New York Advances Transmission Projects to Deliver Clean Energy to Downstate Market

The New York Public Service Commission on Aug. 13 announced an update on transmission initiatives underway to implement the 2020 Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth & Community Benefit Act. This legislation calls for significant investment  to meet New York’s target of sourcing 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030.

The 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) requires New York to attain a carbon-free power system by 2040, setting ambitious goals to make the transition – 9 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035, 6 gigawatts of distributed solar by 2025, and 3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2030.

During its May 2020 meeting, the commission set a deadline of Nov. 1 set for utility providers to submit their proposals for enacting upgrades. Furthermore, the commission directed utilities to file proposals for plans concerning the support and maintenance of future infrastructure. These proposals, to be submitted by Oct. 5, are required to address the following:

• Accounting for CLCPA benefits in utility planning and investment criteria;
• Recommendations to prioritize CLCPA-supported projects in light of utilities’ other capital expenditures
• A benefit/cost analysis framework for assessing potential investments
• Methodologies regarding cost-containment, cost recovery and cost allocation.

Several existing transmission projects underway will increase the deliverability of renewable energy to the state, according to the commission. These include a 345 kilovolt circuit running from Western New York to Niagara Falls planned for service from mid-2022, and two AC transmission projects running between Central New York and the Capital District as well as the Capital District to the Hudson Valley, respectively, by 2023. The latter two upgrades will be capable of transferring 800 megawatts via the 345 KV circuit and 2,000 megawatts on the AC transmission lines. These transmission projects are anticipated to be in-service by December 2023.

New York has taken several measures to achieve the 2040 clean energy goal, including, an investment of $3.9 billion in 67 large-scale renewable projects across the state aiming to generate 150,000 jobs.