§ 1896 — Green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund

§ 1896. Green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. 1. (a) There is\nhereby created a green jobs-green New York revolving loan fund. The\nrevolving loan fund shall consist of:\n (i) all moneys made available for the purpose of the revolving loan\nfund pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a of this title;\n (ii) payments of principal and interest, including any late payment\ncharges, made pursuant to loan or financing agreements entered into with\nthe authority or its designee pursuant to this section; and\n (iii) any interest earned by the investment of moneys in the revolving\nloan fund.\n (b) The revolving loan fund shall consist of two accounts:\n (i) one account which shall be maintained for monies to be made\navailable to provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified\nenergy efficiency services for residential structures and multi-family\nstructures, and\n (ii) one account which shall be maintained for monies made available\nto provide loans to finance the cost of approved qualified energy\nefficiency services for non-residential structures. The initial balance\nof the residential account established in subparagraph (i) of this\nparagraph shall represent at least fifty percent of the total balance of\nthe two accounts. The authority shall not commingle the monies of the\nrevolving loan fund with any other monies of the authority or held by\nthe authority, nor shall the authority commingle the monies between\naccounts. Payments of principal, interest and fees shall be deposited\ninto the account created and maintained for the appropriate type of\neligible project.\n (c) In administering such program, the authority is authorized and\ndirected to:\n (i) use monies made available for the revolving loan fund to achieve\nthe purposes of this section by section eighteen hundred ninety-nine-a\nof this title, including but not limited to making loans available for\neligible projects;\n (ii) enter into contracts with one or more program implementers to\nperform such functions as the authority deems appropriate;\n (iii) establish an on-bill recovery mechanism for repayment of loans\nfor the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for eligible\nprojects provided that such on-bill recovery mechanism shall provide for\nthe utilization of any on-bill recovery programs established pursuant to\nsection sixty-six-m of the public service law and section one thousand\ntwenty-hh of this chapter;\n (iv) establish standards for customer participation in such on-bill\nrecovery mechanism, including standards for reliable utility bill\npayment, current good standing on any mortgage obligations, and such\nadditional standards as the authority deems necessary; provided that in\norder to provide broad access to on-bill recovery, the authority shall,\nto the fullest extent practicable, consider alternative measures of\ncreditworthiness that are prudent in order to include participation by\ncustomers who are less likely to have access to traditional sources of\nfinancing;\n (v) to the extent feasible, make available on a pro rata basis, based\non the number of electric customers within the utility service\nterritory, to combination electric and gas corporations that offer\non-bill recovery pursuant to section sixty-six-m of the public service\nlaw and the Long Island power authority, up to five hundred thousand\ndollars to defray costs directly associated with changing or upgrading\nbilling systems to accommodate on-bill recovery charges;\n (vi) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a fee\nof one hundred dollars per loan to the combination electric and gas\ncorporation in whose service territory such customer is located or to\nthe Long Island power authority if such customer is located in the\nservice territory of that authority to help defray the costs that are\ndirectly associated with implementing the program;\n (vii) within thirty days of closing of a loan to a customer, pay a\nservicing fee of one percent of the loan amount to the combination\nelectric and gas corporation in whose service territory such customer is\nlocated or to the Long Island power authority if such customer is\nlocated in the service territory of that authority to help defray the\ncosts that are directly associated with the program; and\n (viii) exercise such other powers as are necessary for the proper\nadministration of the program, including at the discretion of the\nauthority, entering into agreements with applicants and with such state\nor federal agencies as necessary to directly receive rebates and grants\navailable for eligible projects and apply such funds to repayment of\napplicant loan obligations.\n 2. (a) The authority shall provide financial assistance in the form of\nloans for the performance of qualified energy efficiency services for\neligible projects on terms and conditions established by the authority.\n (b) Loans made by the authority pursuant to this section shall be\nsubject to the following limitations:\n (i) eligible projects shall meet cost effectiveness standards\ndeveloped by the authority;\n (ii) loans shall not exceed thirteen thousand dollars per applicant\nfor approved qualified energy efficiency services for residential\nstructures, and twenty-six thousand dollars per applicant for approved\nqualified energy efficiency services for non-residential structures,\nprovided, however, that the authority may permit a loan in excess of\nsuch amounts if the total cost of energy efficiency measures financed by\nsuch loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen years or less, but in\nno event shall any such loan exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per\napplicant for residential structures and fifty thousand dollars per\napplicant for non-residential structures; and for multi-family\nstructures loans shall be in amounts determined by the authority,\nprovided, however, that the authority shall assure that a significant\nnumber of residential structures are included in the program;\n (iii) no fees or penalties shall be charged or collected for\nprepayment of any such loan; and\n (iv) loans shall be at interest rates determined by the authority to\nbe no higher than necessary to make the provision of the qualified\nenergy efficiency services feasible.\n In determining whether to make a loan, and the amount of any loan that\nis made, the authority is authorized to consider whether the applicant\nor borrower has received, or is eligible to receive, financial\nassistance and other incentives from any other source for the qualified\nenergy efficiency services which would be the subject of the loan. In\ndetermining whether a loan will achieve a payback period of fifteen\nyears or less pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the\nauthority may consider the amount of the loan to be reduced by the\namount of any rebates for qualified energy efficiency services received\nby the applicant or by the authority on behalf of an applicant.