S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 1928 2015-2016 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y January 13, 2015 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BRENNAN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to providing over- sight and monitoring the operations of an independent system operator THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the 2 terms: 3 a. "independent system operator" shall mean any not-for-profit corpo- 4 ration formed and operating in the state of New York that is approved by 5 the United States federal energy regulatory commission to operate in the 6 state to administer and monitor wholesale electricity markets. 7 b. "end use sector member" shall mean any entity that purchases elec- 8 tricity for its own consumption and not for resale. 9 2. Board members. The board of directors of the independent system 10 operator shall include three members who shall represent the interests 11 of small business owners and farmers. The governor, the speaker of the 12 assembly and the temporary president of the senate shall each appoint 13 one such member. 14 3. Disclosure of information. a. An independent system operator oper- 15 ating in this state shall disclose price data related to its wholesale 16 market operations including, but not limited to, information on real- 17 time, hour-ahead and day-ahead bids in the independent system operator's 18 wholesale electricity market auctions, transmission congestion contract 19 auctions and installed capacity market auctions with no more than a 20 three month delay. Such data shall be provided in aggregate hourly, 21 daily, monthly, annual and historical data sets for comparison purposes 22 and shall also reflect seasonal and peak load variations and averages. 23 b. The independent system operator shall also disclose the names of 24 any bidder that submits a bid in any of the auctions described in para- 25 graph a of this subdivision and the amount of the bid. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02449-01-5 A. 1928 2 1 c. Such information shall be made in a format readily available and 2 accessible to the public. 3 4. Consumer liaison. The independent system operator shall appoint an 4 employee to serve as consumer liaison, whose primary duty shall be to 5 interact with members of the end-use sector for the purposes of: 6 a. keeping end-use sector members informed about developments that may 7 affect their interests; 8 b. explaining the issues and proposals under discussion and proposed 9 for consideration at the operating committee, business issues committee 10 and management committee as well as the ramifications of those proposals 11 on residential consumers; 12 c. responding to the questions and concerns of members of the end-use 13 sector; and 14 d. serving as the liaison between the end-use sector and the members 15 of the operator's board of directors who are designated or assigned to 16 focus on the interests of the residential, small business and farm elec- 17 tricity users. 18 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 19 independent system operator shall be subject to the provisions of arti- 20 cles 6 and 7 of the public officers law. 21 S 2. Section 66 of the public service law is amended by adding a new 22 subdivision 29 to read as follows: 23 29. (A) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION: 24 (I) "INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR" SHALL MEAN ANY NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPO- 25 RATION FORMED AND OPERATING IN THE STATE THAT IS APPROVED BY THE UNITED 26 STATES FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION TO OPERATE IN THE STATE TO 27 ADMINISTER AND MONITOR WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKETS; AND 28 (II) "END USE SECTOR MEMBER" SHALL INCLUDE ANY ENTITY THAT PURCHASES 29 ELECTRICITY FOR ITS OWN CONSUMPTION AND NOT FOR RESALE. 30 (B) THE COMMISSIONER IS AUTHORIZED AND DIRECTED TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT 31 AND MONITOR THE MARKET AND CORPORATE OPERATIONS OF AN INDEPENDENT SYSTEM 32 OPERATOR, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT: 33 (I) SERVES THE NEEDS OF ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES AND OPERATES IN A MANNER 34 THAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC; 35 (II) ENSURES RELIABILITY, QUALITY AND MAINTENANCE OF THE TRANSMISSION 36 SYSTEM; 37 (III) COMPLIES WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NEW YORK STATE OPEN MEET- 38 ING AND FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAWS; AND 39 (IV) CONTRIBUTES TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FUEL 40 DIVERSITY GOALS OF THE STATE. 41 (C) THE COMMISSIONER SHALL ANNUALLY ISSUE A REPORT RELATING THE MARKET 42 AND CORPORATE OPERATIONS OF THE INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR. SUCH 43 REPORTS SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO: 44 (I) ANALYSES BY AN INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR AND OTHER DATA 45 COLLECTED AND ANALYZED BY THE COMMISSION INFORMATION ON REAL-TIME, 46 HOUR-AHEAD AND DAY-AHEAD MARKET BIDS AND BIDDERS IN AN INDEPENDENT 47 SYSTEM OPERATOR'S WHOLESALE ELECTRICITY MARKET AUCTIONS, TRANSMISSION 48 CONGESTION CONTRACT AUCTIONS AND INSTALLED MARKET AUCTIONS; 49 (II) A DETERMINATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE ENERGY MARKETS ARE 50 MAINTAINING NECESSARY LEVELS OF RELIABILITY; 51 (III) A DETERMINATION OF WHETHER OR NOT ALL CUSTOMER CLASSES ARE BEING 52 ADEQUATELY SERVED BY COMPETITIVE ENERGY MARKETS; 53 (IV) A DETERMINATION OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ENERGY MARKETS; INCLUD- 54 ING A DETERMINATION WHETHER OR NOT THE ELECTRIC INDUSTRY IS PROVIDING 55 CONSUMERS WITH THE LOWEST PRICES POSSIBLE WITHIN A RESTRUCTURED, COMPET- 56 ITIVE RETAIL MARKETPLACE; A. 1928 3 1 (V) A DETERMINATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE ENERGY MARKETS ARE 2 ACHIEVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FUEL DIVERSITY GOALS OF THE STATE; 3 (VI) THE NAME AND TERMS OF THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS AND OF THE MEMBERS 4 OF THE INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR'S MANAGEMENT, OPERATING AND BUSINESS 5 COMMITTEES; 6 (VII) AN INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR'S FINANCIAL INFORMATION; AND 7 (VIII) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING ANY DEFICIENCIES SO IDENTIFIED IN 8 ELECTRICITY ENERGY MARKETS, INCLUDING NON-COMPETITIVE PRICING SITU- 9 ATIONS. 10 (D) THE COMMISSION SHALL SUBMIT SUCH REPORT TO THE GOVERNOR, THE PRES- 11 IDENT PRO TEM OF THE SENATE, THE SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY, THE MINORITY 12 LEADERS OF THE SENATE AND THE ASSEMBLY, THE CHAIRS OF THE ENERGY COMMIT- 13 TEES OF THE SENATE AND THE ASSEMBLY, NO LATER THAN APRIL FIRST, TWO 14 THOUSAND SIXTEEN AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER. 15 S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.