New York S 9915: Requires battery energy storage system owners and operators to demonstrate compliance with workforce reliability standards as a condition of state financial assistance; extends prevailing wage requirements

Bill Text

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S09915 Summary:

BILL NOS09915 

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SAME ASSAME AS A10917

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SPONSORPARKER

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Amd §66-r, Pub Serv L; amd §224-d, Lab L

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Requires battery energy storage system owners and operators to demonstrate compliance with workforce reliability standards as a condition of state financial assistance; extends prevailing wage requirements and whistleblower protections to operations and maintenance employees at covered battery energy storage systems; directs the public service commission to promulgate implementing regulations; and requires a periodic review of implementation.

Go to top S09915 Actions:

BILL NOS09915 

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04/14/2026REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

05/13/2026REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO LABOR

Go to topS09915 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS09915 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS09915 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 9915

 IN SENATE

 April 14, 2026
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
 cations

 AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to requiring battery
 energy storage system owners and operators to demonstrate compliance
 with workforce reliability standards as a condition of state financial
 assistance; to amend the labor law, in relation to extending prevail-
 ing wage requirements and whistleblower protections to operations and
 maintenance employees at covered battery energy storage systems; to
 direct the public service commission to promulgate regulations; and to
 require a periodic review of implementation

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Legislative findings and declarations. The legislature
 2 hereby finds and declares that:
 3 (a) The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)
 4 commits New York State to a zero-emissions electricity grid by 2040 and
 5 establishes a target of six gigawatts of energy storage by 2030, requir-
 6 ing the rapid deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) as
 7 critical grid infrastructure;
 8 (b) Existing law imposes comprehensive labor standards upon the
 9 construction phase of battery energy storage and renewable energy
 10 projects; however, no equivalent uniform mandate governs the workforce
 11 performing operations and maintenance (O&M) of such facilities, creating
 12 a two-tier system in which workers who build these assets are protected
 13 but those who operate them over the life of the facility are not;
 14 (c) Battery energy storage systems are long-term critical grid infras-
 15 tructure assets whose safe and reliable operation over decades of
 16 service depends upon a skilled, stable, certified, and adequately
 17 compensated workforce; high O&M workforce turnover, inadequate training,
 18 and unstable employment at BESS facilities present measurable risks to
 19 grid reliability and to communities hosting such installations;
 20 (d) The state, as a grantor of substantial public financial assistance
 21 to battery energy storage projects through NYSERDA incentive programs,

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD15451-01-6

 S. 9915 2

 1 the Clean Energy Fund, Public Service Commission siting authority, and
 2 tax incentives under the real property tax law, possesses the authority
 3 to condition the receipt of such assistance upon compliance with work-
 4 force reliability standards, consistent with the market participant
 5 doctrine established in Building and Construction Trades Council v.
 6 Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts/Rhode Island, Inc.,
 7 507 U.S. 218 (1993), and White v. Massachusetts Council of Construction
 8 Employers, Inc., 460 U.S. 204 (1983), without infringing upon the
 9 National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., the state acting
 10 in its capacity as a market participant and benefits grantor and not as
 11 a regulator of the labor-management relationship; and
 12 (e) It is the policy of the state that labor protections shall follow
 13 the asset from co