\n (c) Applications for financial assistance pursuant to this section\nshall be reviewed and evaluated by the authority or its designee\npursuant to eligibility and qualification requirements and criteria\nestablished by the authority. The authority shall establish standards\nfor (i) qualified energy efficiency services, and (ii) measurement and\nverification of energy savings. Such standards shall meet or exceed the\nstandards used by the authority for similar programs in existence on the\neffective date of this section.\n (d) The amount of a fee paid for an energy audit provided under\nsection eighteen hundred ninety-five of this title may be added to the\namount of a loan that is made under this section to finance the cost of\nan eligible project conducted in response to such energy audit. In such\na case, the amount of the fee may be reimbursed from the fund to the\nborrower.\n (e) In establishing an on-bill recovery mechanism:\n (i) the cost-effectiveness of an eligible project shall be evaluated\nsolely on the basis of the costs and projected savings to the applying\ncustomer, using standard engineering assessments and prior billing data\nand usage patterns; provided however that based upon the most recent\ncustomer data available, on an annualized basis, the monthly on-bill\nrepayment amount for a package of measures shall not exceed one-twelfth\nof the savings projected to result from the installation of the measures\nprovided further that nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit or\nprevent customers whose primary heating energy source is from\ndeliverable fuels from participating in the program;\n (ii) the authority shall establish a process for receipt and\nresolution of customer complaints concerning on-bill recovery charges\nand for addressing delays and defaults in customer payments; and\n (iii) the authority may limit the availability of lighting measures or\nhousehold appliances that are not permanently affixed to real property.\n (f) Prior to or at the closing of each loan made pursuant to this\nsection, the authority shall cause a notice to be provided to each\ncustomer receiving such loan stating, in clear and conspicuous terms:\n (i) the financial and legal obligations and risks of accepting such\nloan responsibilities, including the obligation to provide or consent to\nthe customer's utility providing the authority information on the\nsources and quantities of energy used in the customer's premises and any\nimprovements or modifications to the premises, use of the premises or\nenergy consuming appliances or equipment of any type that may\nsignificantly affect energy usage;\n (ii) that the on-bill recovery charge will be billed by such customer\nutility company and that failure to pay such on-bill recovery charge may\nresult in the customer having his or her electricity and/or gas\nterminated for non-payment, provided that such utility company follows\nthe requirements of article two of the public service law with respect\nto residential customers;\n (iii) that incurring such loan to undertake energy-efficiency projects\nmay not result in lower monthly energy costs over time, based on\nadditional factors that contribute to monthly energy costs;\n (iv) that the program is operated by the authority and it is the sole\nresponsibility of the authority to handle consumer inquiries and\ncomplaints related to the operation and lending associated with the\nprogram, provided further that the authority shall provide a mechanism\nto receive such consumer inquiries and complaints.\n (g) Any person entering into a loan agreement pursuant to this section\nshall have the right to cancel any such loan agreement until midnight of\nthe fifth business day following the day on which such person signs such\nagreement provided the loan proceeds have not yet been disbursed.\n 3. The authority shall evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the on-bill\nrecovery mechanism on an on-going basis. (a) In conducting such\nevaluation, the authority shall request each customer to provide:\n (i) information on energy usage and/or permission to collect\ninformation on energy usage from utilities and other retail vendors,\nincluding but not limited to information required to be furnished to\nconsumers under article seventeen of the energy law;\n (ii) information on other sources of energy used in the customer's\npremises; and\n (iii) information on any improvements or modifications to the premises\nthat may significantly affect energy usage.\n (b) At a minimum the authority shall collect and maintain information\nfor dates prior to the performance of qualified energy efficiency\nservices, to establish a baseline, and for dates covering a subsequent\ntime period to measure the effectiveness of such measures. Such data\nshall be correlated with information from the energy audit and any other\nrelevant information, including information on local weather conditions,\nand shall be used to evaluate the on-bill recovery program and to\nimprove the accuracy of projections of cost-effectiveness on an on-going\nbasis. An analysis of such data shall be included in the annual report\nprepared pursuant to section eighteen hundred ninety-nine of this title.\n (c) All information collected by the authority shall be confidential\nand shall be used exclusively for the purposes of this subdivision.\n 4. Qualified energy efficiency services that have been paid for in\nwhole or in part with the proceeds of a loan under this title shall be\nconsidered a special energy project pursuant to section eighteen hundred\nfifty-one of this article.\n 5. (a) For each loan issued for qualified energy efficiency services\nthat is to be repaid through an on-bill recovery mechanism, the New York\nstate energy research and development authority shall record, pursuant\nto article nine of the real property law, in the office of the\nappropriate recording officer, a declaration with respect to the\nproperty improved by such services of the existence of the loan and\nstating the total amount of the loan, the term of the loan, and that the\nloan is being repaid through a charge on an electric or gas meter\nassociated with the property. The declaration shall further state that\nit is being filed pursuant to this section and, unless fully satisfied\nprior to sale or transfer of the property, the loan repayment utility\nmeter charge shall survive changes in ownership, tenancy, or meter\naccount responsibility and, until fully satisfied, shall constitute the\nobligation of the person responsible for the meter account. Such\ndeclaration shall not constitute a mortgage and shall not create any\nsecurity interest or lien on the property. Upon satisfaction of the\nloan, the authority shall file a declaration of repayment pursuant to\narticle nine of the real property law.\n (b) The recording officer shall record such declarations in the same\nbook, provided under section three hundred fifteen of the real property\nlaw, in which such recording officer records deeds.\n