CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

A move to provide users of renewable energy some utility-bill relief is undergoing a final push in Albany, with help from some Rochester-area business owners.

Bills in the state Assembly could allow businesses to save utility money. Even a Rochester-area school with its own wind turbine could save an extra $50,000 a year.

The bills would also help business investors in wind turbines and solar panels to pay off their investment sooner, advocates said. The advocates said they scored major progress on Wednesday when state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, Niagara County — the Senate's energy chairman — introduced a reform allowing greater use of incentives for customers using renewable-energy generators.

Two bills have been introduced in the Assembly that would, among other things, allow systems up to 2-megawatts to get credit for the excess power they put back onto the statewide power grid, said Carol Murphy, executive director of Alliance for Clean Energy of New York.

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