Central Hudson for Cannabis Facilities: SC 2 Sub-Rates, SC 3, SC 13, and the G-J Capacity Locality

Service area and NYISO zone

Central Hudson Gas & Electric, a Fortis subsidiary, serves the Mid-Hudson Valley: Poughkeepsie, Kingston, Newburgh, and the surrounding parts of Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange counties. In NYISO terms that is Zone G, and Zone G is inside the G-J lower Hudson Valley capacity locality, where the installed capacity requirement is set separately from the rest of upstate and priced higher [nyiso-markets]. Energy prices in Zone G are closer to upstate levels than to New York City's; capacity is not. That combination is what makes Central Hudson territory different from both its neighbors.

The commercial delivery classes

Central Hudson's rate code list for ESCOs, which pairs each service classification with its billing profiles, lays out the non-residential structure [cenhud-rate-codes].

Each of these carries variants on the code list: full-service (FS) for utility supply, retail-access (RC) for ESCO supply, hourly-pricing special provisions (2.11 for SC 2, 3.8 for SC 3), emergency demand response (EDRP), and Value Stack billing for accounts with on-site generation [cenhud-rate-codes].

Where a cannabis facility lands:

• A small dispensary with light equipment can sit on the SC 2 non-demand sub-rate. Unlike Con Edison, whose small class stops at 10 kW, Central Hudson's split is about whether demand is measured and then whether it exceeds 50 kW [cenhud-rate-codes], so a store has more room before per-kW billing starts.
• A lab or mid-sized grow is on SC 2 secondary measured demand over 50 kW.
• A large grow at primary voltage is on SC 2 primary measured demand if it owns the transformer, or SC 3 Large Power Primary Service at larger sizes [cenhud-rate-codes].
• SC 13 at 69 kV is substation-scale and outside the range of any cannabis facility we are aware of.

How demand charges are structured

Every measured-demand sub-rate of SC 2, plus SC 3 and SC 13, bills a per-kW delivery demand charge on the account's monthly measured demand [cenhud-rate-codes]. The over-50 kW sub-rate exists so that larger secondary accounts are billed on a structure closer to SC 3 while still at secondary voltage. Primary-metered accounts with a customer-owned transformer get their own sub-rate, which is where the delivery discount for owning your transformer shows up [cenhud-rate-codes].

For a grow the practical questions are the same as everywhere in New York, with one Hudson Valley twist. The demand charges tactics, staggered lighting and sequenced HVAC starts, cut the kW on the delivery line. The twist is that the same peak also sets your share of G-J capacity [nyiso-markets], so demand management here pays on two lines of the bill, not one. Summer is when it matters: dew points in the 60s F are routine in the Hudson Valley from June through September [noaa-cag-new-york], dehumidification load rises, and NYISO's peak hours fall on those afternoons. HVAC sizing that avoids oversized equipment cycling on together is worth more here than upstate.

Default supply and hourly pricing

Customers on Central Hudson supply are billed under the full-service (FS) rate codes at the utility's monthly market-based supply price [cenhud-rate-codes]. The largest accounts fall under hourly-pricing special provisions, Special Provision 2.11 for SC 2 measured-demand accounts and Special Provision 3.8 for SC 3, under which supply is priced by the hour rather than as a monthly average [cenhud-rate-codes]. Whether a given account is mandatory hourly pricing depends on its size and the tariff; confirm before assuming a monthly number.

Hourly pricing is a strong reason for a large Hudson Valley grow to consider an ESCO. A fixed or block-and-index contract takes the account off hourly market exposure; the switching guide covers what to ask for. On the utility side, compare any offer to a trailing twelve-month average of the supply line, since the monthly price moves with NYISO results.

