Bill Text: NY A09117 | 2009-2010 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates a sustainable energy loan program in the town of Southampton to promote energy effiency among residents and businesses in such town.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-06 - referred to energy [A09117 Detail]
Download: New_York-2009-A09117-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 9117 2009-2010 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y September 4, 2009 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy AN ACT in relation to creating a sustainable energy loan program in the town of Southampton THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent. (a) It is the intent of the town of 2 Southampton to promote energy efficiency among residents and businesses 3 within the town, including the promotion of energy efficiency improve- 4 ments and the utilization of renewable energy sources in existing build- 5 ings within the town. 6 (b) In order to address the issue of global climate change and green- 7 house gas emissions in the town of Southampton, the town has embarked 8 upon an effort to reduce energy demand from existing buildings so as to 9 have the town of Southampton meet statewide energy efficient goals. In 10 order to assist residents and businesses in the town of Southampton make 11 energy efficiency improvements more affordable and to promote the 12 installation and utilization of such improvements, it is necessary to 13 set forth a mechanism to finance the cost of such energy efficiency 14 improvements. 15 (c) Pursuant thereto, this legislation will help lower energy costs, 16 reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make energy efficiency and renewable 17 energy improvements more affordable by offering a sustainable energy 18 loan program to assist homeowners and businesses within the town of 19 Southampton in the installation of distributed generation renewable 20 energy sources or energy efficiency improvements. Such loans to be 21 offered by the town shall be repaid over a period of time through an 22 annual assessment on the property of the borrower. 23 S 2. Town of Southampton sustainable energy loan program. 1. Defi- 24 nitions. For the purposes of this act, the following terms shall have 25 the following meanings: EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14644-01-9 A. 9117 2 1 (a) "Distributed generation" shall mean the generation of energy close 2 to the point of use. 3 (b) "Renewable energy source" shall mean solar, wind, photovoltaics, 4 tidal, geothermal, fuel cell technologies and low-impact, run-of-river 5 hydroelectric electric generating equipment with capacity up to thirty 6 megawatts with no new storage impoundment. 7 (c) "Energy efficiency improvement" shall mean a material improvement 8 made to an existing residential or business property that reduces energy 9 consumption, including but not limited to caulking, weatherstripping, 10 air sealing, insulation, heating and cooling systems upgrades, solar 11 thermal systems and conservation measures, in a cost-effective manner as 12 determined by the town, provided, however, that "energy efficiency 13 improvement" does not include a household appliance, such as a washing 14 machine or refrigerator, that is not permanently fixed to real property. 15 2. Sustainable energy loan program. (a) The town of Southampton, New 16 York at its discretion shall offer a sustainable energy loan to homeown- 17 ers and businesses for the financing of the installation of distributed 18 generation renewable energy sources and/or energy efficiency improve- 19 ments that will be permanently affixed to the property of the borrower. 20 (b) The town of Southampton is authorized to use monies made available 21 for the program from federal grants that may be used for this purpose, 22 to implement the sustainable energy loan program. 23 (c) Such loans shall only be available to owners of improved residen- 24 tial and commercial properties that are undergoing capital improvements 25 or upgrades. 26 (d) The loans issued by the town pursuant to this program, shall be 27 repaid by the borrower through an assessment levied by the town on the 28 real property where the sustainable energy loan was applied. Such 29 assessment shall be included annually within the town real property tax 30 bill which is transmitted to the borrower until repaid in full. 31 (e) The aggregate amount of each sustainable energy loan provided by 32 the town of Southampton shall not exceed the actual cost of the equip- 33 ment and materials necessary for the installation of distributed gener- 34 ation renewable energy sources or energy efficiency improvements, 35 including the installation costs of such equipment. 36 (f) Assessments levied pursuant to this section, including any inter- 37 est and penalties, shall constitute a lien upon the parcel of real prop- 38 erty for which the loan is made. 39 3. Necessity. The town board of Southampton, New York located in 40 Suffolk county declares that this legislation is necessary for the imme- 41 diate protection of the public interest and for the implementation of 42 the energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction plans of the town of 43 Southampton and the state of New York. 44 S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.