New York Public Service Commission Issues Rules For Distributed Energy Resource Suppliers

Tiana Stephens is an Associate for Holland & Knight's Boston office.

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) recently issued Uniform Business Practices for distributed energy resource (DER) providers (or suppliers), similar to the consumer protection standards that are already in place for energy services companies (ESCOs). The requirements apply to both community distributed generation projects and on-site mass market distributed generation providers – including companies providing rooftop solar systems, on-site generating systems for small businesses, large community-solar projects or other community distributed generation.

The purpose of these new marketing and contracting rules is to ensure that "customers are protected from confusion, fraud, and abusive marketing." The PSC noted that the rules would be applicable to wide-ranging systems of different sizes and markets – residential, commercial and industrial and accordingly, the rules were drafted with