April 21, 2021
The New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) and the Alliance for Clean Energy New York (ACE NY) have commissioned a research study to determine the economic benefits of standardizing renewable energy property tax methodology across the state of New York. The study, conducted by Sustainable Energy Advantage (SEA), found significant potential for a wide range of benefits, including both economic growth and employment growth, for host communities.
You can read the executive summary of the report here, or click this link to view the full report. If you keep scrolling, you’ll find the key takeaways and conclusions from the NYSEIA/ACE NY report. You can use these key points to support NYSEIA and ACE NY in advocating for the standardization of renewable energy property tax assessment methodologies through provisions in the New York Executive Budget.
To read the full newsletter released by NYSEIA concerning this subject, click here. Further down, you’ll find details of key legislators you can contact to show your support, as well as an email template you can customize to suit your own personal/business advocacy.
The New York solar industry owes a great deal to NYSEIA for its work on behalf of all members of the industry. YSG Solar would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate NYSEIA’s leadership in changing the NY solar industry for the better and tirelessly campaigning for the growth and betterment of solar for all New Yorkers. Supporting NYSEIA in its efforts to improve the New York solar industry for all citizens has been, and will continue to be, an important aspect of YSG’s mission moving forward.
Study Background
The study proposes that the current lack of a standardized property taxation methodology in New York has resulted in uncertainty around renewable energy development, causing project delays and hindering the fulfillment of New York’s clean energy goals, most notably the targets of 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and 6 GW of distributed solar by 2025. With this study, NYSEIA and ACE NY hope to highlight the benefits of a standardized property taxation assessment methodology, including:
Increased certainty
Reduced project attrition
Reduced development timelines
Increased project development
It’s also important to note that the benefits of a standardized property taxation assessment methodology would not reduce expected property tax or payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) rates to taxing jurisdictions.
The Key Takeaways
Below are brief summaries of the key takeaways from the NYSEIA/ACE NY report, highlighting the potential benefits of renewable energy tax assessment standardization for New York, if such a methodology were adopted.
Local Jurisdictions
Local jurisdictions across New York State could receive $116 million to $348 million more in the net present value of PILOTs over project lifetimes. This increase would result from additional renewable energy deployment by 2030, made possible by mitigating the barriers to negotiating PILOT agreements.
Employment & Labor
Between 12,300 and 20,600 additional jobs could be generated as a result of increased and accelerated renewable energy deployment, leading to an extra $2 billion in labor income at the mid-range.
Business Growth
Gross State Product could grow by $3.9 billion to $6.5 billion, while NYS business sales could increase by $6.9 billion to $11.6 billion. This increased activity would benefit a wide range of industries, with developers, suppliers, and employees all spending on goods and services.
Distributed Solar Deployment
With Tax Standardization, total cumulative deployment for the distributed solar segment by 2030 would be 25% higher than it would under the Status Quo.
Renewable Energy Capacity
The standardization of tax assessments could lead to approximately 3,500 to 6,100 MW more capacity of renewable energy projects by 2030, with approximately 1,150 MW of this increase coming from distributed solar resources.
Environmental & Economic Benefits
The resulting increase in renewable energy deployment would generate a cleaner, healthier environment for New Yorkers, as well as generating significant economic benefits across all regions of New York State.
How to Contact New York State Legislators
You can take action in support of renewable energy property tax standardization by contacting key legislators in order to express your support and share the NYSEIA/ACE NY report. For an email template which can be customized to suit your own personal/business needs, go to this NYSEIA newsletter and click the blue button entitled ‘CONTACT NEW YORK LEGISLATORS’. Additionally, you will find a list or relevant legislators from both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate below, with their email addresses provided.
New York State Assembly Members
Carl E. Heastie
Assembly Speaker
Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein
Ways & Means Chair
Assemblyman Michael Cusick
Committee on Energy Chair
Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr.
Committee on Local Government Chair
Assemblyman Steve Englebright
Committee on Environmental Conservation Chair
Assemblywoman Sandy Galef
Committee on Real Property Taxation
New York State Senate Members
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Senate Majority Leader
Senator Liz Krueger
Committee on Finance Chair
Senator Kevin Parker
Committee on Energy and Telecommunications Chair
Senator James Gaughran
Committee on Local Government
Senator Todd Kaminsky
Committee on Environmental Conservation Chair
Interested in going solar? Reach out to YSG Solar today. Whether you want to install solar panels at your residential or commercial property, or sign up for a community project, or even lease your land for solar, YSG can steer you in the right direction. To get in touch, send us an email or call at 212.389.9215.
YSG Solar is a project development company responsible for commoditizing energy infrastructure projects. We work with long-term owners and operators to provide clean energy assets with stable, predictable cash flows. YSG's market focus is distributed generation and utility-scale projects located within North America.
Sources:
https://mailchi.mp/nyseia/property-tax-study-release
Featured Photo by Carl Solder on Unsplash.