BILL NUMBER: S8601
SPONSOR: MAY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to enacting the
"statewide building energy disclosure act"
 
PURPOSE:
To establish a statewide system for collecting and publishing building
energy use information from large buildings in order to support better
decision making by owners, tenants, utilities, local governments, and
state agencies.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill adds a new section to the Public Authorities Law directing
NYSERDA to maintain an annual covered buildings list for all buildings
over twenty thousand square feet. The Public Service Commission must
adopt regulations requiring utilities to report annual building level
energy usage to NYSERDA. The Department of Environmental Conservation
must adopt regulations requiring building owners to report non-utility
energy usage, including delivered fuels and onsite generation.
The bill specifies the minimum data elements that must be reported,
including energy use by fuel type and meter, the type of energy
consumed, and key building characteristics. NYSERDA must publish an
annual public database of building level energy use and emissions and
must prepare an annual statewide report. The bill provides exemptions
for certain buildings, allows owners to dispute errors, and assigns
enforcement authority to the Public Service Commission for utilities and
the Department of Environmental Conservation for owners and lessees.
The bill also coordinates with municipalities that have local benchmark-
ing laws, allowing owners in those jurisdictions to comply with state
requirements through their existing local reporting.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Large commercial and multifamily buildings account for a major share of
total energy consumption in New York. While some large municipalities
operate their own building energy disclosure and benchmarking programs,
the state has no consistent, statewide system that brings this informa-
tion together. As a result, New York lacks the reliable, comparable data
that markets and policymakers need to make informed decisions about
energy use, infrastructure planning, and long term climate and economic
strategy.
This bill addresses that gap directly. It creates a uniform statewide
framework that gathers basic, building energy information, standardizes
it, and makes it publicly accessible. Much of this data already exists:
utilities collect it for billing, and building owners track it for
financing, compliance, and operations. What has been missing is a coor-
dinated system that allows this information to be understood in a clear
and consistent way across jurisdictions and regions.
With this bill, owners gain a clearer picture of how their buildings
perform relative to peers. Lenders and insurers gain consistent and
higher quality data. Local governments gain a shared information base
that makes planning more efficient. State agencies gain the foundation
needed to evaluate building energy trends and design programs that
respond to real conditions rather than assumptions. The statewide market
benefits from greater transparency, which reduces uncertainty, improves
decision making, and supports more efficient allocation of capital.
The bill strengthens the building sector by improving transparency and
data quality, giving owners and policymakers the tools they need to make
informed decisions. By putting in place a statewide disclosure system,
it supports better choices by owners, tenants, utilities, and govern-
ments. It does so without imposing additional operational requirements
on buildings. The result is a clearer information foundation that
supports more efficient planning, investment, and long term competitive-
ness across the state.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The bill will require administrative resources for state agencies to
manage data collection, coordination, and disclosure. These responsibil-
ities fall within existing agency missions and may require additional
staffing or technology investment.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act takes effect immediately.