Interconnection and metering notes for a grow

The Hudson Valley has a lot of former industrial and agricultural buildings that cannabis operators have leased or bought. Three things to settle with Central Hudson early:

• Service size and voltage. The primary-metered SC 2 sub-rate and SC 3 both assume primary service [cenhud-rate-codes]. Owning the transformer is a capital cost that lowers delivery for the life of the facility; ask for both secondary and primary service options in the load letter.
• Interval metering. OCM requires at least one interval meter at every indoor and mixed-light cultivation site [ny-9nycrr-125-1]. Confirm whether the Central Hudson meter provides downloadable intervals; if not, add your own.
• On-site generation. The rate code list includes Value Stack billing codes for SC 2 measured-demand and non-demand accounts and photovoltaic codes for other classes [cenhud-rate-codes], which is how solar on the roof is credited. NY-Sun provides upfront incentives, financing, and approved contractors for commercial solar, layered with federal tax credits [nyserda-ny-sun]. Read the on-site solar and storage page for how a grow's flat load changes the math, and confirm tax credit treatment with your advisor, since 280E limits what a cannabis business can deduct.

Winter is real here too. Statewide normals of 6,001 heating degree days [noaa-cag-new-york] mean a Kingston grow spends much of the year rejecting lighting heat into cold air, so heat recovery from dehumidification, which the OCM rule already pushes toward [ny-9nycrr-125-1], offsets heating in veg and drying rooms.

Efficiency programs

Central Hudson participates in the statewide utility efficiency framework, and NYSERDA directs commercial customers to utility programs for equipment rebates, including custom horticultural measures, while cost-sharing energy studies through FlexTech [nyserda-lighting]. A grow considering an LED retrofit to meet the OCM 2.2 micromoles per joule threshold [ny-9nycrr-125-1] should ask Central Hudson's business programs which prescriptive or custom track applies and whether pre-approval is required before purchase. Specific Central Hudson rebate amounts were not verified for this page.

Zone G and the G-J capacity locality

Central Hudson serves the Mid-Hudson Valley in NYISO Zone G, inside the G-J locality where installed capacity prices run higher than upstate Zones A through F [cenhud-rate-codes]. ESCO contracts must specify whether ICAP is fixed or passed through [nyiso-markets]. Downstate Hudson Valley cultivators pay capacity differently than Buffalo or Syracuse sites on National Grid [ngrid-upstate-service-rates].

Service Classification 2 demand sub-rates

Service Classification 2 splits into non-demand, secondary measured-demand, secondary measured-demand over 50 kW, and primary measured-demand sub-rates [cenhud-rate-codes]. SC 3 Large Power Primary and SC 13 transmission service apply at higher voltages [cenhud-rate-codes]. Pull current per-kW delivery figures from the ESCO portal rate code list before quoting [cenhud-rate-codes].

Hourly pricing for largest accounts

Hourly-pricing provisions apply to the largest Central Hudson accounts on SC 3 and SC 13 [cenhud-rate-codes]. Cultivation facilities approaching primary service should ask whether hourly delivery pricing is mandatory or optional [cenhud-rate-codes]. ESCO capacity treatment for Zone G-J locality must be in writing [nyiso-markets].

Additional procurement and tariff notes

Zone G inside G-J capacity locality elevates ICAP versus Zones A through F [cenhud-rate-codes] [nyiso-markets]. ESCO contracts must define capacity treatment [nyiso-markets].

Additional load and utility notes

SC 2 demand sub-rates split at 50 kW; SC 3 and SC 13 apply at primary and transmission voltages [cenhud-rate-codes]. Hourly pricing may apply to largest accounts [cenhud-rate-codes].

How ESCO supply interacts with Central Hudson billing

Central Hudson is one of the six investor-owned utilities open to PSC-eligible ESCOs [ny-dps-esco-info]. The rate code list makes the mechanics visible: every classification has a full-service code and a retail-access code, and switching moves the account from one to the other with no change to the delivery classification [cenhud-rate-codes]. What changes:

• The utility supply line comes off; the ESCO's charge goes on, either on the Central Hudson bill under consolidated billing or on a separate ESCO bill [ny-dps-esco-info].
• SC 2 or SC 3 delivery charges, including per-kW demand, are unchanged [cenhud-rate-codes].
• G-J capacity is now priced by the ESCO under the contract, fixed or passed through [nyiso-markets].

Get the capacity treatment in writing. In this territory it is the line most likely to surprise a facility that signed an energy-only price. For the full state picture see the New York hub and the rate page; for what a batch-driven lab looks like on these classes, the extraction page.