§ 187 — Economic development power allocations

§ 187. Economic development power allocations. (a) Any municipality or\nmunicipal agency may, alone or jointly with others, file with the board\nan application for an economic development power allocation on behalf of\na business. Such applications shall be in such form and contain such\ninformation, exhibits and supporting data as the board may prescribe.\nThe board shall issue a determination as to the sufficiency of an\napplication or reapplication within twenty days of the receipt thereof.\nThe applicant shall be entitled to timely review and action on the\napplication by the board.\n (b) Any applicant authorized to file with the board an application for\neconomic development power may also apply for, purchase and receive a\nbulk allocation of economic development power for the purpose of\nentering into contracts with eligible businesses. In making such an\napplication, the applicant shall indicate the estimated number of jobs\ncreated or retained as a result of the allocation of economic\ndevelopment power. The board, in acting upon such an application, shall\nconsider, and apply, as appropriate, the criteria and requirements\nprovided for in sections one hundred eighty-four and one hundred\neighty-five of this article. All such applications for economic\ndevelopment power shall include a specified period of time to be\napproved by the board in which the applicant shall execute contracts\nwith businesses for the use of the power from its bulk allocation of\neconomic development power. If the applicant fails to contract for the\nfull amount of the bulk allocation within that specified period of time,\nthe uncontracted for portion of the bulk allocation shall be withdrawn.\n (c) The board shall review the applications received and shall\ndetermine the applications which best meet the criteria and it shall\nrecommend such applications to the power authority of the state of New\nYork with such terms and conditions as it deems appropriate. Except for\nallocations subject to subdivision (g) of this section and section one\nhundred eighty-five of this article, each allocation recommended by the\nboard shall be to serve new electrical demand at facilities at which new\njobs are created. Such terms and conditions shall include reasonable\nprovisions providing for the partial or complete withdrawal of the\neconomic development power in the event the recipient fails to maintain\nmutually agreed levels of employment and power utilization.\n (d) Allocations shall be recommended only to or for the use of\nbusinesses which normally utilize a minimum peak electric demand of four\nhundred kilowatts. At least one half of all allocations shall be\nrecommended for applicants within the geographic areas served by Long\nIsland Lighting Company, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Orange\nand Rockland Utilities, Incorporated, Central Hudson Gas and Electric\nCorporation and that part of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties\nserved by New York State Electric and Gas Corporation. No more than\nfifty percent of the available economic development power shall be\nrecommended for allocation to applicants located within a single\nmunicipality except upon the unanimous recommendation of the board.\n (e) Recommendation for an allocation of economic development power\nshall qualify an applicant to enter into a contract for purchase of such\npower from the power authority of the state of New York pursuant to the\nterms and conditions of the recommendation. Contracts between an\napplicant and a business receiving an allocation of economic development\npower shall be subject to the approval of the power authority of the\nstate of New York. Such contracts and allocations shall provide that the\nlocal distributor of electric service will provide customer and billing\nservices upon mutually agreed terms and conditions.\n (f) Upon approval or denial of any application for economic\ndevelopment power, the board shall issue in writing a statement of its\nfindings and conclusions with respect to such application and the\nreasons for its approval or denial.\n (g) Within cities of a population of one million or more and the\ncounties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and\nWestchester, an economic development power allocation may be recommended\nfor the purpose of job retention by unanimous approval of the board\napplying the criteria developed pursuant to section one hundred\neighty-four of this article and when an applicant on behalf of a\nbusiness within such city or county demonstrates to the board (a) the\nbusiness' plans to relocate out of state resulting in the loss of a\nsubstantial number of jobs and its commitment to new investments in real\nproperty of at least twelve and one-half percent of the effective market\nvalue or to relocate within such city or county to comparable\nfacilities, upon receiving an economic development allocation, and (b)\nthat the applicant or the business first has made the greatest\npracticable use of all other potential assistance and means, including\nbut not limited to other low cost power and/or energy, tax and energy\ncost abatement measures and administrative steps to make possible the\nbusiness' new investment or relocation. For the purposes of this\nsubdivision, effective market value for special assessing units, as\ndefined in article eighteen of the real property tax law, shall be\ndetermined by dividing the assessed value of the property on the latest\ncompleted assessment roll by the latest class ratio applicable to the\nclass in which the property is classified, and for all other assessing\nunits, effective market value shall be determined by dividing the\nassessed value of the property on the latest completed assessment roll\nby the final state equalization rate or special equalization rate as\npromulgated by the commissioner of taxation and finance pursuant to\narticle twelve of the real property tax law.\n