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On August 25, 2025 Staff of the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) issued a CCA Staff Proposal recommending that the PSC terminate the authorization for municipal aggregations to enroll retail electric and gas customers on an opt-out basis.

Staff primarily sites a lack of benefits to CCA customers as the basis of its recommendation including pointing to higher rates paid by these customers.

“The central objective of the CCA program is to provide actual benefits to participating customers, including cost savings, increased access to renewable energy products, and enhanced community engagement. Based on Staff’s review and the findings of A&M, to date: 1) CCA participants have not, on average, realized cost savings relative to utility default supply; 2) there is limited evidence that implementation of a CCA program results in a meaningful increase in municipal engagement on energy-related issues beyond the activities already undertaken by participating municipalities; 3) no opt-in products were developed through CCA programs with verifiable contributions toward the goals of the CLCPA, and; 4) there are no measurable changes to costs for purchasing RECs for non-CCA participants.”

“CCA programs are often justified based on their non-price customer benefits, however this analysis did not find evidence that these benefits have been meaningfully realized or that they are uniquely attributable to the CCA program structure. For example, while many CCAs procure renewable energy, these renewable offerings can be replicated by other existing programs and state renewable standards. Such renewable products offered through the CCA program results in higher costs to customers and from 2016-2025 did not consistently produce measurable environmental benefits. Overall, while these benefits are often used to justify continuation of the program, this analysis found these renewable energy products are either duplicative of existing utility or state programs, inconsistently implemented, or not demonstrated through available data.

Staff finds that CCA programs have not consistently delivered sufficient meaningful benefits to mass-market customers to justify continued operation under the opt-out enrollment model.”

Staff Recommendation

“Based on the analysis detailed throughout this Staff Proposal, including Staff’s review of program filings and the independent review conducted by A&M, Staff finds that the CCA program has not achieved its primary objectives and does not provide sufficient benefits to justify its continuation. Staff recommends that the Commission discontinue the CCA program in New York State.”

The CCA program has not achieved its objective of delivering cost savings to participating customers and has, in many cases, resulted in higher costs relative to utility default supply service. The program does not demonstrate measurable contributions to the State’s clean energy goals beyond those achieved through existing policies and programs. Municipal participation and market interest in the program have declined significantly, with minimal ongoing activity. Compliance and administrative challenges have continued despite Commission actions to strengthen program requirements. The opt-out enrollment model, when combined with the limited or no customer benefits, raises consumer protection concerns.”

“In developing its recommendation, Staff evaluated several potential modifications to the program. These included adjusting the opt-out enrollment structure, implementing pricing guarantees, adding enhanced consumer protections, limiting participation to opt-in renewable products, and increasing regulatory oversight. Each alternative modification considered by Staff was evaluated against the findings described above regarding pricing outcomes, supplier participation, customer protections, program administration, and measurable policy benefits.

Accordingly, Staff recommends that the Commission direct administrators to: 1) transition remaining customers back to utility default supply service, if any; 2) establish reporting and compliance requirements to ensure a transparent and orderly program closure, and; 3) decline to authorize new CCA programs under the current framework.”

The Appendix to the Staff Proposal for Modification of the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program contains the findings and supporting analysis developed by the Department of Public Service’s consultant, Alvarez & Marsel Holdings, LLC (A&M), as part of its evaluation of the CCA Program.

A&M’s evaluation consisted of three primary tasks examining CCA program performance.

Task 1 evaluated CCA pricing by comparing CCA electric and gas rates with default utility rates. The supporting materials include A&M’s overview and assumptions, statewide electric and gas pricing summaries, and monthly and annual pricing comparisons for individual CCA administrators and programs.

Task 2 examined CCA outreach efforts and the extent to which outreach activities may have affected customer participation and engagement. The supporting materials include A&M’s overview and assumptions and their analysis.

Task 3 evaluated CCA program contributions toward the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The supporting materials include information identifying the CCA programs included in the evaluation and A&M’s analysis of program contributions toward CLCPA goals.