of this title.

(c) All information collected by the authority shall be confidential

and shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this subdivision.

4. Qualified energy efficiency services that have been paid for in

whole or in part with the proceeds of a loan under this title shall be

considered a special energy project pursuant to section eighteen hundred

fifty-one of this article.

5. (a) For each loan issued for qualified energy efficiency services

that is to be repaid through an on-bill recovery mechanism, the New York

state energy research and development authority shall record, pursuant

to article nine of the real property law, in the office of the

appropriate recording officer, a declaration with respect to the

property improved by such services of the existence of the loan and

stating the total amount of the loan, the term of the loan, and that the

loan is being repaid through a charge on an electric or gas meter

associated with the property. The declaration shall further state that

it is being filed pursuant to this section and, unless fully satisfied

prior to sale or transfer of the property, the loan repayment utility

meter charge shall survive changes in ownership, tenancy, or meter

account responsibility and, until fully satisfied, shall constitute the

obligation of the person responsible for the meter account. Such

declaration shall not constitute a mortgage and shall not create any

security interest or lien on the property. Upon satisfaction of the

loan, the authority shall file a declaration of repayment pursuant to

article nine of the real property law.

(b) The recording officer shall record such declarations in the same

book, provided under section three hundred fifteen of the real property

law, in which such recording officer records deeds.