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NY DPS Staff Alleges Multiple Municipal Aggregations Contracted For Non-Compliant Renewable Retail Product
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Staff of the New York Department Of Public Service alleged that Joule Assets, Inc., on behalf of five municipal aggregations, contracted for and marketed non-compliant renewable retail electric plans for mass market customers
Joule provided the following statement concerning the matter:
"Our CCA renewable products have been and remain in compliance with all applicable regulation. We’re in consistent contact with the DPS and remain confident that we’ll reach resolution that will be good for all parties, including consumers and municipalities."
-- Statement from Joule
Staff's allegations relate to community choice aggregations (CCAs) administered by Joule for the Villages of Upper Nyack, Nyack, Haverstraw, and Grand View-on-Hudson, as well as the Town of Highlands, and were raised in a Staff letter concerning the CCAs' municipality filings (which detail among other things outreach and education efforts and supply contract details), as Staff deemed various outreach and education initiatives by the CCAs to be deficient
Staff alleged that, "Joule contracted for, and marketed to the municipalities and their constituents/residents, a non-compliant renewable supply product, that being the 50% renewable supply product that includes out of state Renewable Energy Credits (RECs)."
Staff said, "RECs generated in other states that do not result in any energy being delivered into New York State (NYS) are considered non-compliant and therefore are not permitted to be marketed in New York and, accordingly, cannot be included in CCA product offerings. Nationally sourced RECs cannot be verified through the New York Generation Attributes Tracking System (NYGATS) and do not comply with the requirements of Commission-authorized CCA programs. CCA Administrators who are offering renewable products are required to, among other things, ensure that such energy is generated by eligible technologies as defined in and subject to the environmental attributes and delivery rules of the Public Service Commission’s (Commission) Environmental Disclosure Program (EDP)."
Staff stated, "This deficiency thereby invalidates all the prior outreach and education (O&E) that may have been performed in these five municipalities to date."
Staff stated, "As such, Joule will need to obtain new contract terms and rates for compliant renewable supply product offerings that have also been explained to and approved by the municipality before performing Commission-required post-contract O&E that clearly explains the revised 50% renewable product offering, explains the new pricing, and complies with all other Commission O&E requirements."
Staff further alleged, "To be clear, even if Joule were permitted to offer a product that includes out of state RECs, which it is not, Joule’s marketing of such a product clearly violated Commission rules because this 50% renewable product was marketed as 100% renewable."
Staff further alleged, "The Department previously has shared such concerns with Joule. In January 2024, the Department issued a Notice of Apparent Violation (NOAV), providing notice to Joule that it could not market 50% nationally sourced RECs along with 50% NYS EDP-compliant RECs as 100% renewable products ... Further reviews of how this product has been explained to consumers since the NOAV have only confirmed Staff's concerns that consumers can easily be misled that they will be buying 100% renewable energy when that is not actually the case."
Staff said that the NOAV remains outstanding and DPS Staff’s investigation is ongoing.
In addition to the CCAs' outreach and education efforts being deemed deficient by Staff due to the alleged non-compliant renewable supply product, Staff alleged various other deficiencies in the CCAs' outreach and education plans, including, among other allegations:
• At an educational public meeting, the presenter was unable to clearly explain a bill, and its constituent sub-components and fees
• At an educational public meeting, the presenter was unable to answer a question about whether taxes would still apply if participating
• Supplemental outreach and education information did not include the contract terms, pricing, ability to opt-up or opt-down, and price comparison, as is required when the contract information is available
• CCA program websites did not include required/accurate information, including the lack of supplier details with program rate/term information, including name or contact information
Staff said that, in these CCAs, the outreach and education requirements have even greater significance, "given that the cost of such offerings is significantly above utility costs in the service area."
Due to such deficiencies, Staff said that the following municipalities are not approved to begin the opt-out period: Villages of Nyack, Upper Nyack, and Grand View-on-Hudson, and Town of Highlands (Staff previously held that Haverstraw may not begin the opt-out period as well)
Case 14-M-0224
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March 5, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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