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2015 NY Att'y Gen. Rep. & Op. 1 (2015)

handle is hein.nyattgen/nysag0136 and id is 1 raw text is: General Municipal Law §§ 360, 360(2), 360(3), 360(5), Art. 14-A General Municipal Law § 360 does not apply to the Town's proposed participation in a pilot Community Choice Aggregation program and thus section 360's requirement of a referendum likewise does not apply. June 26, 2015 Eric L. Gordon Informal Opinion Attorney No. 2015-1 Town of Bedford Keane & Beane P.C. 445 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, New York 10601 Dear Mr. Gordon: You have requested an opinion relating to the Town's anticipated participation in a pilot Community Choice Aggregation program as approved by the Public Service Commission. Under the program, the Town would procure electricity from a utility service on behalf of participating residents and small businesses. You have asked whether, if the Town participates in the program under the authority of General Municipal Law § 360, the Town's participation is subject to a referendum. As explained below, we are of the opinion that General Municipal Law § 360 does not apply to the Town's proposed participation and thus that its requirement of a referendum likewise does not apply. You have explained that the Public Service Commission (PSC) has authorized Sustainable Westchester, Inc., a consortium of local governments in Westchester County, to undertake a pilot Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program. The Town is a member of Sustainable Westchester. A fundamental component of the pilot program is that a participating local government, in this case the Town, will aggregate the energy and gas supply of its residents and small businesses and enter into a contract with a utility that distributes such services. The Town in essence will be acting as an energy broker for its constituents. Ownership and operation of the utility service will remain with the distributing utility company. In its order instituting the proceeding to enable CCA programs, the PSC noted that a municipality might find authority to participate in a CCA program in Article 14-A of the General Municipal Law, which permits municipal involvement in the provision of gas and electric service to residents. Public Service Com'n, Case 14- M-0224, Proceeding on Motion of the Commission to Enable Community Choice Aggregation Programs, Order Instituting Proceeding and Soliciting Comments (issued Dec. 15, 2014), at 6. The PSC advised that, if proceeding under Article 14-A,

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