NY A07222

Electric corporations and municipalities cannot impose fees, penalties, or charges on qualifying farmers beyond the actual cost of electricity, transmission, distribution, metering, billing, and customer services

Electric corporations and municipalities are prohibited from implementing policies or procedures that prevent qualifying farmers from installing and operating on-site electric generation equipment and related technology

A "qualifying farmer" is defined as a person whose federal gross farm income was at least $10,000 in the previous taxable year and who installs an on-site electric generation system and notifies their electric provider prior to a specified cut-off date

The cut-off date for each service territory is when the electric corporation receives notifications from qualifying farmers whose combined generating capacity equals or exceeds one-tenth of one percent of the utility's 1998 total electric demand, or September 1, 2018, whichever occurs first

The act takes effect immediately and repeals on September 1, 2018, except the provisions continue to apply to qualifying farmers as long as their on-site electric generation system remains in use