Negotiate The Future


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10049

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 30, 2026
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. KAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Energy

        AN  ACT  to amend the public service law and the public authorities law,
          in relation to establishing a grid  modernization  surcharge;  and  to
          amend  the  state  finance  law,  in relation to establishing the grid
          modernization fund

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  The public service law is amended by adding a new section
     2  66-x to read as follows:
     3    § 66-x.  Grid modernization surcharge. 1. For  the  purposes  of  this
     4  section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
     5    (a)  "Data  center"  means any facility with an information-technology
     6  (IT) load exceeding ten megawatts (MW) of electrical demand, used prima-
     7  rily for the storage, management, processing, or transmission of digital
     8  information; and
     9    (b) "High-intensity data center" means a data center  with  an  annual
    10  power-usage  effectiveness (PUE) greater than 1.3 or an annual electric-
    11  ity consumption exceeding 50 gigawatt-hours.
    12    2. (a) The commission shall by regulation establish a grid  moderniza-
    13  tion  surcharge  to be collected by each electric corporation from every
    14  covered data center account as a separate  line  item  on  the  customer
    15  bill. The commission shall set the surcharge as a rate per kilowatt-hour
    16  or  per  megawatt-hour  billed to such accounts and may differentiate by
    17  voltage level or service class.
    18    (b) A covered  data  center  that  demonstrates,  through  independent
    19  verification  acceptable to the commission, that at least ninety percent
    20  of its annual electricity consumption  is  met  by  renewable  resources
    21  under  contracts  that  meet  commission-established  additionality  and
    22  deliverability criteria may receive a partial or full reduction  of  the
    23  surcharge.
    24    (c)  The  commission  shall  require each electric corporation to file
    25  tariff riders implementing this section and  shall  establish  verifica-
    26  tion, auditing, and penalty provisions for non-compliance.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13962-03-5
        A. 10049                            2

     1    3.  No utility shall impose or pass the surcharge established pursuant
     2  to subdivision two of this section to any customer.   Amounts  collected
     3  pursuant  to  this  section  shall be billed only to covered data center
     4  accounts and shall not be recovered from any other customer classes.
     5    4.  (a)  Every  utility shall prepare an annual report on collections,
     6  expenditures, and  measurable  system  improvements,  outage  frequency,
     7  congestion  frequency,  or  renewable capacity interconnection rates and
     8  submit such report to the commission.
     9    (b) The commission shall submit an annual public report to the  gover-
    10  nor,  the  temporary  president  of  the  senate, and the speaker of the
    11  assembly summarizing total  collections,  disbursements  from  the  grid
    12  modernization  fund,  project  status, and quantified outcomes including
    13  reliability indices, congestion  relief,  added  hosting  capacity,  and
    14  interconnection processing times.
    15    5.  Any  funds  collected  pursuant to this section shall be deposited
    16  into the grid modernization fund established pursuant to section  eight-
    17  y-five  of  the state finance law to finance investments in system reli-
    18  ability, capacity expansion, and integration of clean energy resources.
    19    § 2. The public authorities law is amended by  adding  a  new  section
    20  1005-e to read as follows:
    21    § 1005-e.  Grid modernization surcharge.  1. The authority shall adopt
    22  and  enforce  an  equivalent surcharge for covered data center customers
    23  served by the authority and shall remit all receipts to the grid modern-
    24  ization fund. The authority shall coordinate  with  the  public  service
    25  commission  to ensure consistency with regulations adopted under section
    26  sixty-six-x of the public service law.
    27    2. Such surcharge shall be deposited into the grid modernization  fund
    28  established pursuant to section eighty-five of the state finance law.
    29    §  3.  The  state finance law is amended by adding a new section 85 to
    30  read as follows:
    31    § 85. Grid modernization fund. 1. There is hereby established  in  the
    32  joint  custody  of  the state comptroller and the public service commis-
    33  sion, a special fund to be known as the "grid modernization fund".
    34    2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys collected pursuant to  subdi-
    35  vision  two  of  section sixty-six-x of the public service law.  Nothing
    36  contained in this section shall prevent the state from receiving grants,
    37  gifts, or bequests for the purposes of  the  fund  as  defined  in  this
    38  section and depositing them into the fund according to law.
    39    3. Monies of the fund shall be expended only to finance investments in
    40  system  reliability, capacity expansion, and integration of clean energy
    41  resources.
    42    4. Monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and  warrant  of
    43  the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the public service
    44  commission.
    45    §  4. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
    46  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    47  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
    48  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    49  effective date.